Police shoot and kill another guy in his own home ...

I told this story many years ago in the pub but here it is again. Back about 25 years ago I woke up at about 3 AM and didn't have any cigarettes in the house so I went out to get a pack out of my trucks glove box. When I stepped out the front door I saw a persons head drop below the dashboard of my truck. I should have gone in and called 911 but I chose to go after the guy myself. I slipped up to the truck door and saw a young man laying on my truck seat going through the glove box. I opened the door and grabbed his feet. My intentions were to body slam him on the concrete driveway. As I pulled on his feet he grabbed the steering wheel and held on. After a brief tug of war he let go with one hand which he stuck in his pants and pulled out a handgun. He was cussing me out as he pointed the gun at my face. I quickly turned loose and ran around the corner and high jumped the privacy fence. If you don't think a scared shitless middle aged fat man can high jump a 6 foot fence I have news for you.

Anyway I ran inside and called 911. The cops came with their tracking dogs but he got away. About a week later the police called and said they caught a young man who fit the description breaking into cars and asked if I would come try to identify him in a photo line up. I was shown about 10 mug shots and I pointed out the guy. The cops said that was the kid they had caught. So the kid plead guilty, I'm guessing made a deal to get off lightly. They gave him 6 months in jail and it turned out he got off in about 3 months for good behavior. I was so damn pissed off because I actually had PTSD for about a year after that. I couldn't walk out the front door at night without trembling for close to a year. I think anytime a gun is pointed at someone in a crime they should get 20 years automatically no deals.

 

Nope. You are likely (incorrectly) thinking SB 228 (2016) ended 10-20-(25 to) Life in Florida based on a 3 second Google search. It did not, it only eliminated aggravated assault as a listed crime that the min mans applied to. 10-20-Life is very much alive and well in Florida.
Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

In Florida, the convicted felon in possession of a firearm statute also applies to ammunition. A convicted felon can get in just as much trouble for possessing a live round as a functional pistol...15 year max with a 3 year min man if the person was in actual possession of it.

 

That’s why I specified “certain felony’s” with a gun. Warning shots into the air are not one.

Problem without mandatory and discretion in all gun crimes is the state can make sweet deals and lower the crime from felony to misdemeanor allowing gun related crimes go unpunished. That helps the rich who can afford good attorneys, make payoffs, and buy their way out of trouble. Until we crack down on gun crimes, convicted felons and such will be in and out of jail/prison.

 

Thanks for the correction.

Still, it’s not mandatory as the state continues to lower the charges to misdemeanors and make deals to avoid court. State gets away with it by adjusting the charges up front.


May as well get rid of it since it’s not effective as is.

 

I've often wondered if he didn't steal the gun from a glove box earlier that evening.

 

No, that's not correct. The state doesn't have to amend the charge to a misdemeanor to avoid the min mans. The prosecutor only has to delete the language from the Information that triggers the application of the min man such as "did actually possess" or "did discharge." The charges would still remain felonies.

There's a fundamental issue with these min mans to begin with. The legislature is essentially telling the judges that they are not trusted, but then are immediately giving that discretion to the State Attorneys. Don't forget, DeSaster has already removed two duly elected State Attorneys from office. Sentencing is and should be a judicial decision, not a legislative one.

 

I am familiar with this one. Have you seen the responding officer's bodycam?

 

No, just the one from the other guy. But threatening to arrest him alone should have been a fireable offense. Complete abuse of his authority. And that’s before the unprovoked physical assault. Five day suspension is laughable.

 

Right on. I'm looking for the full, raw footage without the commentary. I saw it a week or two ago but can no longer find it. Clif's notes version: Officer's respond (not from the department as the off duty cop), the off-duty officer asks "is he pressing charges against me for like breach, because I yelled at him," and the responding officer "for assault, because you hit him." Off duty officer replies "He's saying that I hit him??" to which the responding officer replies "And he has video of you hitting him."

From there, after what amounts to a lie "He's saying that I hit him??," the perp repeatedly asks if there's anything he can charge the victim with. He asks at least a few times from what I remember. But the thing is, the perp was allowed to talk to the responding officer's supervisor on a cellphone, and ended up not being charged with a crime. Anyone who is reading this can ask themselves.. "If i got out of a car at a red light, walked to the car behind me and punched the driver through the window, and it was recorded on video, both the view of my getting out of the car, and a view from inside of the car of me punching the person, would I get arrested after a cop saw the video?" Be honest with yourselves... you would.

But, since this guy is a cop, he gets to walk away, neither in cuffs or with a summons. Not even a cop employed with the responding officers' department, just a cop in general. The Rock Hill police report noted that the punch left the victim "dazed and possibly concussed, with swelling, redness, and irritation." With that report, and video evidence, the off duty cop was allowed to walk free after that interaction.

Keep in mind that this happened on Dec 8, 2023 and he wasn't arrested until Dec 20, almost 2 weeks later, despite the responding officers seeing video of the incident. On top of that, here we are learning about it in March of 2024, 3 months later, and only because a tip given to the news stations to FOIA the footage. Had that tip not gone through, would we be having this discussion? Most likely not. And yet, punching a civilian while you are off duty doesn't get you fired from your job, even after threatening the victim with arrest, and then lying to the responding officers.

Just to recap, this is what I wrote earlier in this thread:

You have a many of these things in just this one interaction. Attempted retaliation, lying, excessive force, and other cops who did nothing about it. And if it wasn't for the tip, we would know nothing about it, and even with the tip and the coverage, this dude is still a cop.

 

This is the only bit of body cam I could find, about halfway through the video. It's only a small snippet. I wish I could find the whole thing. It was sad the preferential treatment the cop got.



No deadly force. No shooting of an unarmed person. But this happens daily, these cops don't get fired, and this is why I say the system is broken.

 

Nothing like some police "blue steel" pointed at your head to wake you up a bit.

 

Informative VGF. I for one believe in the adage that cops protect and serve ......each other is priority #1........ the public is a distant #2. .............and in all circumstances.

One merely needs to check the volumes of reports that support this conclusion.

Not that I blame them. The survival instinct tends to kick in when an unknown and potential criminal threat could cause harm.
I also recognize that the police are completely screwed. Drug and alcohol addicts, schizophrenics, karens, hungry and desperate people,
illegal immigrants, evil doers, pedophile priests, pissed off sports fans, unhappy marriages ...........and on and on and on.

American society decided to get rid of mental health institutions and basicly put the police in charge of every burden and domestic situation.
Lunacy!

So the police close ranks on a tribal and irrational society and protect their own. The collateral damage is just part of the deal of being an American citizen.

IMO of course.

Well to do Caucasians really should pull their head out of their you no what and realize there is a very different world that exists past that residential palace development with the security gate, guard shacks, beautiful lawns and 6 -7 - 8 figure houses.

 

I've been thinking about getting one for a while now but it would be a bit of a PITA during the summer with my doors and/or top off and constantly having to take it down and put it away so it doesn't get stolen.

Also, it's funny how many times that a dash cam saves drivers from bad cops, especially when they walk up like "Any reason why you didn't stop at that stop sign?" And the driver is like "I did. I also have dash cam." and the cop is like "..OK. well.. drive safer next time. You're free to go."

 

You can find the meat and potatoes here at around the 1:56 mark. What does it even matter if complaints are sustained when you let cops like this continue to be cops?

This came out this week, not something I had to go searching for.