I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked (that they were arrested).

July 29, 2013 at 7:10 pm

Two police officers accused in Detroit robbery, assault

• George Hunter
• The Detroit News
• Comments

Chief Craig on arrests of two sergeants: Two off duty police officers - one from Detroit, one from St. Clair Shores - were detained in connection with a robbery.

Detroit— A photograph snapped by a citizen and distributed to the media led to the arrest of two police officers who allegedly robbed and assaulted two people last week, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Monday.

The two men — one a sergeant and 20-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department; the other with the same rank in St. Clair Shores — allegedly wore their badges around their necks and drew their department-issued pistols when they robbed two men at an east side gas station on July 21, according to police. One of the victims was assaulted, Craig said.

Both victims are in their early 20s.

“It wasn’t until a photograph was sent to the media that someone investigating the case recognized him as a Detroit Police employee,” Craig said.

Further investigation revealed the Detroit officer’s alleged partner was a St. Clair Shores sergeant who attended the Police Academy with him before leaving Detroit’s police force after two years, said Inspector Brian Stair, head of Detroit Police Internal Affairs.

Wayne County prosecutors have received a warrant request for the officers. Craig said they’re likely to be charged with robbery and assault in the next few days.

The Detroit sergeant was arrested Saturday while working at the 12th Precinct. His alleged accomplice also was arrested Saturday at his home.

The crime happened around 4:45 p.m. at a Citgo gas station on French Road. The two cops drove to the station together in a private vehicle, approached the victims with their guns drawn and badges hanging from their necks, Craig said.

“It’s alleged they stole money and a cellphone,” Craig said. Stair added that one of the victims was struck with one of the officers’ guns, although his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

“The Good Samaritan who took those photographs saw that something wasn’t right,” Craig said.

A spokeswoman for the St. Clair Shores Police Department said the department is aware of the ongoing investigation but provided no further information.

Although there were at least two reported instances of fake cops robbing citizens recently, there’s no evidence linking the two sergeants with any other robberies, Craig said. He added that police are investigating whether the pair may have been involved in other heists.

“It’s no secret we’ve had other incidents involving police impersonators, so we’re taking a close look at that,” the chief said.

Craig pointed out that, because the two officers are not suspected in the other reported robbery involving fake cops, there are others who are impersonating police officers and robbing citizens.

“We should be diligent in making sure when we’re stopped, it’s by police officers,” Craig said.

Craig said “99.9 percent” of Detroit’s officers are honest and hard-working and “when a member of this organization disgraces the badge, we take it personally.”

ghunter@detroitnews.com
(313) 222-2134

Being a "US Marshall" doesn't make one smarter, does it?

Florida Nurse Terrorized by US Marshals in Warrantless Raid

Julie Wilson
Prison Planet.com
July 20, 2013

It was a typical evening after work when Sarasota, Fl., resident Louise Goldsberry finished dinner and began to clean up.
The nurse, employed by the Sarasota Doctors Hospital, proceeded towards the kitchen sink to clean the dishes when she gazed out her window. Her gaze met the eyes of a man wearing a hunting vest who was aiming a gun directly at her face.
Goldsberry, understandably frightened, dropped to the floor and began screaming. Although in a panic, she managed to crawl her way into the bedroom to retrieve her weapon, a .38-caliber revolver she had purchased to provide comfort while living alone.
She maintained a concealed weapons permit for the firearm.
Craig Dorris, her boyfriend who worked as a manager for a security alarm company, heard her screams and tried to make sense of his girlfriend’s reaction when suddenly they both heard a man screaming to open the front door.

Louis Goldsberry
Photo: Facebook

The man, shouting obscenities, claimed to be a police officer and ordered them to open the front door.
Goldsberry wasn’t convinced. The man she saw through the window looked more like an “armed thug” than a police officer.
Luckily the boyfriend Dorris, was able to remain calm and request ID from the man, but the yelling continued and the man shouted, “We’re the f—- police; open the f—- door!”
Frightened, Dorris moved away from the door half expecting bullets to riddle through it.
Goldsberry, who had never been arrested before, wondered if they could really be police and if they would speak this way. She had no idea as to why the police would be trying to force their way into her apartment with their weapons drawn.
As the couple stayed huddled in the hallway, Goldsberry still clutching her weapon, watched in horror as the unidentified man pushed open the front door, which they swore had been locked.
A man crept around the corner aiming his weapon at them both and shouted, “Drop the f—- gun or I’ll f—- shoot you,” he ordered.
Goldsberry’s screams heightened, but Dorris studied the man who was now standing inside the apartment. He observed him holding a tactical shield for protection and decided he appeared to be well equipped enough to be police.
Dorris realizing that any minute the standoff could result in the death of both of them, began reasoning with the man, surrendering, raising his hands above his head and asking the man to step outside to talk.
After given permission, he moved towards the front door peacefully but was immediately grabbed and placed in handcuffs.
After being arrested outside, Dorris saw numerous men wearing vests with the words federal marshal strewn across them. Dozens of Sarasota Police officers flooded the scene, as well as some others that he couldn’t identify, which he found unusual since he often worked with police at his security company.
Dorris described it as a scene from the movie Rambo.
Dorris then yelled inside to his girlfriend that it was OK to drop the gun and come out. Paralyzed with fear, Goldsberry froze and shouted, “I’m an American citizen, you have no right to do this.”
The standoff continued for several more minutes before finally releasing her weapon onto the floor.
She was rushed by officers and quickly handcuffed.
The couple remained cuffed outside for the next thirty minutes while police searched their home without a warrant for a man they had never heard of and certainly never seen.
Finally they were released and the police left.
According to police, the man at the door was Matt Wiggins of the U.S. Marshal’s fugitive division.
When the Herald Tribune, Sarasota’s local newspaper, questioned the marshal he claimed they were searching for child-rape suspect.
Wiggins claimed they had a tip that the suspect, Kyle Riley, was inside the apartment complex, but admitted they had no specific information that indicated he was inside Goldsberry’s apartment.
Wiggins said when the people inside the apartment didn’t immediately open up, that gave them reason to believe they were harboring the alleged child rapist.
The U.S. marshal even had the audacity to say, “Nobody in the other units reacted that way.”
Tom Lyons, a reporter for the Herald Tribune countered, “Maybe none of them had a gun pointed at them through the window.”
Of course Wiggins didn’t seem to think that fact condoned the horrified woman’s behavior. He said he acted with restraint and didn’t like having a gun aimed at him.
“I went above and beyond. I have to go home at night,” said Wiggins.
Lyons argued, “She had a gun pointed at her, too, and she wasn’t wearing body armor and behind a shield.”
“She had no reason to expect police or think police would ever aim into her kitchen and cuss at her through her door to get in. It seemed crazy and she was panicked.”
Wiggins responded with, “We were clearly the police, she can’t say she didn’t know.”
“She does say so, actually,” said Lyons.
In an interview with Lyons the following day, Goldsberry explained, “I couldn’t see them. They had a big light in my eyes.”
The man she saw aiming a gun at her through the window had nothing visible that said “cop.”
“I was thinking, is this some kind of nutjob?” she said.
Turns out it was just a U.S. Federal marshal exercising what he thinks is his right under his authoritative title, and of course was “just doing his job.”
Eventually Wiggins admitted, “I feel bad for her. But at the same time, I had to reasonably believe the bad guy was in her house based on what they were doing.”
Despite the fact that she was pointing a gun at police, and Goldsberry wasn’t shot, Wiggins says, “She sure shouldn’t be going to the press.”

In several ways, the worst case I have yet read about

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/07/03/59061.htm

Wednesday, July 03, 2013Last Update: 10:27 AM PT

Police Commandeer Homes, Get Sued
By MEGAN GALLEGOS
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LAS VEGAS (CN) - Henderson police arrested a family for refusing to let
officers use their homes as lookouts for a domestic violence
investigation of their neighbors, the family claims in court.
Anthony Mitchell and his parents Michael and Linda Mitchell sued the
City of Henderson, its Police Chief Jutta Chambers, Officers Garret
Poiner, Ronald Feola, Ramona Walls, Angela Walker, and Christopher
Worley, and City of North Las Vegas and its Police Chief Joseph
Chronister, in Federal Court.
Henderson, pop. 257,000, is a suburb of Las Vegas.
The Mitchell family's claim includes Third Amendment violations, a rare
claim in the United States. The Third Amendment prohibits quartering
soldiers in citizens' homes in times of peace without the consent of the
owner.
"On the morning of July 10th, 2011, officers from the Henderson Police
Department responded to a domestic violence call at a neighbor's
residence," the Mitchells say in the complaint.
It continues: "At 10:45 a.m. defendant Officer Christopher Worley (HPD)
contacted plaintiff Anthony Mitchell via his telephone. Worley told
plaintiff that police needed to occupy his home in order to gain a
'tactical advantage' against the occupant of the neighboring house.
Anthony Mitchell told the officer that he did not want to become
involved and that he did not want police to enter his residence.
Although Worley continued to insist that plaintiff should leave his
residence, plaintiff clearly explained that he did not intend to leave
his home or to allow police to occupy his home. Worley then ended the
phone call.
Mitchell claims that defendant officers, including Cawthorn and Worley
and Sgt. Michael Waller then "conspired among themselves to force
Anthony Mitchell out of his residence and to occupy his home for their
own use." (Waller is identified as a defendant in the body of the
complaint, but not in the heading of it.)
The complaint continues: "Defendant Officer David Cawthorn outlined the
defendants' plan in his official report: 'It was determined to move to
367 Evening Side and attempt to contact Mitchell. If Mitchell answered
the door he would be asked to leave. If he refused to leave he would be
arrested for Obstructing a Police Officer. If Mitchell refused to answer
the door, force entry would be made and Mitchell would be arrested.'"
At a few minutes before noon, at least five defendant officers "arrayed
themselves in front of plaintiff Anthony Mitchell's house and prepared
to execute their plan," the complaint states.
It continues: "The officers banged forcefully on the door and loudly
commanded Anthony Mitchell to open the door to his residence.
"Surprised and perturbed, plaintiff Anthony Mitchell immediately called
his mother (plaintiff Linda Mitchell) on the phone, exclaiming to her
that the police were beating on his front door.
"Seconds later, officers, including Officer Rockwell, smashed open
plaintiff Anthony Mitchell's front door with a metal ram as plaintiff
stood in his living room.
"As plaintiff Anthony Mitchell stood in shock, the officers aimed their
weapons at Anthony Mitchell and shouted obscenities at him and ordered
him to lie down on the floor.
"Fearing for his life, plaintiff Anthony Mitchell dropped his phone and
prostrated himself onto the floor of his living room, covering his face
and hands.
"Addressing plaintiff as 'asshole', officers, including Officer Snyder,
shouted conflicting orders at Anthony Mitchell, commanding him to both
shut off his phone, which was on the floor in front of his head, and
simultaneously commanding him to 'crawl' toward the officers.
"Confused and terrified, plaintiff Anthony Mitchell remained curled on
the floor of his living room, with his hands over his face, and made no
movement.
"Although plaintiff Anthony Mitchell was lying motionless on the ground
and posed no threat, officers, including Officer David Cawthorn, then
fired multiple 'pepperball' rounds at plaintiff as he lay defenseless on
the floor of his living room. Anthony Mitchell was struck at least three
times by shots fired from close range, injuring him and causing him
severe pain." (Parentheses in complaint.)
Officers then arrested him for obstructing a police officer, searched
the house and moved furniture without his permission and set up a place
in his home for a lookout, Mitchell says in the complaint.
He says they also hurt his pet dog for no reason whatsoever: "Plaintiff
Anthony Mitchell's pet, a female dog named 'Sam,' was cowering in the
corner when officers smashed through the front door. Although the
terrified animal posed no threat to officers, they gratuitously shot it
with one or more pepperball rounds. The panicked animal howled in fear
and pain and fled from the residence. Sam was subsequently left trapped
outside in a fenced alcove without access to water, food, or shelter
from the sun for much of the day, while temperatures outside soared to
over 100 degrees Fahrenheit."
Anthony and his parents live in separate houses, close to one another on
the same street. He claims that police treated his parents the same way.
"Meanwhile, starting at approximately 10:45 a.m., police officers
entered the back yard of plaintiffs Michael Mitchell and Linda
Mitchell's residence at 362 Eveningside Avenue. The officers asked
plaintiff Michael Mitchell if he would be willing to vacate his
residence and accompany them to their 'command center' under the guise
that the officers wanted Michael Mitchell's assistance in negotiating
the surrender of the neighboring suspect at 363 Eveningside Avenue.
Plaintiff Michael Mitchell reluctantly agreed to follow the officers
from his back yard to the HPD command center, which was approximately
one quarter mile away," the complaint states.
"When plaintiff Michael Mitchell arrived at the HPD command center, he
was informed that the suspect was 'not taking any calls' and that
plaintiff Michael Mitchell would not be permitted to call the suspect
neighbor from his own phone. At that time, Mr. Mitchell realized that
the request to accompany officers to the HPD command center was a tactic
to remove him from his house. He waited approximately ten minutes at the
HPD command center and was told he could not return to his home.
"Plaintiff Michael Mitchell then left HPD command center and walked down
Mauve Street toward the exit of the neighborhood. After walking for less
than five minutes, an HPD car pulled up next to him. He was told that
his wife, Linda Mitchell, had 'left the house' and would meet him at the
HPD command center. Michael Mitchell then walked back up Mauve Street to
the HPD command center. He called his son, James Mitchell, to pick him
up at the HPD command center. When plaintiff Michael Mitchell attempted
to leave the HPD command center to meet James, he was arrested,
handcuffed and placed in the back of a marked police car.
"Officers had no reasonable grounds to detain plaintiff Michael
Mitchell, nor probable
cause to suspect him of committing any crime.
"At approximately 1:45 p.m., a group of officers entered the backyard of
plaintiffs Michael Mitchell and Linda Mitchell's residence at 362
Eveningside Avenue. They banged on the back door of the house and
demanded that plaintiff Linda Mitchell open the door.
"Plaintiff Linda Mitchell complied and opened the door to her home. When
she told officers that they could not enter her home without a warrant,
the officers ignored her. One officer, defendant Doe 1, seized her by
the arm, and other officers entered her home without permission.
"Defendant Doe 1 then forcibly pulled plaintiff Linda Mitchell out of
her house.
"Another unidentified officer, defendant Doe 2, then seized plaintiff
Linda Mitchell's purse and began rummaging through it, without
permission, consent, or a warrant.
"Defendant Doe 1 then escorted Linda Mitchell at a brisk pace through
her yard and
up the hill toward the 'Command Post' while maintaining a firm grip on
her upper arm. Plaintiff Linda Mitchell is physically frail and had
difficulty breathing due to the heat and the swift pace. However, Doe 1
ignored her pleas to be released or to at least slow down, and refused
to provide any explanation for why she was being treated in such a manner.
"In the meantime, the officers searched and occupied plaintiffs Michael
Mitchell and
Linda Mitchell's house. When plaintiff Linda Mitchell returned to her
home, the cabinets and closet doors throughout the house had been left
open and their contents moved about. Water had been consumed from their
water dispenser. Even the refrigerator door had been left ajar and
mustard and mayonnaise had been left on their kitchen floor."
Police took Anthony and Michael Mitchell to jail and booked them for
obstructing an officer. They were jailed for at least nine hours before
they bailed out, they say in the complaint. All criminal charges were
dismissed with prejudice. They claim the defendants filed the baseless
criminal charges "to provide cover for defendants' wrongful actions, to
frustrate and impede plaintiffs' ability to seek relief for those
actions, and to further intimidate and retaliate against plaintiffs."
None of the officers were ever subjected to official discipline or even
inquiry, the complaint states.
The Mitchells seek punitive damages for violations of the third, fourth
and 14th Amendments, assault and battery, conspiracy, defamation, abuse
of process, malicious prosecution, negligence and emotional distress.
They are represented by Benjamin C. Durham, with Cofer, Geller & Durham,
in Las Vegas.