What was supposed to be a joyous Christmas celebration turned into a nightmare for Jennifer Heath Box, when Broward County, Florida, sheriff’s deputies arrested her and threw her in jail for three days—all because they refused to check their paperwork to make sure they had the right person. Because of indifference of police and jail personnel, Jennifer missed Christmas with her family and, most importantly, missed seeing her son before he deployed overseas with the United States Marines. Fortunately, the Institute for Justice is on the case…
Five days ago, I told you about the tragic death of Doug Harless, shot by officers from the London (Kentucky) Police Department during a wrong house raid over the county “Judge-Executive’s” stolen weedeater. Since then there have been several updates, including a “Justice for Doug” march/protest, as well as a fiery town council meeting. But, in a “truth is stranger than fiction” style twist, an audio recording has surfaced of a phone call between the county Judge Executive, David Westerfield and London Police Officer Jared Hale, which tells us the real story….
Derrick Williams was fast asleep in the apartment he had been living in for about a month (which was leased by a friend/Uncle) when he heard a commotion outside his bedroom. It was the Chesterfield County (Virginia) Police Department, who had just opened the front door and sent in a police K9 to find him and violently attack him. But it was a mistake. He had done nothing wrong. His friend/Uncle’s ex-girlfriend had come by earlier to collect some belongings, saw him asleep in the apartment, and called 911, believing he was an intruder of some sort. Instead of realizing that Derrick was not an intruder, they just went full send with their attack K9, to bite first, and ask questions later. Now a lawsuit has been filed. But the cops are asking for qualified immunity, claiming they did nothing wrong.
An innocent Kentucky man was shot dead by the London, Kentucky police after they raided the wrong house, surprising him at night during an impromptu search warrant execution, looking for a “Judge’s” missing weedeater. So far, authorities have released almost no information. But here’s what we do know so far, and it doesn’t look good at all…
George Henderson spent 29 years serving in the military with 6 overseas deployments. He retired in 2018 after his head injuries and PTSD began to worsen. He was then diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which led to him going missing on December 6. The State of Tennessee issued a Silver Alert. Mr. Henderson was located a day later, 10 miles away, in nearby Guthrie, Kentucky. Unfortunately, when that happened, a Guthrie police officer punched him unconscious. They have circled their law enforcement wagons, claim no wrongdoing, and apparently continue to prosecute this American hero.
Dallas Campbell walked into the police department in Hazard, Kentucky a free man, doing his best to keep a notoriously untrustworthy police agency (at least that’s what I learned watching the “Dukes of Hazard”) honest. Unfortunately, he left in handcuffs, the victim of a false arrest. But he had a small YouTube channel, and 12 days after he posted the video of his arrest, the Hazard Police Chief was fired.
In Sharp County, Arkansas, Sheriff Shane Russell showed up at a family’s front door, following allegations from a neighbor that they had been revving their engines earlier (on their own property). Sheriff Russell, flanked by other police officers, did not have a warrant. But he didn’t let that stop him.
UPDATE: Two Sheriff’s deputies (Deputies Philpot and Cobb with the Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office) responded to a woman lying on the shoulder of a highway. The woman tells the deputies she was fleeing domestic violence. After talking for nearly 18 minutes, the woman, who very clearly appears to be drunk, asks the deputies for a ride away from the pitch black highway. The deputies talk it over and decide they don’t want to.
They tell her to just keep walking. The woman pleads with the deputies to take her to a gas station. But they leave her and tell her to keep walking down the dark road. She was hit by a tractor trailer 13 minutes later. Since posting the original video on this, I spoke with the woman’s sister, who gave me some additional information and evidence…
A special agent with the Lake County Narcotics Agency has resigned following an internal investigation into an incident of alleged unlawful detention at a Medina County Township bar in April. Daniel Lajack, 48, submitted his immediate resignation on Dec. 2, just weeks after being notified of potential disciplinary action for his involvement in a controversial encounter with a legal immigrant. Lajack also served as a federal task force officer for the Drug Enforcement Agency, before being removed shortly after the April incident became public.
Two Sheriff’s deputies (Deputies Philpot and Cobb with the Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office) responded to a woman lying on the shoulder of a highway. The woman tells the deputies she was fleeing domestic violence. After talking for nearly 18 minutes, the woman, who very clearly appears to be drunk, asks the deputies for a ride away from the pitch black highway. The deputies talk it over and decide they don’t want to. They tell her to just keep walking. The woman pleads with the deputies to taker her to a gas station. But they leave her and tell her to keep walking down the dark road.
13 minutes later, the woman was hit and killed by a tractor trailer. The truck’s dash cam appears to show her purposefully sitting in the middle of the dark road. The State of Missouri is now seeking to discipline both deputies for reckless disregard of a woman who was clearly in need. But according to their lawyer, they did nothing wrong.
UPDATE VIDEO:
Excerpts from the police report that I discuss in the video:
Here the officer explains that they left Michelle Anders on the side of the road with instructions to keep walking, and that eventually she’d “end up in Kennett.”
Here the officer claims that Anders “did not appear to be intoxicated,” which is clearly contradicted by his own statements in the bodycam, as well as by the footage itself, showing Anders to be obviously unstable, confused, slurring her words and acting erratically.
Just below the original police report is a “supplemental” report describing being called back to the scene after Anders was hit and killed by a tractor trailer.
This is an excerpt of the disciplinary complaint against the officers by the Missouri Dept. of Public Safety.
In the Eighth Circuit (applicable in Missouri), as elsewhere for the most part, police officers are generally required to act where they have probable cause to believe that a vulnerable person might walk into danger or commit suicide. If there is evidence suggesting immediate risk or danger, officers must intervene in a manner that is objectively reasonable to prevent harm, or they could face liability for deliberate indifference to a known risk. SeeGraham v. Barnette, 5 F.4th 872 (8th Cir. 2021).
