Good Grief: Cop has Poor Roadside Manner with Nurse

[XLFD]

In 2013, the Portage Police Department of Indiana gave advice on what a driver should do if there's a safety concern while being pulled over.  It followed a warning about someone driving around with replica police lights who tried to get a woman to pull over. Fortunately for that female driver, she didn't stop but instead reached her destination and called police.

Portage Sgt. Keith Hughes, speaking on that incident shortly after it happened, said that woman used good judgment.  He further advised that should anyone else be in a similar situation, where they aren't sure of the arresting officer's identity, they immediately call 911. If they're unable or cannot reach a dispatcher Hughes also recommended that they acknowledge the officer by waving and then drive to a well-lit public location before stopping. There, relay the officer about your concern.

Fast forward to 2015, a Portage nurse is quickly headed home along a dark county road when she notices police lights come on behind her.  She turns on her emergency flashers, signals the vehicle behind her that she notices, and drives less than a mile to a brightly lit parking lot.  Almost immediately, the nurse is arrested and handcuffed for felony resisting arrest. 

In his March 20 report he accused her of not only speeding — 54 mph in a 35 mph zone — but putting others in danger by disobeying orders.  The Porter County (where the city of portage is in) Sheriff's deputy has the complete backing of that agency.  Even the bruising of the nurse in the course of the arrest:

The nurse additionally claims the patrolman bruised her arm while taking her into custody and bullied her by accusing her of having "controlled substances," which was only Advil.

Sheriff deputies apparently like to manhandle and place false charges on their own county's nurses, as seen locally when Mason County Deputy Michael Fort gave a local nurse a face first introduction to the pavement and felony charges when she was a backseat passenger in a traffic stop where her only offense was that she knew that she was being falsely imprisoned.

Evil seems to have triumphed over Good for now, but evil only wins when good people do nothing.  Show your support for this woman after reading of her ordeal.

DelRea Good, 52, has hired an attorney to fight her felony charge of resisting arrest after not immediately pulling over for an Indiana patrolman until getting to a safe, well-lit area.

A Portage, Indiana, nurse is facing felony resisting-arrest charges because she didn't immediately pull over when a police car flashed its lights behind her on a dark county road. DelRea Good, 52, said she assumed the car behind her was a police officer but, as a woman traveling alone late at night, she was concerned for her safety. So Good put on her emergency flashers, motioned out the window to acknowledge the car, and drove less than a mile down the road to pull over in a lit Kohl's parking lot. 

Porter County Sheriff's Department Patrolman William Marshall wrote in his incident report that he initially flagged Good for speeding. In the department store parking lot, he handcuffed Good and took her to the county jail, where she was booked on a felony charge of resisting arrest. From The Times of Northwest Indiana: 

"I felt I didn't do anything wrong," Good said. "I got to a safe place and I told him that."

Porter County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Larry LaFlower said, "The sheriff's office supports our officer's decision in this matter." He cited state law requiring motorists to yield to emergency vehicles and said Marshall was driving a fully marked squad car and used the lights and siren.

The fact that Marshall's car presented as a police car isn't really the issue, though. Good doesn't dispute recognizing it as a likely police car—which is why she waved out the window, turned on her flashing lights, and pulled over as soon as she reached a public area. She simply felt afraid to stop in an isolated place, and that's not unwarranted.

For one, people have been known to impersonate police officers. Just last month, a man in neighboring Ohio was arrested for impersonating a police officer and pulling people over. Here's Indiana State Police warning residents in 2012 about "bogus troopers" pulling over people and robbing them in northern Indiana. And here's another Indiana case. And another. And another. And another. And another. Two years ago, in fact, police from Good's town warned residents about a police impersonator attempting traffic stops. 

Drivers are frequently advised to to do just what Good did if they encounter an unmarked car trying to pull them over. And while Marshall's car may have been marked, driving on an unlit road with neon lights flashing at you, as Good was, doesn't provide the best opportunity to evaluate the authenticity.

A second consideration: real police officers have been known to assault women whom they pull over for traffic violations. Last fall, an Oklahoma state trooper was arrested for the alleged sexual-assault of eight women he pulled over for traffic offenses. Here's a similar story from Texas last spring. And from San Antonio in 2013.

Good told The Times that Officer Marshall was angry and hostile as he approached her in the Kohl's parking lot:

Good said Marshall ... said to her, "What in the hell are you doing? I could arrest you for this." Good said she was surprised by his reaction and told him to stop yelling at her. Marshall described Good in his report as "highly agitated and uncooperative." She reportedly told him she was aware he was a police officer, but drove to where she felt safe.

"I don't care who you are I don't have to stop on a county road, I'm a single female," Marshall quoted her as saying.

After Good refused to listen to how her actions put her and others in danger, Marshall said he arrested her.

Good, who said she did not resist the arrest or make any further comments, claims the officer bruised her arm while leading her to his police car and continued to "bully" her at the jail by claiming Advil and other medications she had were controlled substances.

Good works as a nurse and has no prior criminal record. If convicted of the resisting arrest charges, it could cost Good her job, as people with felony convictions are barred from being nurses in the state. 

http://reason.com/blog/2015/04/03/indiana-nurse-resisting-arrest

[AQUAMAN]

Another more than common case these days of the officer going berserk for no reason, and exceeding his authority with a citizen to get his jollies, and points for his shift I suppose. Hope she sues the pants off him personally and the entire PD there.

[MED]

The thing is, she can sue and even win. But then it's the TAXPAYERS that pay the price. The city of Inkster (Wayne County) property owners are being robbed of an average of $179 on their July tax assessments due to police misbehavior. A lawsuits was filed and won, rightfully so. But now who pays? The poor people that have the inconvenience of owning property in that city!

It should be the police departments that instead pay the price. Decrease pensions by the awarded amounts, and decrease budgets of said departments as well. Perhaps this will instill a bit of accountability within the ranks.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-06-10/bloody-police...

[Willy]

Another example of poor policing. This officer obviously had no camera or voice recorder of what transpired so, again, it's the private citizens word against a cop. As I've said before there needs to be periodic psychological testing for the members of the law enforcement community. If a person wants to be a police officer they must prove they are fit, mentally, to deal with the public. The nurse should file a counter suit for a large sum in order to give her local police something to think about and to make them reconsider how they treat the public.

[XLFD]

The in-car recording of this incident has not been made available as of yet, when it does it is likely (from what is mentioned on the police report) that the police officer will make the Portage County Sheriff's Department look real bad by his actions against someone who was concerned about their safety.

The local police's advice was right, and yet when it was followed, the local deputy escalated a situation where he should have been just giving her a speeding ticket into a big loss for the local citizenry's confidence in their law enforcement, and in their pocketbooks.  Officers who don't follow their training need to have consequences other than getting a paid vacation, which is actually a reward, while the public body pays for their error.

[AQUAMAN]

I see absolutely no reason for the unnecessary actions on the part of the officer here. She waved at him and turned her flashers on to signal she saw him and was going to stop. She did in fact stop afterwards, perhaps not in the place where he preferred, so he should have asked why she did what she did if he was uncertain. Getting a paid administrative leave under such conditions, is just what you said X. It's a paid vacation. A suspension without pay, for say 30-60 days would definitely send a new message to the entire force. That of don't overreact and attack innocent citizens without good cause. That it seems to me at least, seems to be the last thing chiefs or lieutenants in charge want to do. Perhaps it should be a written policy from now on for all LE, so they know when they step out of bounds, there are penalties for them as a consequence.

[XLFD]

And of course, the sheriff's office supports the officer without addressing the overall issue. 

Just think if you were running a business where you provide a service, and one of your employees treated one of the customers this way.  Do you think people would voluntarily be using your business if they seen customers routinely treated this way?

Police agencies that often act unprofessionally and treat their customers this way need to be put on notice, if not by their agency's leadership, if not by their overseeing city councilors or county commissioners, then by the public they supposedly serve and protect and receive their pay and benefits from.  This generally isn't happening so they just continue getting worse.

[AQUAMAN]

Exactly the point X. The mindset then becomes a green light to continue to repeat these actions into the future, due to condoning it. Is there an final report on this incident from the papers, both of her status, and that of the SO?

[XLFD]

Needed to include an update on this case and a new one pretty much like it that happened here in Michigan.  Nurse Delrea Good had the felony fleeing charge against her dropped a couple days after her story went viral, the Ludington Torch contributing to the information invasion that helped lead to her charges being dismissed.

But only three months have passed and we have a similar incident happen near Detroit, where the vehicle delays pulling over for a cop's lights and sirens for a little over a mile so that the SVSU hospital administration post-graduate student could park in a well lit Sam's Club lot.  He also happens to also be a young black man who is now facing fleeing and eluding charges and receiving no sympathy from the prosecutor and the SVSU Campus Cop that stopped him.  What do you think?

KOCHVILLE TOWNSHIP, MI — DaJuawn Wallace said he didn't stop immediately when prompted by police at 2 a.m. Feb. 19 because he was taught to pull into a well-lit and safe area before doing so.

The Detroit native who is a commuter student pursuing a master's degree at Saginaw Valley State University believes he did not commit a crime, since he  pulled over in a Sam's Club parking lot about 1.5 miles up the road from where police activated their lights.

The Saginaw County prosecutor's office disagrees, however. Wallace faces one felony count of fleeing and eluding.

"I live in Detroit, and I know some people who were robbed by fake police officers," Wallace said. "I was taught to find a well-lit area to pullover in."

Wallace said he was making a store run to get medicine for his girlfriend when he saw headlights in his rearview mirror, accelerating behind him.

Wallace signaled and moved into the right lane to let the vehicle pass. The police car activated its lights and sirens to initiate a traffic stop.

"I was not speeding up, turning off my lights or trying to get away," said Wallace, 24.

Police dash-cam video shows Wallace sticking his hand out the window and signaling. He said he did so to show police that he was going to pull over in the Sam's Club parking lot.

'No attempt to pull over and stop'

Saginaw Valley State University Police Officer Leon Wilson wrote in his police report that he initiated a traffic stop on Wallace because his vehicle fit the description of a car that he observed driving on a sidewalk on the SVSU campus. Wilson lost sight of the vehicle.

"I was uncertain about the make and the model of the vehicle, but this vehicle looked like the same color and was leaving the immediate area," Wilson wrote.

Wilson reported that after he turned flashing lights at the intersection of Bay and Liberty, Wallace continued southbound at about 35 miles per hour as he approached Kochville Road.

"The driver made no attempt to pull over and stop. I observed the driver stick his hands out of the window a couple of times. I did not see the driver throw anything from the vehicle, though it was dark and the road was poorly lit," Wilson wrote.

Felony or misdemeanor?

Outside the Sam's Club, police arrested Wallace on a charge of felony fleeing and eluding.

"I feel that if I was an older individual, it wouldn't have been a problem," Wallace said. "I feel like if I was of a different sex, they would've probably thought that I was just trying to find somewhere safe to pull into."

Saginaw County Chief Prosecutor Christopher Boyd said that when a police officer in full uniform in a vehicle identified as an official police vehicle has directed a motorist to stop, the motorist must stop.

"You don't get a driver's license and get to pick what rules you are going to follow and what rules you are not going to follow," Boyd said.

Boyd also said that prosecution heard Wallace's reason for not immediately stopping and noted that he did not travel at a high rate of speed. For that reason, Boyd said, the prosecution decided to offer to dismiss the felony charge in exchange for a misdemeanor charge with a delayed sentence.

Wallace at a June 12 preliminary hearing in District Judge Terry Clark's courtroom, was offered attempted fourth-degree fleeing and eluding, a one-year misdemeanor with a delayed sentence – meaning that after he completes probation, the charges will be dismissed.

Wallace rejected the offer.

The deal is available for a reasonable amount of time, Boyd said.

Wallace said he has no interest in any deal of any sort short of dismissal.

"I'm very certain I can stay out of trouble for a year, but I question whether they think I can," Wallace said.

"Most people will say fine, thank you for not sending me to jail. Well, that will be detrimental to me.

"If I had to take a plea for a felony, I would be forced to resign my job, and I wouldn't be able to get financial aid, and I wouldn't be able to do anything with my degree. Even still with the misdemeanor."

Wallace is in a master's program for health administration and has a May 2016 graduation date.

"I feel like I didn't do anything wrong," he said. "I feel as if it's a way to get me on papers."

Boyd said he feels there is still room for discussion on this case.

Wallace's preliminary examination was reset for Thursday, July 9. If he does not accept a plea agreement by then, Clark will determine whether there is enough evidence to bind him over to trial in circuit court.

[XLFD]

After this story began taking on a life of its own by being featured on the Blaze, the Huffington Post, and being mentioned especially in the Ludington Torch (LOL), and perhaps because the SVSU and the local community officials were looking like the fools they are, the prosecutor has dropped all charges.against Wallace. 

[Willy]

These things happen whenever idiots are in charge.