Good Samaritan, Better Slammer Twin

[XLFD]

If the extra $600,000 per year the county taxpayers voted on themselves last year for an extra road patrol unit for the county sheriff has paid off any dividends, it certainly has to be in regards to the stories coming out this summer on arrests.  A series of disorderly conduct charges was the theme in July, where several people who seemed not to be engaged in unlawful disorderly conduct got charged with it.  

Perhaps August will have its own unique theme for our busy deputies.  Just yesterday, deputies were in the midst of a traffic stop, when another person decided to be a good neighbor and offer the beleaguered driver a ride home if she needed it, even going out of his way to do so.  But there was a problem...

  

Man arrested on warrant after interrupting traffic stop.

PERE MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP – A 43-year-old Manistee man was arrested on an outstanding Manistee County warrant after he approached Mason County sheriff’s deputies during a traffic stop that resulted in an operating while under the influence of drugs arrest Tuesday, Aug. 6, at 5:30 p.m. ​on US 10 near Meyers Road, said Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole.
The man was offering to give the OWID suspect – 57-year-old Custer woman – a ride home.
Both were arrested and lodged in the Mason County Jail.

Let's hope the Manistee man has learned the lesson that you should do what you can to avoid being around law officers when you have an outstanding warrant hanging over your head.  If we give him the benefit of the doubt and presume that he wasn't aware of the warrant's issuance (which can happen with bench warrants), then he still should not have voluntarily given his name to the deputies, because there was no need for him to do so with the given information.

Frankly, I do not see why the deputies would be seeking out this man's identity if he had just stopped and inquired whether the woman might need a ride home.  I would expect normal law officers to reply that there would be no need since she would be lodged in jail, commend his concern, and respectfully send him on his way.  

Rather than check his plates or ask for his identity, and then use the law enforcement information network (LEIN) to find out whether he had a warrant on him when there doesn't seem to be any kind of rational supposition of him doing anything wrong in this instance to warrant such a use of the system; it seems to be a misuse of the LEIN system.  

Offering a ride home to an older lady that may need it is apparently enough to create reasonable suspicion for our county's deputies to look into your criminal background.  No good deed, by those with a warrant, goes unpunished.

[XLFD]

Update in today's COLDNews print edition (there is a partial story on their e-edition):  Sheriff Cole initiated this traffic stop when she saw Tammy Gage, 57, of Custer "swerving in front of me."  She would later have a blood draw at the hospital to identify what drug she was using.  Jerreme Perroni, 43, of Manistee stopped and offered to drive her home if she needed it.

Cole said he turned the case over to road patrol deputies and 'once they identified the male, the road patrol found out he had an outstanding traffic warrant out of Manistee County.'  According to Cole, he was unaware of the warrant, but both were lodged in the county jail where she was held for OWI on a controlled substance, his warrant issue was not clarified.

This broader story still makes me wonder why they chose to identify and check on Perroni's background using LEIN.   

[stump]

I possibly could see the police checking on his identity if she was just stranded from a vehicle break down. Not DUI driving . Someone offering to take a woman home.   Not knowing who he was could put the police in a law suit if something happened to her. But this guy ,the good samaritan , wanted  fugitive , what was in his mind to approach the police in the first place ? OH, he was stoned   LOL

[XLFD]

There may have been some unstated factors which led to them checking his LEIN status, but if there was, neither of the two press releases indicate them.  I'm sure he would have had his own blood draw if he appeared impaired too.  Ms. Gage does not seem to have had other problems with law enforcement and it's unclear whether her suspicious driving was due to illegal drugs (or nervously checking the rearview) until the blood test comes back, so attaching enough suspicion to an acquaintance in order to inquire of his name and check his history ("Oh look, a traffic warrant out of Manistee"-- IMHO, the courts are so messed up in Manistee he probably didn't know about it or deserve it) seems wrong to me without anything else to go on.  

[Willy]

I agree with stumps take on the reasoning behind the police's actions. Once a person is under the influence of the police it's better to leave well enough alone. Minding your own business would be the best course of action.

[stump]

Yesterday I was talking to my brother in law  and the conversation came up about police in Oceana county. He stated that a warrant was placed on him for violating a noise ordinance. He didn't know about it until 3 weeks later when he was stopped for a traffic violation. It turned out that his renter  of a house he owned  had a party , police were called . He was at his house sleeping and didn't even know about it. Seems that the owner of the property is responsible??????