The Place Where Ludington Talks
MSP Trooper Seymour's 2013 Brush with Local Law is Revealing
Go ahead and bring them we will just have a shoot out
These words were attributed to Michigan State Police (MSP) Trooper Sammy Seymour when his ex-wife made the suggestion that she bring along a peacekeeper from the Mason County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) so that she could move some stuff out of the house they shared in Hamlin Township. So says a report from the MCSO detailing a domestic dispute which appears to be as a direct result of Trooper Sammy's infidelity.
The embattled trooper who quietly moved from his position at the Hart MSP post to the Cadillac Post (but still owns property on South Beaune and South Brunson Road in Mason County) shortly after the incidents in this report, was recently stopped just after 2:00 AM on January 17, 2015 after he allegedly was driving without lights and otherwise erratically after a night of drinking in downtown Ludington.
With the ensuing traffic stop he blew 0.14 BAC and later was tested with a Datamaster at 0.11, well above the 0.08 BAC limit for impaired driving. Though he reportedly asked for leniency and other favors due to his position being roughly the same as the arresting officer, he was processed just like others, likely due to the escalating actions of other responding officers and Seymour's sister.
Four weeks after this stop, however, there has been no action reported on the situation by Prosecutor Spaniola, who you may remember received special honors from the MSP for his work with Eric Knysz (and lack of work for prosecuting MSP Trooper James Luttrull who shot Bill Marble). If Spaniola was working a late night, he could have looked out his window and seen Trooper Seymour driving down the street, but apparently he wants to either not prosecute the case or hide it.
Sammy was now at Rebecca's mother and fathers house attempting to get in.
Recent history aside for the moment, let's look at the problems noted on April 15, 2013 in the MCSO report of Sergeant Steve Hansen (not to be confused with Deputy Michael Hanson with an 'o' who also responded). By the report, one can gauge that Seymour's ex-wife, Rebecca, trusted Sgt. Hansen to arrange a meeting with him later that night, and told another MCSO sergeant earlier that Trooper Sammy had been caught drinking with his brother and two other ladies at a motel room by one of the couple's daughters.
Later, that day, she apparently confirmed that he had a mistress on the side and asked for a civil standby from the MCSO so that she could get some of her and their kids' possessions from the house they shared; Sergeant Hansen was available to help out. Trooper Sammy insisted that he be there s that they could talk, but his wife did not want that and proposed to bring a sheriff escort, which prompted the 'shootout' comment.
After a call by Sergeant Hansen to Trooper Sammy to notify him that he would be accompanying Rebecca and wanted no problems, he acted surprised and assured him there wouldn't be. As they came, Trooper Sammy was leaving and was thanked for the peaceful protocol by Hansen.
But Trooper Sammy didn't just leave to get a sandwich, he travelled to the parents of Rebecca and scared them enough to have them call both 9-1-1 and Rebecca, whose girl friend ran out to tell Sgt. Hansen about the events. Dispatch later apprised Sgt. Hansen that Sammy left that venue.
When Sammy pulled up he approached her and chest bumped her against the house.
To be safe, Sgt. Hansen followed the car containing Rebecca back into town, driving south on Jebavy, and noted Trooper Sammy heading north going past them; Hansen then noticed Sammy doing a U-turn, and so he pulled into Tire-It Wholesale.
But Sammy continued on to Rebecca's friends house with the Hansens/Hansons close behind. Hansen interviewed the women, Hanson interviewed Trooper Sammy. Rebecca's girl friend reported she was chest bumped against her own house by Trooper Sammy.
"You going to leave that outside, someone is going to be fucking with it."
When accounts of what happened are exchanged, Trooper Seymour leaves the area, but first he pulls up behind the MCSO car and yells his wife's name, who ignores him and closes the garage door behind her, leaving her own van outside the full garage. In raised voice and in full view of the sheriff deputies, he makes the above threat at her van. Sergeant Hansen in disbelief asks "Did you just say that?" Trooper Sammy smiles and drives away, later to meet with Deputy Hanson.
No supplemental reports indicate anything further went down other than Sheriff Cole being notified (who reportedly contacted Trooper Sammy's boss, MSP Lt. Leavitt, and the sheriff's office indicate this is the only such incident in the record.
Analysis
Perhaps the best analysis of this incident comes by considering all that happened and was allowed by the MCSO personnel due primarily to their deference to Trooper Sammy's position. If Trooper Sammy was just Sammy, a cheating husband with access to plenty of guns who threatened a shootout with deputies if his wife brought them along to assure her safety, do you think he may have been treated differently?
If regular Sammy was trying to break into his wife's parent's house making them also call 9-1-1, would Sammy have been treated differently? Do you think they might check into the alleged assault regular Sammy was reported to have done with the chest bump? Do you think they would give regular Sammy a pass on his implied threat on his wife's van?
There is plenty in the report to give one questions as to what was not included in this or subsequent reports. But there are plenty of red flags as to the character of Trooper Seymour indicated in the narrative. Domestic problems happen with police officers just like any other segment of the population, and misunderstandings occur in each one. But is this the type of person we want to deal with these situations, and traffic violations, on the job?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Doe Jr on
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What a dangerous situation.
Any protocol for domestic disputes involving law enforcement?
Seems like a conflict of interest for him to be present when another officer has been summoned to assist her.
My stomach is twisted to hear someone dear to me suffered such a traumatic event.
How could one's mind ever be at ease after such an incident.
Would you ever feel safe?
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Sticking up for a low-life wife abuser, drunk, who had affairs, lied to his wife,tried to break into her parents home, and used his badge to wash it all away?
You sound real sharp' Are you the one he had the affair with in a kids bed? Or, was it the motel?
Obviously he had that right until he threatened her.He should have went to jail for assault instead of being able to use his badge and gun to further harass, intimidate her, and threaten another officer.
He threatened his wife previously, and threatened the sheriff's officer who escorted her.If an officer was present, the officer could document what items she took in respect of her safety. His rights at that point are not justified, and could have had deadly results.
Basically, it doesn't even matter what she takes. It is a civil situation, and he can claim whatever he wants later in court.
The only thing you said I can agree with is, " that is the way the law works."
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Permalink Reply by XLFD on
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Celeste,
Allow me a little old-fashioned sexism, but if Sammy had been involved in an extramarital affair leading to the dissolution of the marriage bond with his wife, as is alleged and was never denied by Sammy, he is being a pretty poor example of a man by not being the one who moved out of the house as penance for his infidelities, and to set a better example for his kids who also get displaced. It must have been traumatic for them seeing their supposedly-honorable dad behave that way.
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Permalink Reply by Willy on
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It would appear that Seymour's worst enemy is himself along with his buddy, alcohol. Imagine getting pulled over by an angry drunk officer. I think all police officers should have a psychological examination prior to being hired and then after that an annual exam to determine if they are fit to continue to perform their duties.
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Obviously, you are a cop sucker.
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To prove I am a nice guy...
It's from the Urban Dictionary.
TOP DEFINITIONa title given to girls that only sleep with cops.usually because said girl has no father figure and/or no older brother who could inform her that all cops are d******* f***.ex.1)
dude, that chick is kinda hot...its a shame she's a copsucker.
ex.2)
drunk cop: dude, ill get way more p**** than you because of this badge.
drunk cops friend: that's because this town is filled with copsuckersby villasrat March 10, 2009
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Celeste, what wild allegations? The man was arrested for drunk driving. That means he consumed to much alcohol and operated a motor vehicle under it's influence. I don't care what Seymour does on his private time but anyone who drinks to excess and breaks the law by driving drunk cannot be allowed to enforce the laws of the land. He and other officers that do as he has done need to be tested to see if they are fit for duty. These people carry weapons and are allowed to strong arm citizens. It is important that we know they will not use force beyond what is necessary. Sounds like your making excuses for bad behavior.
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I didn't personally know the x president of West Shore community college either but he made the news just like Sam. I'm commenting on a police report. Are you suggesting that all the stories surrounding Sam are false? That would make him one unlucky guy. When you say Sam did very well on his field sobriety test and any other tests he took do you mean he was not drunk and driving and that his brothers of the badge are trying to railroad him? You must know something we haven't heard about yet so if you care to share what information you have that contradicts what the authorities have then please share it. If not then you are only speculating as to what actually happened.
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The attached police report is a public record, anybody can get these reports if they want to take the time to do it. Being that Trooper Sammy is likely to get a free pass and resume mobile police work in the future, I was curious enough to follow some leads and request this report. There was enough of interest on Sammy's character and how the MCSO operated in it that I felt compelled to share, out of it being more in the public interest than being a tragedy about a couple.
His sister, on the other hand, in the traffic stop on January 17, 2015, did nothing wrong, unlike Sammy that night, and she was seized and imprisoned and faces at least two felonies from the same organization that allowed reported threats, assaults, and attempted B&E to occur without consequence in 2013 with Sammy.
In closing, if Sheriff Cole wanted to discredit the MSP, there has been plenty of opportunity, particularly if we look at the Marble shooting, where the MCSO only became involved after the action was pretty much done. The official report from the MSP leaves a lot of questions that the incident narrative just isn't kosher with, and probably could be blown apart by frankness from one of the original arriving deputies. There may be some petty rivalries existing between police serving different jurisdictions, but they have seemed (at least until the Seymour DUI stop) to be brothers in arms.
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Sounds like you clean toilets at the jail.
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Not the *actual toilets mind you' Just the mess*
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Celeste,
This is a police report submitted by Sergeant Hansen, and your hearsay charge is a bit out of line. Hearsay is "information received from other people that one cannot adequately substantiate". Hansen put in some potential hearsay in the background of what may have happened at the Best Western, and perhaps in the eventual divorce proceedings, the daughter would testify as to the accuracy of her observations, and make it non-hearsay.
Rebecca's report of a shootout was not hearsay, she reported that's what she heard Sammy say, even if you might think Sammy didn't mean it or that she was fibbing. Hansen talked with Seymour before he arrived at the residence, he omitted in the report whether he asked about the statement. One would think this would be something they would talk about.
Much of the rest of the report is Hansen's own observations and interviews with direct witnesses. The chest bump is not hearsay, as the person who reportedly was bumped, said she was and presumably Rebecca saw that. What Sammy did at her parents would also not be hearsay. if Hansen felt it was within the scope of the investigation of the incident and they confirmed it.
The greatest casualty in DV situations is the truth, but are we going to believe that Rebecca, her parents, her girl friend, her daughter, Sergeant Hansen and Deputy Hansen were all conspiring against Trooper Sammy or hallucinating?
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