Why Ludington's Kayak Guy's Arrest Affects You

[XLFD]

You may have caught the news of an arrest of a kayaker over the last weekend in one of the local media outlets, such as the MCP, and found it amusing before scrolling down to other things.  Or you could have been like me, and wanted to know more and wondered why the kayaker was pursued in the first place. 

Fortunately, our local media, who typically get the weekend press releases from the Mason County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) and run with it almost verbatim, were not the only ones that took an interest in the story.  Lynne Moore of Mlive delved a little deeper into the subject, perhaps lured by the fact that the MCSO report had two other instances of assaultive behavior on MCSO deputies over this last weekend.  Her report follows with the two other incidents edited out for focus and brevity:

LUDINGTON, MI – A sucker punch to a deputy's face allegedly by a drunken kayaker was among three assaultive incidents against Mason County Sheriff's deputies over the weekend, the others taking place at a hospital and a library of all places.

Alan Glenn Ross, 56, of Ludington was arraigned Monday for felonious assault on a sheriff's deputy, who ended up tasing the kayaker on Ludington's Crosswinds Beach. The deputy, who was called after the kayaker allegedly harrassed local fishermen, suffered cuts to his mouth, said Mason County Sheriff Kim C. Cole...

Ross allegedly had been harassing fishermen lined on the Ludington channel's north break wall, Cole said. The fishermen complained to Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers who were checking for fishing licenses, Cole said.

"(Ross) paddled close and gave the DNR officers the finger and started yelling obscenities," Cole said.

He then paddled to the south side of the channel, so the conservation officers called for assistance apprehending him, and one of Cole's deputies responded, the sheriff said.

"When the deputy approached him, he started verbally battering the deputy, swearing at the deputy, refusing the deputy's commands," Cole said. "And when the deputy approached him, he punched him once."

The deputy suffered a split lip and cut on the inside of his mouth. He grabbed his taser and fired, but the cartridge misfired, Cole said.

"After the taser failed, the guy started closing in on the deputy," Cole said. "The deputy took some evasive steps and was ... effective with the second taser."

Ross was arraigned Monday for aggravated felonious assault on a police officer - strong arm and disorderly conduct, according to the sheriff's office. Bail was set at 10 percent of $7,500, and he remained lodged in the Mason County Jail Monday afternoon.

The account of this incident should make you uneasy, for even if you believe Ross was acting improperly, the facts presented indicate both the conservation officers and deputy also acted inappropriately.  Here's why.

The fisherman claim that Ross was harassing them, presumably verbally, since no encroachment or physical harassing behavior is inferred.  The DNR officers were there checking licenses and got upset themselves when Ross, still in his kayak, swore at them and gave them the 'finger'.  Ross' behavior is definitely antisocial and against normal public decorum, but he's well within his First Amendment rights to swear at a DNR officer and offer them up the finger.  Courts in Michigan and elsewhere recognize such speech as protected. 

The 'Disorderly Conduct' charge at this point is thus unfounded, as a look at that statute (MCL 750.167 ) has only one section that comes close to application, namely DC occurs when:  

"(e) A person who is intoxicated in a public place and who is either endangering directly the safety of another person or of property or is acting in a manner that causes a public disturbance."   Here are what constitutes a legal description of public disturbances.

If the eventually arresting officers could maintain that Ross was intoxicated (not just ornery) and that he created a public disturbance (which was not the case with the data given), they had no reason to harass Ross any further after his breach of social etiquette.  Presuming they made their intent to detain Ross known to him, Ross did the sensible thing by retreating across the channel to de-escalate the situation.  But the call to the MCSO was made, along with what we have to assume is the DNR officers intention to arrest the man-- for engaging in legally protected free speech.

Once Ross gets to the other side and before any punches are thrown, there is a lot of gaps in what happened.  Sheriff Cole insists that Ross was verbally battering the deputy, which one must presume is what he was doing to the DNR officers.  Battery, in legal terms, cannot be done verbally.  Cole then claims he was not listening to the deputy's commands, but perhaps Ross knew that the deputies orders were not being done in accordance with the law and of the deputy's duty to uphold all laws.

Sheriff Cole then claims the deputy approached the kayaker, still without any given reason to do so other than to unnecessarily escalate the situation or to effectuate an unwarranted arrest.  Ross did not approach the officer, the alleged 'punch' could easily have been a defensive reflex against an unlawfully acting person threatening him and rushing him with a variety of weapons at their disposal. 

Ross was then targeted with a taser which misfired, and then Ross reportedly 'closed in' on the deputy, who then fired a second taser successfully. 

Ross does not look very drunk in his mugshot, he is old enough to understand that chasing a cop who has a gun at their disposal and who is not otherwise following lawful protocol is not a smart move.  So this vaguely described altercation seems to be a stretch of what actually happened.

So the reader of this piece should be troubled that even the 'official' version of events indicate that Ross did nothing legally wrong up until his space was encroached upon by the deputy, threatening Ross with arrest with unlawful and misguided authority.  It is a recurring theme with this sheriff's office:  see also Joseph McAdam, and Kimberly Septrion to name a couple.

[Willy]

what kind of society lets the Ross's of the World bully people. The DNR and police had every right to confront Ross and determine if he posed a threat to others. He obviously was a threat because he cold-cocked a cop. If that cop had been a private citizen and didn't expect a fist in the mouth there could have been some serious consequences. Also if the police had ignored Ross and he had fallen into the water and drowned I'm sure there would be an outcry about the police not doing their job. If Ross had apologized for his behavior and said he was leaving and going home I'm sure the DNR officer would not have turned the situation over to the police. Any way this is sliced, it's Ross who brought this on himself and ruined the day for a lot of people. At the end of the day the rights of an angry and violent agitator must be weighed against the rights of other people to exist without being harassed or threatened, therefore I side with the people who are peaceably going about their business. Ross's rights were not violated. He was the one violating others people's rights.

[dowland]

Al grew up here and went to school at LHS until he moved in with Omer Young with youth for Christ, his senior year at MCC. He left town and moved around, stayed for some time in Hawaii. He has come back to Michigan and has crashed at old class mates places,  until they give him the boot, he even was living in a tent I heard.  He has his share of his demons that he has been trying to run from. He is not someone I would put my neck out for anymore.  I have and have been burnt as many others have. Until he gets clean, this is just one more of MANY stunts that he gets himself into. You cant be rash with an unstable person. I could fill twenty pages of stories . Hopefully  he will get help with this. Money from a law suite is like pouring gasoline on a raging fire. He needs help.  Course if people on this site really care, they can always ask him to move in with them. If you have a couch , you will have a hard time getting him to leave, though. I am sure he will need a place once he is out of jail. LOL

[Jasper]

Dowland none of the above formentioned matter in a court of law. What matters is it appears Mr. Ross was violated by the very people that serve and protect.

[dowland]

Jasper, I was just responding to Aquaman ? about Al.

[XLFD]

Ross apparently lived to the south of us in Michigan recently (according to recent reports an apartment at 502 E. Danaher) and was in trouble with the law down in Holland and perhaps even in Colorado (arrested in Holland 2012).  He's not the type of person I would suggest hanging out with.  But like with incidents described in detail at the Torch with Martin Schilling, Todd Lane Johnson, Joseph McAdam and Kimberly Septrion-- all otherwise upstanding citizens-- the original stories from the MCSO were dishonest and/or incomplete, hiding abuses of discretion and/or authority of the agency. 

Here, one would expect the MCSO deputy to at least be miked and there to be a fair chance for meaningful video to gauge the events that happened at Buttersville.  As for the pierhead, there has still not been any reasonable case made to explain why the DNR called the county cops to harass a kayaker so far away from the purported 'crime scene', and what they conveyed so as to have the deputy eventually approach Ross as to detain him.  These are issues that one should divorce from the character and alleged 'verbal battery' of Ross.

[Willy]

That is a good point X about Ross being away from the scene and being confronted by the police however the DNR officer thought Ross's actions warranted the police's intervention and when called to respond to a complaint the police are duty bound to check it out. So I wouldn't consider this harassment of a kayaker, I would consider this as law enforcement doing the job they are hired to perform. The police did not just randomly pursue Ross. There was a concern about his stability and what his intentions were so when the officer approached him, Ross had several choices in how to respond to the officer but he chose to respond with violence. Obviously the DNR officer assessed the situation correctly. I understand the potential for violating peoples rights when pursued by police without any provocation but in this instance there was plenty of evidence that Ross was looking for trouble.

[Jasper]

So says the LDN and the MCP. We all know how accurate they report. We also know how truthful the police are in telling the truth. Right Willy? Hopefully the details of this event will come out. Hoping dash and audio were used.

[AQUAMAN]

I too hope dash and audio's were used, because they tell us exactly what is going on with LE when they stop someone. The only problem with that assumption in this event is that I don't think anyone on the pier, nor the DNR, have a video of what prompted this particular situation. That would indeed tell us exactly what "started this whole matter". I have to side with the fishermen, from the info. so far. Besides all that, Ross, as stated before, didn't act with any respect and reasonableness. He was drunk, perhaps very very intoxicated, given he put a battery on a LE Officer, that alone is enough for me. Unless Ross was defending himself from being killed with a firearm, he has no excuse for this. Aside from all of this, I thought people out for clean fresh air, exercise, good sport, didn't have to get drunk and smoke cigarettes to enjoy it, that defeats the whole purpose of kayaking to begin with don't you think?

[XLFD]

Hopefully, Ross will learn from this that when he goes kayaking the next time, he should bring along his own lighter so he can smoke, drink, and swear up a storm without getting in trouble. 

I will grant you that the DNR is hardly likely to have any sort of recordings, they might not have even filed an incident report of the affair, but one would believe that their side would definitely be included on the deputy's full report as to what they relayed to the MCSO and what the disorderly conduct portion of the charges was about.

[Jasper]

The DNR are nothing more then an extension of law enforcement. They can pull you over just like a cop. Somewhere along the way the DNR has acquired bounds outside of issuing tickets for not possessing a fishing license, not tagging a deer etc... Just gander a look at court proceeding in the local rags.

[Willy]

Again I agree with Aquaman. I believe the fishermen. You can bet that if Ross had been on the breakwater and bad mouthed them, he probably would have gotten the lighter he requested but only after it was shoved up his a_s. Not every encounter the police have with the public is with an innocent person. There are bad people who must be dealt with and this is why a body camera needs to be worn by every officer. If Ross had not hit the officer we probably would not be discussing this now.

 

[Jasper]

And you were present at the scene of what occurred between Ross and law enforcement? Due to today's climate of some of the out of control law enforcement, it becomes very difficult for the public to discern between good cops and bad cops. As has been witnessed right in this community we have some "bad apple" cops!!!