LPD's Fight Night at the Joe

[XLFD]

Area hockey fans should be familiar with what was called "Fight Night at the Joe", where a legendary March 27, 1997 game between the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche devolved into an epic brawl filled affair with 18 fighting major penalties with even the goalies squaring off against each other, solidifying the intense rivalry between the two premiere teams of the time.

The Ludington Police Department (LPD) had their own "Fight Night at the Joe" around 8 PM on February 29, 2024 on the ice (and snow) when they were told by the city manager to quiet down a citizen (who lived more than two miles away from his home) who was playing some loud music in their backyard.  That citizen, a business owner named Joe Oquist, had his own rivalry with a neighboring business that regularly blared amplified music throughout the neighborhood much louder than his; but they were friendly with the city manager and so never were harassed like Joe Oquist was over the years in a case where the law was obviously enforced unequally.  

Body cam video of the events that night was never given to Joe Oquist through discovery even though he had originally been charged with multiple counts of the felony of resisting arrest.  Those charges were only dropped after Oquist claimed he had security cam footage of the incident which showed that he never resisted arrest.  In fact, he was caught from behind, pulled down stairs, and thrown to the ground, and had a massive police captain throw his weight on his neck and upper shoulder, puncturing his lung, while the other manhandled his arms without asking the frail and peaceful 62-year-old whether he had any health problems that made such action difficult.

LPD Captain Mike Haveman puts his weight on Joe Oquist's neck and upper back while Officer Versluis handcuffs the non-resisting 62 year old business owner, puncturing his lung.

We have commented on this same incident before and have shown Oquist's security video of the incident.  We have also shown some of the history of the bad blood between Oquist and his neighboring business and their close allies in LPD, with this odd 2021 arrest.   All of that and the arrest report has been presented that all lend itself to one heck of a federal lawsuit should Joe Oquist want to pursue one.  

After quibbling with the Ludington FOIA Coordinator, the city council and with amazing delays in circuit court while the wife of a city official who got her job and worked for the city for several years is tasked with being the judge, we have finally, after a year of trying, received Versluis body cam footage of the incident that shows the viciousness of that night's encounter and the violence perpetrated on Joe Oquist by two police not following their own policies and definitely not the Constitution.  This was due to nothing that the conflicted judge ordered, but without further ado, here's the three minute video with an unofficial transcript that follows:

Officer Jared Versluis:  Mr Oquist... Mr. Oquist, come here.  (walking into Ouist's curtilage)

Joe Oquist:  Hey, what's up man. (walking towards back steps, speaker in hand)

JV:  Hey, come here.  (approaches closer as Joe ascends steps) "No, no, no, no" (grabs Joe's arm while he opens the door)

JO:  Hey, I'm putting this inside man. (as he's being drug down, JV grabs at the other arm).

JV:  Come here, you're under arrest.

JO:  For what?!

JV:  For disorderly conduct.

JO:  You've gotta give me a break, man.

JV:  Put your hands behind your back.

JO:  You've gotta give me a break man. (JV drives JO to the ground hard and face first)

JV:  No... put your hands behind your back. (Captain Mike Haveman rushes in puts knee on shoulders)   Alright, give me this other arm.

JO:  I was just taking it inside, man.

JV:  Got it.

JO:  You guys are doing this (unknown)

JV:  Okay

JO:  You are really, really messing up.

JV:  OK.  Roll over... get up.

JO:  Listen guys, I have shit going on, I have my oven on.  What the fuck am I going to do.

Mike Haveman:  Go to jail probably.

JO:  Why?  Just give me a ticket.

MH:  Well, we could have if you didn't want to fight.

JO:  I didn't fight.

MH:  Now we have to take your radio for evidence (unintelligible)

JO:  Are you joking with me?

MH:  Do you think we're joking?  

JO:  No, but why are you doing this, I was just listening to music, give me a ticket, I didn't really resist nothing.

MH:  Yeah, I watched it happen.  (JO placed in car)

JO:  What?  I was... you're nuts, you're liars.

MH:  We're nuts?

JO:  You're liars.  You're lying.  Are you proud of yourself.  Aren't you proud of yourself?

You may wonder why some of the footage is edited out when the camera is aimed more at the house and the exemption is claimed to be from the body cam privacy act.  We wondered that too, and took a picture of the house from a nearby alley right-of-way of the covered porch which makes no pretense of being visually open to all who pass by, like most uncovered porches are, you can even get the following from Google maps taken during late 2024: 

Such a place is not seen as a "private place" according to that law and so there was no reason to add the black squares.  This would launch a FOIA appeal for denial of the complete public record, leaving us with one scattered with unlawful redactions courtesy of the man who was seen in the video kneeling on Joe Oquist's neck like he was Officer Derek Chauvin and then joking with Joe about going to jail when Oquist raises the concern that his oven was on, and infer that his house might burn down if he was taken to jail for the illegal arrest and brutal assault that he was a victim of.  

Both the security and body cam videos show Versluis crossing the vacant lot beside Oquist's home and then entering his backyard through a line of vegetation defining the property line.  As you can see from another Google maps picture from the front of his house (shown above), Oquist has entrance to his backyard blocked by a gate, indicating that Versluis came through the curtilage of his property before grabbing him and throwing him down to the ground rather than act like a professional officer.  The curtilage of one's home has many of the protections of the Fourth Amendment.

This was indeed a professional hit on Joe Oquist from an oppressive city police department that sees no issue with treating him differently from the neighboring business to the north of him, and it should in time make him an awful lot of money in the federal courtroom thanks to the city's philosophy of escalation and thuggery in their police services.  We look forward to showing this video with its unlawful redactions at the next city council meeting in our appeal of their denial to let us have a look at Joe's front porch.  LPD's "Fight Night at the Joe", complete with the irony that Oquist was leapt on during 2024's Leap Day, has at least one more period to go, but it looks like he will have a power play with at least a two-man advantage to score a victory for the full twenty minutes.

[Freedom Seeker]

No wonder LPD and now Mayor, former COP didn't want to give out police body cam of that incident looks like an ambush from behind, pulled down the stairs in his own back yard. Wow!

But many questions of the greater escalation of the situation, provocation and COL favoring the brewery business to play their music so loudly right next to residential neighborhood. Something surely has gone wrong in fairness and neighborliness between the brewery? And the COL in the initial provocation; however, fighting back by breaking the law gets one's hands dirty. How does one get around that?

[RK Hubbard]

"How does one get around that?" Freedom Seeker, one gets around that by bringing a civil suit against the noisemaker, not by making even more unlawful noise. Mr. Oquist was told to "Stop" by uniformed officers when he was about 20 feet from his back door. Instead of stopping, he continued towards his house and started to climb up the steps to his porch, where he could have had a gun or other weapon. Law enforcement officers have an absolute right to enter private property, including a dwelling, to investigate a possible crime, and were absolutely correct to enter his property and to use physical force to stop him. 

[XLFD]

RKH, you may wish to review the Bill of Rights and the ACLU's publications of civil rights matters before making misguided statements like this.

Police have the same rights as you and me, that's why they should be respecting your rights (and vice versa) as a matter of the Golden Rule.  What they have extra is 'powers' and these are granted to them by law; those powers are crafted so as to recognize the rights shared by every citizen in this country, courts are established to interpret those laws when there are gray areas of confusion.  The Fourth Amendment paraphrased protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures (including arrests) by government agents.  The Fourteenth guarantees equal justice under the law for everyone.  The Oquist situation is a classic example of the LPD violating both.

[Freedom Seeker]

Thanks for your viewpoint, RK. However on the body cam I did not hear police announce themselves prowling thru his backyard, and at least one was dressed in street clothes with beach shoes on his feet. It's a tough situation when evidently Mr. Oquist had tried legal means prior with no good resolution from LPD or City of Ludington.

Furthermore for the former city manager to complain from two miles away shows a targeting situation, imo.  Good reason to resign and try to get away from an impending lawsuit.

I probably would have kept trying more legal avenues personally, but that horrible loud music from the brewery would drive a person insane after many attempts to rectify.  Unlawfulness doesn't give an officer the right to aggression and ambush-- L.E. are supposed to have protocol and follow civil right laws and try de-escalation as peace officers.

[Freedom Seeker]

Further:  maybe the LE doesn't have right to enter backyard:  see link.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-the-government-search-b...'s,searches%20(in%20most%20instances).

[Freedom Seeker]

R.K. I'm stinging by you twice using "absolutely" and "absolute right" to do what they (LPD).did in your reply. I think you might be absolutely wrong. What are our police being trained? (same absolutely wrong thinking as you and with seeming absolute authority)? I've reviewed both videos (body can and Oquist security) and the attached reports again and more questions and anger about how the police handled this arise.

There is no "stop" command as you say. Oquist has his hands full and is going to his house. Maybe he is hurrying to put the stuff away so he can go over and talk to the police as he is commanded "come here."

I hear "come here" twice with NO ANNOUNCEMENT THAT HE IS LPD. That is weird because by security cam it looks like Versuliusi is at the edge of the backyard as he rushed thru the trees at the property edge when he commands "come here." Does he really expect Oquist trudge thru the snow.to the edge of the yard when the cop shouldn't even be entering property without exigent circumstance (per articles attached).

About five seconds later Versulius rushes the slight-built (150# per report) Oquist and pulls him down twisting his arm BACKWARD what looks like at least three stairs at his backporch and throws him to the ground... without even telling him he is police or that he is under arrest.

How much does plain clothed Haveman weigh--he's a BIG guy with his knee in Oquists back. Terrible, horrible, disgusting police brutality and underhanded operation to handle things "their own way" with disregard to legalities.

After reading thru all reports attached and videos again, it seems what may have happened is that Mitch Foster WAS at LBB fund raiser (per police report,.not at his residence two miles away per Torch article) and decided to "put a stop to Oquist once and for all." This is total injustice of favoring LBB and not helping a citizen who has complained at least 4-5 times about LBB excessively loud noise and told by same cops "they can play music as loud as they want.

LPD is lucky Oquist didnt resist or escalate and lucky they didnt cause more bodily injury than they did to Oquist.

[XLFD]

Thanks for the roaring defense, and I apologize for making you think that Mitch called this in from his fancy Forest Hills estate.  I made the point that the former city manager lived two miles away to illustrate why this wasn't a proper "disturbing the peace" complaint in the first place.  Our city code section 34-98(7) is what defines it, and it says:

"No person shall permit the use of any radio or television receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, or other machine or device for the producing or reproduction of sound in such a manner as to disturb the peace, quiet and comfort of the neighboring inhabitants..."

Foster was not a neighboring inhabitant, nor are the owners and workers of the LBB, many who don't even live in Ludington.  Oquist's immediate neighbor to the east and the one across the street east of LBB have never filed a noise complaint against Oquist (I checked).  If those neighbors made a complaint about LBB, they were probably given the same dismissive attitude Oquist and I have received from various LPD officers saying the city effectively grants LBB immunity from disturbing the peace complaints, but not Oquist, who doesn't have the sound tech to match LBB.  

To finish my thought, Oquist IS a neighboring inhabitant of LBB; he has every right to call in noise complaints on LBB and have them cited when they're in violation, as do I when I'm two blocks away when my peace, quiet, and comfort is disturbed by amplified outdoor music.  

[Freedom Seeker]

Thanks for that clarification on where the call originated and I see what you meant now.