Torch Exclusive: MSP Trooper Seymour Blew .14 BAC at Traffic Stop, Sister Unlawfully Detained, Brutalized

[XLFD]

Michigan State Trooper Sammy Sidney Seymour who was driving his sister home from the bar early in the morning of January 17, 2015 initially refused a 'Breathalyzer' (PBT) test, but about a half hour later consented and clocked in at .14 BAC, almost twice the legal limit of impaired driving in Michigan. 

Seymour had initially been seen coming from the parking area in front of the Alley Bar by Ludington Police Department (LPD) Officer Steve Wietrzykowski, who saw him drive north a block on South James Street, then headed east on Filer St without any headlights on.  Wietrzykowski then saw the red VW Jetta stop in the middle of the street, before turning from Harrison to Loomis heading past the courthouse, with lights.  Before any lights were activated by the LPD officer, the car turned up Delia heading south, and stopped. 

Behind the wheel was off-duty MSP Trooper Seymour, with his sister, Kimberly Septrion in the back seat, and a young woman named Tracy Smith in the passenger's seat.  Smith self-reportedly had been along to 'babysit' Septrion at the bar, but like her traveling companions, had a few that night.  Officer Wietrzykowski smelled a 'very strong odor of intoxicants', including an open Busch beer by the driver.  in short order Seymour was taken from the Jetta to the back of the LPD SUV. 

Less than a minute later, with Wietrzykowski's formal arrest of Seymour occurring after his refusal to take tests, his sister got out of the Jetta on her own initiative and went back to the LPD vehicle just after Wietrzykowski came back to check out the open beverage and other indicators.

Reportedly, Sheriff Deputy Fort shows up shortly after the LPD officer tries to resume the investigation of Seymour, but is being interfered with by Septrion.  Wietrzykowski reports:

This part of the report is troubling, and is basically backed up by LPD Officer Chad Skiba's report:

Skiba uses the term 'officers' physically dealing with a female when he reports on what he sees at first, and yet his in-car video does not activate until after 2:30 AM, three minutes after Ms. Septrion is whisked away by Deputy Fort to the jail as seen below (the moving car in the street):

The first image from Skiba's in-car camera starts after all the action with Septrion is done, and Smith is rounded up and she apparently accepts a ride home voluntarily from Officer Skiba:

 

The absence of footage from the encounter with Septrion is troubling with the way the reports are written.  As a back seat passenger, Septrion was under no threat of arrest for anything.  Wietrzykowski seems to indicate that she was interfering with an investigation, but her proximity to the patrol car seems to be the main problem noted, and the distorted audio does not indicate she was yelling outside the original patrol car, yet he does not indicate he was outside with Deputy Fort trying to control her, as Skiba's report indicates. 

There is no reason stated by any officer why she needed to be put voluntarily in the back of the deputy's car.  She was never declared under arrest, never detained for the purpose of questioning, never given any probable cause of why she should be locked up in the back of a vehicle.  There are threats of arrest by Wietrzykowski if she didn't stay away from the patrol car, which he admits Deputy Fort was successful in doing. 

Without any articulable reason for detention, they forcefully placed her in the back of the sheriff's car; drunk or not, Septrion had a reason to be upset and fight for her freedom that was taken from her.  The two charges against her, non-aggravated assault and obstructing police can only be claimed to have happened after her unlawful detention. 

But that's not all.  Unmentioned in the official reports so far is the fact that the officers admit taking Ms. Septrion down to the ground to handcuff her, where she struck the street's pavement with her face and chipped a tooth.  Look for the prosecutor to heap a lot of charges on Ms. Septrion when the real crime here was unlawful imprisonment by the sheriff's office of Mason County and the LPD acting in concert.  These two entities acting in concert to take a guiltless person down in the middle of the street just like they did the day they did the same to Joe McAdam.  But they spared the tasers for the lady.

The City and County will once again get sued because their officers just don't want to use their training.  But kudos and commendation should be placed on LPD Officer Wietrzykowski, who did the most impartial traffic stop I've ever seen a LPD officer do, and fairly report on what one might expect of a cornered rat named Sammy Sidney Seymour:

See the complete report here:  2015 1-17 Seymour Stop.pdf

With the Citation here, and the BBUT Report here.

[XLFD]

Documents and recordings received from the Mason County Sheriff's Office verify the conclusions found in this article, and indicate a bigger problem.

[AQUAMAN]

Welcome aboard Celeste. Give some members time to drive by this station before you judge in haste, as you just got here yourself a few hours ago, not years ago. The first thing I found suspicious is that Seymour got a whopping long time before he got a PBT. From the records here, it appears like 45 minutes, from 2:30-3:15am, and I thought the original report two weeks ago said 2:20am stop, not 2:30am. Either way, 45 minutes with no dash cam footage is certainly a long delay, probably intentional from all we see these days, and how convenient too. I think the Septrion situation also is suspect. She certainly doesn't need detainment for concern for her brother, and if so, then arrest her right away. Instead, the officers escalate her demeanor, then trounce her to the pavement and use excessive force to handcuff a drunk girl. They didn't appear to say they used any psychological approach on her at all, instead, escalated her trauma and effectually, created more chaos, which gives them the right to batter and arrest her. Yes, and it's amazing officer Ski made another later statement, one which he did not  offer with routine reporting, just another footnote the day after, which again, leads to more suspicion of Seymour's actual statements. As is expected, and oh so convenient, most of this isn't on the dash cam, so it's the citizen's word against the Gestapo again! And there is no doubt whom the Judge will believe, right?

[XLFD]

Good analyses, Aquaman and Celeste.  This is the sequel to McAdam, with so many similarities it's troubling.  LPD stops a suspected DWI, while dealing effectively with the driver, extra help from LPD and the MCSO arrives and without any review of the facts of the stop with the initial officer, get involved with the guiltless passenger who legally get out from their car and can't objectively be said to be interfering with the investigation of the driver.  Both guilt-free passengers are taken down onto the street by the LPD and MCSO working in concert, injuring the party, then they create charges for the innocent person whose rights they greatly infringed upon. 

Our police agencies do not learn when they do these things and are effectively rewarded for them later by the County Board and the City Council, who praise them every chance they get.  The big issue in this traffic stop is not that a MSP Trooper was involved in a DWI, it's that his sister was beaten up and then humiliated in very clear violation of her rights.

[stump]

I wonder how the boy's in blue feel about LPO Wietrzzykowski doing his job arresting Seymour for DUI? Now we'll see if the award wining low life prosecutor will do his.

[XLFD]

This traffic stop has the potential to create rifts between the parties of the prosecutor, the LPD, the MCSO and the MSP because of all the issues involved.  Plus there may be another shoe to drop and hit the fan.

[Willy]

The late addition to the Wietrzykowski report indicates that his memory cleared a bit after thinking about how his career could be affected if he left out important information. I hope he doesn't leave out pertinent information in other official reports he files. How can he be trusted now that it's clear that he is capable of falsifying reports. By the way what he did is not that uncommon. The police do it all the time to improve the odds of perps being successfully prosecuted and to cover their rears if something went wrong or their actions were inappropriate.

[AQUAMAN]

"The police do it all the time to improve their odds", yup, it's called just what X said of recent, a two-tiered justice system. One for the citizens, and one for the cops, esp. if we are talking about LE in Mason County. I wonder if any LPD officers would also forget to mention if they were being offered bribes? It's just as serious, and we all know that scenario would also be surely immediately on the initial report.

[XLFD]

I'm guessing Officer Wietrzykowski (after the genie was out of the bottle) probably had the opportunity to check out his dash cam video/audio and realized that that information would still land in the hands of local media and be reported, so that the addition was needed to illustrate that he was not obviously covering that up. 

I am going to check on Trooper Seymour's past with some information that is trickling in, because I don't think it's seemly for someone with DWI and open beverage container violations obviously against him, (along with pleas for leniency and for off-the-record negotiations) to be writing others up for over-tinted windows, noisy mufflers, and expired plates.

[Willy]

X, you have to watch your back when dealing with these officers and their misdeeds. They know how to sidestep the law and how to cover up wrong doings and the investigating power they have allows them to delve into citizens private lives and can be used against people they consider enemies. I'm sure your going to be rubbing a few of these officers the wrong way so be careful because when someone has the control and power of a law enforcement agency it becomes very easy to "frame" an individual that they consider a "trouble maker".

[XLFD]

I'm sure I've just rubbed a few more the wrong way with my most recent post, particularly the guys wearing county brown.  Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, badged or not, for thou, Willy and others, art with me. 

My latest use of the LPD (and a whole lot of other anecdotal evidence over the last few years) has proved to my satisfaction that Chief Barnett's LPD is little more than a joke and a money pit for the citizens of Ludington.  Sheriff Cole's MCSO is almost as bad, but at least the sheriff can be held accountable for what goes on.   It's pretty sad when a lot of citizens are reluctant to call the police because they expect so little out of them and/or fear their unrestrained power that grows in magnitude each year.

[AQUAMAN]

When you walk down a city street sidewalk, get attacked by two black lab dogs not on a leash, and then the owner also assaults you physically, and the LPD reacts with no arrest on the dog owner, you know your back is definitely at risk. Chief Barnett obviously must have choreographed the result. I was told over 20 years ago just touching another individual with one finger, however innocent and incidental, constitutes an assault and battery on that person. I guess Chief Barnett and officer Miller have their own conclusions and interpretations as to whom is guilty of battery, and when it applies. The supposedly good guys can't decide who is and who is not guilty, if the behavior fits the profile, just by the name of the individual involved. That's not legal, nor fair. But, who says you have to be legal or fair if you wear the badge and gun? Next time maybe that will be recorded to see if the LPD can play fair with people they obviously have a bias for and don't like.

[AQUAMAN]

Let's hope he demanded a blood test too. He probably wouldn't pass it perhaps, but, it might improve his test score. Everyone IS ENTITLED to DEMAND a BLOOD TEST, just fyi, and there are hospital witnesses there too.