Eviction Escalation in Grant Township

[XLFD]

Mason county's justice system and law enforcement is out of control.  An article written by Patti Klevorn of the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews) tells a story that illustrates this.  This article is reprinted in it's entirety below for analysis. 

A series of errors by legal professionals may have a 56 year old Amber Township man sitting behind bars for the rest of his life, because the system failed to protect his rights.  It starts off with a process server coming by 'his home' to serve him eviction papers.  The guy doesn't come to the door to accept the process, so the server calls for police assistance.

As a former apartment manager, I've had to go through the routine of serving eviction papers to deadbeat tenants, so I can commiserate with the frustration of the server.  However, the man had a legal right not to come to the door to receive the eviction.  The server should have let it go, and tried again.  When the MCSO arrived they should have explained to the process server (who could be a professional or just a normal person) that they cannot force the man to open the door and be served. 

According to the article, the deputies were talking with the man at his door when he made a reference to shooting.  From the circumstances, it would probably have been something like "Get off my property, or I will start shooting."  The article is unclear and taken from the deputies involved, which makes me think that it wasn't a hard threat. 

What was threatening was that the deputies then invaded the man's home, escalating the situation and likely violating the man's Fourth Amendment rights to be secure in his home.  I say likely, because mentioning 'shooting' in a non-specific way would usually not rise to an exigent circumstance to have law enforcement operatives invade a person's house absent of a warrant.  They received a felony arrest warrant shortly thereafter on the basis of the man's defense of his homestead.

As we sort through the verifiable facts, let's not forget how the Mason County Sheriff's Office escalated simple traffic stops, attacking innocent vehicle passengers, Kimberly Septrion, and Joseph McAdam and charging them with serious crimes when they were actually the victim of serious crimes conducted by the MCSO.  Thankfully, we have tapes of those encounters; it is yet unknown whether we will have records of this interaction that went bad, that would indicate whether there were any threats and whether it was legitimate for the deputies to do what they did.

Perhaps if we do, we can once again observe how poorly our county trains its deputies.  We will try to update this story as new information comes in.  There is a fair possibility that the process server worked for the MCSO, here is what they provide to landlords concerning this service.  If that was the case, they surely should know their bounds and not have to call for backup to serve process papers.

Ambulances from Grant Township Fire & Rescue and Life EMS block Amber Road at Countyline Road in Mason County's Grant Township Friday afternoon as they wait to hear if they are needed at the scene in which Mason County Sheriff's Office deputies say a man threatened to shoot them. 

GRANT TOWNSHIP — What started as service of an eviction notice ended in a 56-year-old man threatening to shoot Mason County sheriff’s deputies Friday afternoon. 

It could have ended much worse, Sheriff Kim Cole said. 

No shots were fired and no one was hurt or killed. 

“There is nothing to indicate the community is at risk,” Cole said. 

He does not have a violent criminal history, deputies determined, and they are learning more about him personally now through communication with people who are familiar with him. 

There is an arrest warrant for the man and the department is taking this time to re-evaluate the situation and let the man’s emotions settle. How and when he’ll be arrested is to be determined. 

“The arrest warrant is not going to go away,” Cole said. 

Two deputies were at the scene of the North Amber Road residence after they were called to assist a process server when the man refused to come to the door for the server to give an eviction court order.

The home is in foreclosure. 

Deputies went to the door of the home in the rural area off Countyline Road Friday. The man made a comment about shooting and went back into the house. The deputies went in after him. 

“He made it into a bedroom and again said something about shooting at them, and he could be heard racking a weapon,” Cole said. 

The deputies called in for assistance and together the Mason County Sheriff's Office, Manistee County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Michigan State Police troopers set up a perimeter around the house. 

The man was suicidal, according to information being shared with officers through Mason-Oceana 911.

Life EMS and Grant Township Fire & Rescue personnel responded and were available, staging at the Countyline and Amber roads intersection in case they were needed. 

In the meantime, an arrest warrant for felonious assault was secured, due to the man’s threat of shooting at the deputies, Cole said.

“The deputies perceived it as a very legitimate threat,” Cole said. 

Evaluating the situation, Cole said he decided against a SWAT team, believing it was the safest for everyone to leave the scene, let the man calm down and find out more information before proceeding any further. 

“The things you have to consider include the officers’ and this person’s mindset,” Cole said. “There was a high probability of this ending badly today. We’re going to sit back and re-evaluate.”

The man has an unrelated civil warrant for his arrest, as well, but there was no indication of a previous violent history Friday afternoon, Cole said.

The officers all left the scene about 4:30 p.m.

The man was in the home alone and there was no hostage situation, Cole said. 

http://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/news/local/artic...

[Jasper]

Quote from Sheriff Cole...."There is an arrest warrant for the man and the department is taking this time to re-evaluate the situation and let the man’s emotions settle. How and when he’ll be arrested is to be determined."

How many Mason county citizen's who have been in trouble with the law, have been given this opportunity? Something is not adding up here?  Variable questions could be questioned...Does this man have family in law enforcement?  Does this man have a "well known name?"  

Point being how many Mason county citizen's have been privileged with "re-evaluate the situation and let the man's emotions settle," as stated by Cole.

Or is it just a matter that Sheriff Cole's department totally screwed up??    

[XLFD]

The resounding silence on this issue leads me to believe the answer to your last question is 'yes', and that the man's identity is being withheld for the reason that they don't want him to leak his story out to responsible journalists.

[Willy]

Jasper, I think your final paragraph is closest to the truth. Cole's men stepped into a pile and I think he is  giving the situation time to heal itself in hopes that things will be resolved so they won't have to lower the boom on this guy. Not a bad move on Cole's part. Of course it would have been better not to threaten the man with an arrest warrant and commit the department to the heavy hand approach. If this were Mayberry, Aunt Bea would be having the man over for dinner so Andy and the man could sit on the porch and settle things in a more civilized way.

[Jasper]

Excellent analogy Willy. But, Aunt Bea, Andy, and Mayberry are basically figments of the imagination. LOL!!!

Hopefully, everyone will get an answer from Sheriff Cole.  But, don't hold your breath, as questions have not been answered by Sheriff Cole regarding the Hansen Road incident several months ago!

Or, what happened to Baby Kate, and Melissa Simmons. 

[shinblind]

DAY 9  SHERIFF STILL GATHERING INFO

It should come as no surprise the differences in reporting the story from the Muskegon Chronicle last Tuesday and the above COLDS take on the event.

The most obvious is there is no mention of Joe Doe saying anything about shooting until after the the two Deputies entered the home.  To quote Cole ,"He wouldn't open the door...They went into house. He went into a back bedroom and grabbed a firearm and cocked it and said he was going to start shooting. Deputies left the house and tried to negotiate with him."

Which version of Coles  story is the truth? 

[XLFD]

Thanks for noticing that there has been a story outside of the county that dealt with this:  http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2015/07/armed_evicted_...

This is the problem with making up stories that don't go with the facts; you forget the details of the fiction you created.

[Willy]

What we are not being told is whether this was an eviction notification only or the actual eviction process. My guess is that this was only a notification because if this was the actual eviction the agent would have been accompanied by the police and workers who would have physically moved the man's belongings out of the house. Those people would have been present when the agent knocked on the door. So the agent and police definitely did not follow protocol and are in the wrong. I think the man has grounds for a lawsuit for harassment. I would advise Cole to consult the prosecutor before further escalation of a situation that was caused by the police themselves.

[shinblind]

DAY 10: THE STANDOFF REACHES DOUBLE FIGURES

Cole remains mute.

Were the Deputies using voice recorders when this happened?

 

[shinblind]

DAY 11 THE CRISIS CONTINUES

King Cole Come Clean. 

[XLFD]

Unless the FOIA reply is still going through the mail, as of today, Sheriff Cole is in violation of the FOIA response time provisions for this incident. 

[Willy]

I think all of these officials who have misused and abused the laws and ordinances including the Sheriff should be escorted  to the nearest Ludington exit and be treated they way they have treated the book girl.

[Jane]

I have a nice video of a Mcso stop of a black man out in eastern mason co. Interestingly the black man was let go shortly after he waved at me and the sheriff turned to see me, the officer so obviously reached out to shake hands and then hand him a business card. I'm sure if I had not turned around and went back and pulled up so obvious 25 yards across the road in a field that that black man would not have had a less than 5 minute traffic stop. Off topic, I would post but don't know how. In all honesty I was hoping to get my 15min. of fame or some cash from the media if something went wrong, didn't care how it went down cop or civilian being bad...just wanted the glory of being the videographer.