Police brutality in Chattanooga, TN

[PrisonerOfHope]

Wow, never thought I'd see police brutality in Chattanooga! I was at the gas station across from Walmart, and two police offices pulled up behind a woman who was walking away from Walmart and sounded their siren for a second to get her attention. She ignored them (or maybe didn't realize they were after her), and kept on walking....at no time did she run or try to evade them in any way. They came up behind her, grabbed her, and violently threw her to the ground and cuffed her. She was probably a suspected shoplifter, but their behavior was totally uncalled for - they could easily have each grabbed one of her arms without throwing her down.

I still can't believe I saw that....not near where I live....

Oddly enough, I saw no mention of this in the local police blotter.

[baydoll]

Not far from where I live a lady was killed earlier this year by a cop as she was sitting in her car in a church parking lot:


Family Wants Answers After Woman Shot, Killed By Officer

Posted on: 5:44 pm, March 14, 2012, by Shawndrea Thomas, updated on: 05:58pm, March 14, 2012

Friends and family of Alton native Patricia Cook are still in shock after hearing she was shot and killed by a Culpeper, Virginia police officer. Leaving them with more questions than answers about what happened between Patricia and the officer.

On February 9, 2012 the 54 year old was killed while sitting in her jeep near a church in Culpepper, Virginia. Lifelong friend Michelle Moulton who went to Alton High School with Patricia and says the town and family members are still in shock. Cook also known by her maiden name of Barger was a Sunday school teacher who once owned a beauty salon in Alton. She also loved crafts and working with children.

“I was heartbroken.. stunned enraged she was the sweetest quietest most genuine person you ever met I’m completely flabbergasted by it,” said Michelle Moulton.

Virginia state police say the Culpeper police officer shot Cook because she rolled up her window trapping the officer’s arm.

There are also claims that she tried to drive off dragging the officer, but two witnesses claim that’s not true.

Cooks mother Carol Weigler says her daughter was soft spoken and never had problems with the police. The question as to why she was at the Cuplepper Catholic Church is still unknown.

“We’re dealing with it the best way we know how we hope to learn sometime why he did it.”

“We still don’t know what she was doing there I was thinking she was looking for a job maybe at the daycare center,” said Carol Weigler.

There is still an ongoing debate over exactly what happened to Patricia Cook. Now all her family and friends want is to make sure the case is fully investigated.

“Whatever the results are that their honest and true and evaluated I know who she was as a person and know it was unjustified,” said Moulton

Virginia state police say the case is still open and under investigation, the unnamed officer is still on leave.


They later found the cop guilty of murder:

Former Culpeper, Va., police officer charged with murder was hired despite objections


By Justin Jouvenal, Published: June 8


A Culpeper, Va., police officer charged with killing a Sunday school teacher was hired despite the objections of superiors who said his excessive drinking and attitude made him a poor choice, prosecution filings show.

Daniel Harmon-Wright, 32, had also been disciplined as an officer, including once for forcing his way into a home and brandishing his weapon without probable cause or a warrant, according to a prosecution motion in opposition to his request for bond.

The details emerged Friday as the Gainesville resident was granted a $100,000 bond by a Culpeper judge. Harmon-Wright, who has been suspended without pay, is facing a murder charge and three other charges in the shooting of Patricia Cook, 54, of Culpeper while responding to a suspicious-person call in February.

“Two officials after a full background [check] recommended that Mr. Harmon-Wright not be hired as a police officer,” special prosecutor James Fisher told reporters after the hearing. “That was, of course, overturned.”

Harmon-Wright says he shot the woman in self-defense, opening fire after she trapped his fingers in the window of her Jeep Wrangler and began driving erratically across the parking lot of a Catholic school in Culpeper, according to his motion for bond.

Harmon-Wright claims he fired more shots into the back of the Wrangler after it made a left turn because a sunscreen blocked Cook’s front windshield and she posed a danger to pedestrians.

“She couldn’t see where she was going, and she was accelerating on a residential street,” said Daniel L. Hawes, Harmon-Wright’s attorney.

A photograph included in the prosecution’s motion shows three bullet holes in the driver’s seat of Cook’s Wrangler, including one in the headrest.

Harmon-Wright, a five-year veteran of the force, was hired in 2006. During a background check, Harmon-Wright told police officials that he had been disciplined for excessive drinking in the Marine Crops and had driven under the influence of alcohol three months before his interview, according to prosecution filings. It’s not clear why Harmon-Wright was hired despite the objections of two police officials.

Bethany Sullivan, Harmon-Wright’s mother and an administrative assistant to the former Culpeper police chief, has been charged with forging Harmon-Wright’s entrance exam for the Town of Culpeper and one of his annual reviews.

Harmon-Wright was disciplined in connection with a 2011 incident in which he chased a 15-year-old boy after a suspicious-person report, prosecution filings show. The officer started banging on the door of a home after receiving a tip that the boy lived there.

When a woman answered, Harmon-Wright demanded that she leave, prosecutors said in the filing. Harmon-Wright entered the house and brandished his gun in the face of the woman’s 18-year-old son, according to the filing.

It turned out that the boy he was chasing was not in the home and had not committed a crime, but was on his way to school, according to the filings.

www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/culpeper-va-police-officer-charged-with-murder-was-hired-despite-objections/2012/06/08/gJQAqGyjOV_story.html

[baydoll]

Stranger and stanger:

Why Did a Culpeper Cop Kill a Retired Sunday School Teacher in a Church Parking Lot? [UPDATED]

Mike Riggs|May. 14, 2012 11:18 am


On February 9, 2012, 54-year-old retired Sunday school teacher Patricia Cook was shot to death in the parking lot of Epiphany Catholic School in Culpeper, Virginia. The Culpeper police officer who shot and killed Cook claims that he was responding to reports of a suspicious woman sitting in her vehicle on the school’s property, and that when he went to take Cook’s license, she rolled up his arm in her Jeep’s window and drove off, dragging the officer and forcing him to shoot.

Three months later, one eyewitness says this is a complete lie, and that the officer was not in danger when he fired at Cook six times.

Kris Buchele, a Culpeper carpenter who was working in a house near the church and claims to have seen the entire event unfold, told WUSA9 the following:


"He was right next to the vehicle. He had one hand on the door handle and one hand on his weapon. And she was rolling the window up. And they were exiting out of the parking lot.

The window was half way up he said 'stop or I'll shoot.' I really didn't think he was going to do it. But she got the window all the way up and that's when he shot. And then she took a left out of the parking lot here and he stepped out in the street and fired five more times," said Buchele.

Buchele says the officer was not dragged and that he shot her before she drove away. He says he didn't have his arm caught because the officer's left hand was on the door handle and right hand was holding a weapon. Also, he says he distinctly saw her roll up the window all the way before the officer shot out the glass and killed her.

According to a petition on Change.org, started by Culpeper residents and Cook's family, "At the most recent town council meeting, citizens were not allowed to discuss the shooting, and no information has been made available by the Virginia State Police regarding the status of the investigation."

Community members also started a Facebook petition calling for the investigation findings to be released, and the unnamed officer to either be cleared, or charged with Cook's murder.

Cook, a Methodist, was not a member of Epiphany Catholic Church. Her husband thinks she may have been in the parking lot because she wanted to work at the chuch's school.

Virginia State Police and the Fauquier County prosecutor’s office have been investigating the shooting for 10 weeks. The officer, whose name has not been released, is reportedly on paid administrative leave.

UPDATE: Reason's own Ron Bailey directs me to a story in The Hook that a) sheds some light on the offending officer's identity and background, and b) reports one of Virginia's top law enforcement veterans is irate about how long the investigation is taking:


Three months after a Culpeper police officer gunned down an unarmed woman and despite an official explanation that has been contradicted by at least two witnesses, there's still no action. Frustration has grown so intense that about 500 citizens have signed a petition, and now Central Virginia's leading law enforcer is speaking out about the case and its allegedly slow pace.

"What I've heard about it stinks,"says Albemarle Sheriff Chip Harding.

A former Charlottesville police captain who gained a national reputation in DNA technology, Harding says that 80 percent of a police shooting investigation typically occurs in the first five or six hours. Here, the State Police, aside from issuing a pair of press releases essentially blaming the victim, have released little– even denying multiple requests for the name of the officer in question.

"How long does it take to do an investigation?" asks Harding. "It's not rocket science."

Also:


The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg cites two unnamed officers confirming that the shooter's name is Daniel Harmon-Wright.

Moreover, the newspaper reports that the 33-year-old Harmon-Wright has previously used other names. On Facebook, he goes by "Dan Wayne," a graduate of James Madison High School in Vienna, the paper reports. More curiously, the five-year veteran of the Culpeper P.D., also a veteran of the U.S. Marines, previously lived in Fauquier where he was known as Daniel Sullivan.

Culpeper Police Chief Chris Jenkins did not return a phone call from the Hook seeking confirmation that Harmon-Wright is Sullivan and the shooter– and why the officer might tamper with his own surname.

reason.com/blog/2012/05/14/why-did-a-culpepper-cop-kill-a-retired-s

[baydoll]

Okay, I had a rather frightening experience with the police as well...several years ago I was going to work VERY early in the morning (about 4:30 AM), me and another car were the only two cars on the road at the time. I was going the speed limit. The other car (an old beat up black Carolla) was in front going slow so I passed it. As soon as I passed the car, I realized he's a cop (he's in uniform) and sure enough he lights me up. I'm thinking oh brother not again. So over I go and get out of the car ( I couldn't roll my windows down because my stupid window didn't work - another long story ) and as I got out of the car Rambo screams something at me and then pulls out his gun. I was like Whoa dude! What the heck??!! I tell him I'm deaf, I can't hear him and my window is broken so that's why I got out of the car and WHAT THE HECK, DUDE? I'm thinking this guy is NUTS!

He tells me YOU (cuss words) PASSED me! You can't (cuss words) DO THAT! You can't PASS A (more cuss words) POLICE VEHICLE!!!!!! I told him Officer Sir I had no idea you were a cop you are driving a beat up COROLLA. He then screamed some more stuff at me and told me don't EVER pass a police vehicle ever again I am lucky he didn't give me a ticket and then got in his car and sped away. I was like WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

I think he had WAY too much coffee that morning.

[emortimer]

Aug 15, 2012 22:47:45 GMT -5 PrisonerOfHope said:

<sup>Wow, never thought I'd see police brutality in Chattanooga! I was at the gas station across from Walmart, and two police offices pulled up behind a woman who was walking away from Walmart and sounded their siren for a second to get her attention. She ignored them (or maybe didn't realize they were after her), and kept on walking....at no time did she run or try to evade them in any way. They came up behind her, grabbed her, and violently threw her to the ground and cuffed her. She was probably a suspected shoplifter, but their behavior was totally uncalled for - they could easily have each grabbed one of her arms without throwing her down.

I still can't believe I saw that....not near where I live....

Oddly enough, I saw no mention of this in the local police blotter.</sup>

Did you by chance tell the police chief? They need to know about that

[emortimer]

Aug 16, 2012 9:21:17 GMT -5 baydoll said:

Okay, I had a rather frightening experience with the police as well...several years ago I was going to work VERY early in the morning (about 4:30 AM), me and another car were the only two cars on the road at the time. I was going the speed limit. The other car (an old beat up black Carolla) was in front going slow so I passed it. As soon as I passed the car, I realized he's a cop (he's in uniform) and sure enough he lights me up. I'm thinking oh brother not again. So over I go and get out of the car ( I couldn't roll my windows down because my stupid window didn't work - another long story ) and as I got out of the car Rambo screams something at me and then pulls out his gun. I was like Whoa dude! What the heck??!! I tell him I'm deaf, I can't hear him and my window is broken so that's why I got out of the car and WHAT THE HECK, DUDE? I'm thinking this guy is NUTS!

He tells me YOU (cuss words) PASSED me! You can't (cuss words) DO THAT! You can't PASS A (more cuss words) POLICE VEHICLE!!!!!! I told him Officer Sir I had no idea you were a cop you are driving a beat up COROLLA. He then screamed some more stuff at me and told me don't EVER pass a police vehicle ever again I am lucky he didn't give me a ticket and then got in his car and sped away. I was like WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

I think he had WAY too much coffee that morning.

See I would have gone to jail since I would have been all over him for talking to me like that and said well I have a gun also can I get it and show you how to use it...you can pass a cop and you are lucky he was a real cop....there had been 2 adult males in our area with a cop car (bought used painted it back) and were pulling people over.

So in short I do not even pull over for a cop unless there are witnesses or lots of light at night....Do not feel like you can not do that...just tell them after you get to the gas station you were not sure and afraid so you wanted to get there...

they are not God over us only God is....sorry for carrying on I have had to many cops that think we MUST jump as fast as we can or suffer their wrath

[baydoll]

Did you by chance tell the police chief? They need to know about that

Good point. Maybe get in touch with your local paper and see if they know anything?

[baydoll]

you can pass a cop and you are lucky he was a real cop....there had been 2 adult males in our area with a cop car (bought used painted it back) and were pulling people over.

So in short I do not even pull over for a cop unless there are witnesses or lots of light at night....Do not feel like you can not do that...just tell them after you get to the gas station you were not sure and afraid so you wanted to get there...

Yeah my ex-husband said the same thing...I realize now it was a bad move. And if it ever happens again I'll know better.

[PrisonerOfHope]

I know they tell women who are in cars alone to tell the officers that they'll follow them to the police station, but thanks to the corrupt mayor of Chattanooga, all the police stations have been closed down!

Anyway, I don't want to call the Chief of Police and have to identify myself (I don't know if he's a crony of the shyster mayor or not); I did write to the local paper, and used an alias. Sad to say, you don't know who you can trust anymore!

The mayor is so bad that he's been recalled, and he's fighting it - the judge in the case is a former partner in the law firm that represents him...can you say "conflict of interest?" And you wanna here the best part? That crook can be found at Calvary Chapel Chattanooga every Wednesday and Sunday!

When the local Tea Party got after him for his actions (among other things, he wanted to raise property taxes 40%, has given expensive contracts to friends, raised various fees several hundred percent), he demanded that the head of the Tea Party do the "Biblical" thing and have his pastor talk to the mayor's pastor to resolve the issue. Say what? ???

[PrisonerOfHope]

OK, it's on the paper's website....let's see in anyone comes forward with an explanation:

chattanoogan.com/2012/8/16/232382/Shocking-Takedown.aspx

[PrisonerOfHope]

Click on the link to see the responses thus far; one person is actually agreeing that it's OK for the police to do this to someone whom they "know" is a criminal!

[baydoll]

You had another person who responded that agreed with you. Yay!

I don't agree with first lady at all ....force isn't necessary especially if that person is female and it's her against two much stronger male cops (with guns, yet) EVEN if that person has a history. ESPECIALLY a female. Barring hardened and repeat criminals such drug dealers, child molesters and murderers which are the exception, of course.

I'm hearing all sorts of horrifying stories of police brutalities against people in wheelchairs, the elderly, the handicapped (one victim that later died had down syndrome) and the homeless - most if not all of whom cannot fight back. Which sounds incredibly like Hitler's Brownshirts thugs.

[PrisonerOfHope]

What gets me is, this woman made no attempt to flee from them, and even if she were an alleged serial killer, does that give the police the right to injure her? They way they tackled her and threw her to the ground had to hurt!

Interesting how one of the responders is a total sheeple....