Homeowner is Arrested for Open Carrying an Empty Shotgun on His Own Property Aft

[monitor51]

I don't think this is a dupe.

Homeowner is Arrested for Open Carrying an Empty Shotgun on His Own Property After Reporting a Tresspasser

 

[Bunnykid68]

Saw that earlier today. I have to think there should be some charges against at last one officer for making the lady delete evidence.

 

[SteveM4A1]

You would think some people would learn how to handle themselves in a professional manner...it really gets old seeing these types of videos. How are officers not trained to handle these types of situations the RIGHT way? I am glad officers in my neck of the woods are not like this.

 

[hooky]

The cop says he's taking the phone for evidence, then promptly attempts to delete the video. Priceless.

 

[churchmouse]

I am afraid that under these conditions if I were to be confronted in that manner on my property the list of charges would be much longer.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Does Michigan law allow for a citizen's arrest of a trespasser?

*edit

Nope. http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(fj...leg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-764-16

So, looks like the homeowner committed false imprisonment, what Indiana Code would term criminal confinement, which is a felony in either state. That is unless we believe he "escorted" the trespasser completely voluntarily. Greeting officers holding up a shotgun and a shell to show you are not a threat is...questionable at best.

I'm sure with the clarity of only having one side of the story, the side most favorable to the homeowner, everyone here has an opinion. However from the article the trespasser claims he never saw a sign and the homeowner pointed the shotgun at him. I wasn't there, but that certainly sounds like there's two sides to this story, and the fact of who called the police doesn't always equate to who's on the right side of the law.

I would absolutely have handcuffed everyone in that situation, and I absolutely would have removed access to weapons. Who I arrested, if anyone, would require a lot more detail than what the article says.

 

[monitor51]

Sorry, this is a dupe. I did look at some of the vids and articles that were linked on the site. Really kind of pisses a person off. Not dealing with that crap is why I switched to CC.

 

[monitor51]

The cop says he's taking the phone for evidence, then promptly attempts to delete the video. Priceless.

He wasn't even sure what type of gun is was....handgun, rifle, shotgun, bb gun.....duh.

 

[SERparacord]

In a situation like this, always call and tell them you found a body in your field.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Did he get arrested for false imprisonment or for open carrying?

I can see them rolling up on a dynamic situation and disarming and cuffing the guy with the gun until they figured out who was on first. It's not perfect, but I could see where they were coming from.

Trying to destroy evidence that could be used in court does not strike me as being cool at all.

 

[92ThoStro]

Title is so misleading, suggests some guy was just on his property and a cop drove by and jack booted him up and down the block for open carrying.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Did he get arrested for false imprisonment or for open carrying?

I can see them rolling up on a dynamic situation and disarming and cuffing the guy with the gun until they figured out who was on first. It's not perfect, but I could see where they were coming from.

Trying to destroy evidence that could be used in court does not strike me as being cool at all.

You can see a more indepth version of the story here: Cops Accused of Forcing Woman to Delete Video of Husband?s Arrest Sparked by ?Unloaded? Shotgun and Trespasser on His Hunting Property ? but We Have the Footage | TheBlaze.com

You can also see the video that was alleged to have been deleted. Doesn't seem particularly compelling to me, although apparently some want to make hay out of the deputy misspeaking.

It looks like he was booked for Michigan's equivalent of our Pointing a Firearm, Assault with a weapon (remember assault =/= battery, assault is typically threatening someone in the jurisdictions that have such a code, battery is inflicting injury or pain.)

Michigan Legislature - Section 750.82

Both web sites keep talking about open carry being legal, which it is, but that's not what he got locked up for. Its like if I was eating waffles after stealing a car, get located, and locked up for auto theft. The article should then read "Man eating waffles gets arrested! Waffles are completely legal!" All true, but misses the point. Just because one thing I'm doing is legal doesn't mean everything else is on the up and up.

I won't pretend to know who's right about if the firearm was pointed or not, but it does bring up an interesting question for me. I wonder at what point a trespass in Indiana would become a breach of the peace, allowing a citizen's arrest (without firearm pointing, of course). If the trespasser is willing to immediately leave, there is no breach of the peace and an arrest isn't allowed because a misdemeanor arrest must to be to prevent a continuance of a breach of the peace. Hmmm, now I'm curious.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Trespassing is not cool and I know it can really bother some people that have worked their but off to buy their land.

I have came across a couple of trespassers on the land that I hunt. The first time I was in a tree stand and a hunter was walking down the trail in front of me. I whistled and told him he was on private property. The hunter said he was sorry and went back the way he came. Not a big deal he tried to get away with something and got busted out.

The other trespassers we came across was some kids lost riding their quads. We heard them riding in the distance and we took a golf cart to go see who was out there. The boys were 10 to 12 years old and was very happy to see us. They had been lost for a couple hours and we gave them a cell phone to call their parents. We took them to the main road to meet their parents.

Never did it ever cross my mind to detain someone or to call the law.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Surely people realize deleting data on a phone does nothing if you want to recover the data.

 

[Birds Away]

The bottom line is that government owns all property. If you have to pay each month to prevent armed men from coming and throwing you out, you don't own it. If you have to ask pretty please if you can build a barn or move your shed, you don't own it. If only government agents have the authority to allow or not allow people on it, you don't own it. From that perspective, i.e. reality, I can understand how this man is considered to have committed an offense.

 

[timsdl72]

I won't pretend to know who's right about if the firearm was pointed or not, but it does bring up an interesting question for me. I wonder at what point a trespass in Indiana would become a breach of the peace, allowing a citizen's arrest (without firearm pointing, of course). If the trespasser is willing to immediately leave, there is no breach of the peace and an arrest isn't allowed because a misdemeanor arrest must to be to prevent a continuance of a breach of the peace. Hmmm, now I'm curious.

Interesting question. What's also interesting is that from your statement it sounds like trespassing is not of itself an illegal act. I don't know if it is or not but it certainly should be. My opinion is that the "breach of the peace" is an event, not a state. Meaning that it happened not that it has to be happening. If the trespasser left the property before being caught then there's a whole different story but if I find him on my land, he has breached!

Secondly, it sounds like you mean that if a violater stops the violation, they walk as though it didn't happen. Is this just a funky quirk of traspassing laws? Misdemeanors? Or citizien's arrest situations?

I'm so confused and annoyed!!

 

[timsdl72]

The bottom line is that government owns all property. If you have to pay each month to prevent armed men from coming and throwing you out, you don't own it. If you have to ask pretty please if you can build a barn or move your shed, you don't own it. If only government agents have the authority to allow or not allow people on it, you don't own it. From that perspective, i.e. reality, I can understand how this man is considered to have committed an offense.

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Kinda like killing the king's deer ain't it?!

 

[Cameramonkey]

Saw that earlier today. I have to think there should be some charges against at last one officer for making the lady delete evidence.

I agree. Tampering with evidence. Somebody needs unpaid vacation at best, booted off the force, or even better, all the above plus criminal charges.

This is no different than him stuffing half the wad of 100's in his pocket after arresting a drug dealer, trumping up charges by making false statements, or planting drugs on an innocent person to get an arrest he otherwise couldnt.

He should be stripped of his badge. How do we know if this is the first time he has done this, or if he has since. [STRIKE]Dishonest officers[/STRIKE] PIGS like this have no place serving. And thats what he is. a pig. I dont throw that term around lightly as it doesnt describe most professional officers. This individual is truly worthy of that moniker though.

 

[Manatee]

In other news.....99.999999% of the law enforcement officers on shift yesterday did nothing stupid.

 

[lucky4034]

NUTS... The video is disturbing, but once the video stops and they show more youtube videos... check out the "crazy pizza stealing cat video"