SmarterthanYou
rebel
columbus police destroy department policy and terrorize a family for having high beams on.
At that hour, on that stretch of Oak Street, Allen Walker figured he and his son were about to be carjacked.
It was almost 1:45 a.m. on May 7. Walker had just finished his shift Downtown as a custodian at the Riffe Center and had been picked up by his 18-year-old son, Allen R. Walker.
As the younger Walker drove a red Kia Spectra registered in his name through the Olde Towne East neighborhood on the Near East Side, father and son noticed two vans and a Crown Victoria parked on the north side of Oak Street at Wilson Avenue.
The side doors of a van slid open as they passed. The Walkers were momentarily blinded by flashlights aimed into their car.
"He was like, 'Who was that?'" Mr. Walker, 45, said. "I was like, 'I don't know.' We didn't know who the hell these people were."
His son watched the vehicles in his mirror.
"He said, 'Dad, they're busting U-turns like they're coming to get us,'" Mr. Walker said.
Keep driving, he told his son. Don't stop until we get home.
Because the events that unfolded on Oak Street that morning are under investigation by the Columbus Police Division's internal-affairs bureau, police say it would be premature to discuss what might have happened.
of course it would be premature to discuss it until they can get a 'cover our ass' story straight.
The Walkers describe it this way:
The vehicles caught up to them and stayed "right on my bumper," the younger Walker said.
When he stopped at their home in the 1800 block of Oak Street, eight to 10 men jumped out of the vehicles and started shouting commands, saying they were Columbus police.
None of the vehicles was marked. No one wore a traditional uniform. The men carried guns and were dressed in black fatigues. Some had masks. Neither Walker saw a badge on any of them.
Other than their shouts, the only indication that the men were law-enforcement officers was a "POLICE" ball cap worn by one of them.
Father and son were ordered out of the car at gunpoint. Both were frisked, and the younger Walker said police pulled his gym shorts down around his ankles in what he suspected was a search for a gun or drugs. The officers also searched the center console and glove box of the car without their consent, he said.
They were told they had been stopped because the high beams were on, an indicator, police said, that the car might have been stolen by hotwiring it.
I've never heard of that happening before, so strange
Records reveal little, but the stop was reported to the police radio room at 1:44a.m. The primary police vehicle is listed as 380, which is assigned to the division's Strategic Response Bureau, a unit that often operates undercover while gathering intelligence, investigating gangs and handling other special operations. Lt. Joseph Schrader of the SRB's investigation section declined to comment, citing the internal-affairs probe.
The run was logged as a 10-57, which is the police code for "backup requested." But no marked cars ever showed up, the Walkers said.
Division directives state: "Only uniformed officers working marked units shall make traffic stops. Personnel operating an unmarked division vehicle who observe a traffic violation and deem a traffic stop is warranted shall contact communications bureau personnel and request a marked vehicle make the stop."
Sgt. Rich Weiner, a division spokesman, said internal affairs will identify the officers and speak to both sides.
"Right now, it's too early to say whether protocol was followed or not," he said. "There are times where it is appropriate for an unmarked car to stop and question and detain individuals."
By referencing their suspicion that the car could be stolen, officers apparently thought something more serious was afoot than a routine traffic infraction, Weiner said.
so this is where the CYA story will go? wonderful. will they start bringing out their armored personnel carrier for speeders?
At that hour, on that stretch of Oak Street, Allen Walker figured he and his son were about to be carjacked.
It was almost 1:45 a.m. on May 7. Walker had just finished his shift Downtown as a custodian at the Riffe Center and had been picked up by his 18-year-old son, Allen R. Walker.
As the younger Walker drove a red Kia Spectra registered in his name through the Olde Towne East neighborhood on the Near East Side, father and son noticed two vans and a Crown Victoria parked on the north side of Oak Street at Wilson Avenue.
The side doors of a van slid open as they passed. The Walkers were momentarily blinded by flashlights aimed into their car.
"He was like, 'Who was that?'" Mr. Walker, 45, said. "I was like, 'I don't know.' We didn't know who the hell these people were."
His son watched the vehicles in his mirror.
"He said, 'Dad, they're busting U-turns like they're coming to get us,'" Mr. Walker said.
Keep driving, he told his son. Don't stop until we get home.
Because the events that unfolded on Oak Street that morning are under investigation by the Columbus Police Division's internal-affairs bureau, police say it would be premature to discuss what might have happened.
of course it would be premature to discuss it until they can get a 'cover our ass' story straight.
The Walkers describe it this way:
The vehicles caught up to them and stayed "right on my bumper," the younger Walker said.
When he stopped at their home in the 1800 block of Oak Street, eight to 10 men jumped out of the vehicles and started shouting commands, saying they were Columbus police.
None of the vehicles was marked. No one wore a traditional uniform. The men carried guns and were dressed in black fatigues. Some had masks. Neither Walker saw a badge on any of them.
Other than their shouts, the only indication that the men were law-enforcement officers was a "POLICE" ball cap worn by one of them.
Father and son were ordered out of the car at gunpoint. Both were frisked, and the younger Walker said police pulled his gym shorts down around his ankles in what he suspected was a search for a gun or drugs. The officers also searched the center console and glove box of the car without their consent, he said.
They were told they had been stopped because the high beams were on, an indicator, police said, that the car might have been stolen by hotwiring it.
I've never heard of that happening before, so strange
Records reveal little, but the stop was reported to the police radio room at 1:44a.m. The primary police vehicle is listed as 380, which is assigned to the division's Strategic Response Bureau, a unit that often operates undercover while gathering intelligence, investigating gangs and handling other special operations. Lt. Joseph Schrader of the SRB's investigation section declined to comment, citing the internal-affairs probe.
The run was logged as a 10-57, which is the police code for "backup requested." But no marked cars ever showed up, the Walkers said.
Division directives state: "Only uniformed officers working marked units shall make traffic stops. Personnel operating an unmarked division vehicle who observe a traffic violation and deem a traffic stop is warranted shall contact communications bureau personnel and request a marked vehicle make the stop."
Sgt. Rich Weiner, a division spokesman, said internal affairs will identify the officers and speak to both sides.
"Right now, it's too early to say whether protocol was followed or not," he said. "There are times where it is appropriate for an unmarked car to stop and question and detain individuals."
By referencing their suspicion that the car could be stolen, officers apparently thought something more serious was afoot than a routine traffic infraction, Weiner said.
so this is where the CYA story will go? wonderful. will they start bringing out their armored personnel carrier for speeders?
