Thursday, July 25, 2013

No warrant needed?

OFF THE WIRE
 Reported by: Bailey Miller

The more I see, the more I shake my head in disgust at what we have become.
"I told him, 'I will release my son to you upon viewing those orders.' Those were exactly my words," The complainant said. "He said, 'This is how you want to play?' He took two steps back, turned around to the officer and said, 'Take her.' They turned me around, handcuffed me, and took me in."

Slaton police arrest woman after request to see warrant..
Slaton police came to this woman's house, who wishes to remain anonymous, to arrest her son. But by asking one simple question, she found herself behind bars instead.
"I told him, 'I will release my son to you upon viewing those orders.' Those were exactly my words," The complainant said. "He said, 'This is how you want to play?' He took two steps back, turned around to the officer and said, 'Take her.' They turned me around, handcuffed me, and took me in."
The complainant said she was aware police would be coming to apprehend her 11-year-old son based on a criminal complaint, and that she just wanted to see the warrant. As it turns out, that warrant didn't exist. She spent the night in jail while her son was left at home.
"He told me it was their duty to come pick up my son," She said. "Yet, I had someone stay the night at my house. They never came back that evening, they never came to pick up my son, or do what they told me they were there to do in the beginning."
"This occurred on May 29 when they went out to apprehend this young man," Dwight McDonald, the family's attorney, said. "The directive to apprehend was not signed until May 30, which is another indication that they didn't have the authority to go out and arrest him or apprehend this young man."
The Slaton Police Department is willing to issue an apology, but McDonald said that's not enough.
"If she moves out of Slaton and tries to find a job elsewhere, you can Google her name, and at that point, the arrest, my guess is, is going to show up," McDonald said.
"I will accept an apology, but what is that going to do?" The complainant said. "It's not going to take my picture off the internet sites that have been posted, from being published in the newspaper, from where I work. I've never been in trouble, in 32 years of my life, from anything, and to get thrown in jail because I asked a question is not right."
McDonald said the Slaton Police Department will issue an apology as long as the mother agrees not to file a lawsuit. He said unless she is compensated for her expenses and the trauma she's been through, a lawsuit won't be out of the question.
We attempted to contact Slaton's city attorney and city manager. Due to the possibility of litigation, both declined to comment.