Police sent to wrong Apartment in Tennessee

[dlstewart01]

Quote:
Police Officer, Dispatcher May Face Suspension
Posted: March 16, 2009 08:41 PM
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - A police officer and an emergency dispatcher face suspension in Rutherford County after a bizarre mistake and claims of unprofessional conduct.
NewsChannel 5 reporter Nick Beres obtained police video and audio of the incident that all began with a prank 911 call.
The problem is police were dispatched to the wrong address. What happened next has become an embarrassment to the Murfreesboro Police Department.
Police rushed to a call for help at Campus Crossings apartment in Murfreesboro last month. The problem was that they went to the wrong apartment.
Police arrested Roger Chilton and his son Justin. The arrest came after a frightened Justin, a military police officer who just returned from Iraq, answered the door with a gun.
"I thought someone was breaking into the house. Nobody identified themselves," said Roger.
"We had some issues with the language and the behavior of one of our officers on the scene that night," said police spokesperson Kyle Evans.
Evans said Officer Carl Watts faces suspension for his conduct.
Watts could be heard during an audio recording of the incident yelling at Justin's pregnant girlfriend to get on the floor.
"Roll over on your back," he told her. After she said she was pregnant, she said Watts had no sympathy.
An official complaint quotes the officer as saying, "I don't give a ----. You've already ----- up your life by being a pregnant teenager."
Remember, this all happened after police were sent to the wrong address - a bad dispatcher mistake made worse by Officer Watts' conduct.
"A simple typo or computer entry can significantly change so many people's lives," said Evans.
As far as the police department is concerned, Evans said one mistake should not have led to the other.
"Unprofessional behavior on behalf of the police officers is never justified," said Evans.
The dispatcher, Desi' Thorpe, also faces suspension. Police supervisor Sgt. Mike Turner has been talked to about avoiding such situations in the future.
That's great for the future, but the Chilton's wonder about the past. Both still face criminal prosecution for answering the door and pointing a gun at an officer - some one they originally thought was an intruder.
The district attorney won't drop the resisting arrest and aggravated assault charges, even though police admit they went to the wrong home.
General Whitsell said that mistake alone does not clear the Chilton's of their conduct when the police arrived.
Murfreesboro police say such mix-ups on 911 calls are extremely rare, and the department is reviewing policies to make sure everything possible is being done to make sure such a mistake doesn't happen again.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Gl...story.asp?S=10017849

 

[dlstewart01]

Quote:
Police Officer, Dispatcher May Face Suspension
Posted: March 16, 2009 08:41 PM
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - A police officer and an emergency dispatcher face suspension in Rutherford County after a bizarre mistake and claims of unprofessional conduct.
NewsChannel 5 reporter Nick Beres obtained police video and audio of the incident that all began with a prank 911 call.
The problem is police were dispatched to the wrong address. What happened next has become an embarrassment to the Murfreesboro Police Department.
Police rushed to a call for help at Campus Crossings apartment in Murfreesboro last month. The problem was that they went to the wrong apartment.
Police arrested Roger Chilton and his son Justin. The arrest came after a frightened Justin, a military police officer who just returned from Iraq, answered the door with a gun.
"I thought someone was breaking into the house. Nobody identified themselves," said Roger.
"We had some issues with the language and the behavior of one of our officers on the scene that night," said police spokesperson Kyle Evans.
Evans said Officer Carl Watts faces suspension for his conduct.
Watts could be heard during an audio recording of the incident yelling at Justin's pregnant girlfriend to get on the floor.
"Roll over on your back," he told her. After she said she was pregnant, she said Watts had no sympathy.
An official complaint quotes the officer as saying, "I don't give a ----. You've already ----- up your life by being a pregnant teenager."
Remember, this all happened after police were sent to the wrong address - a bad dispatcher mistake made worse by Officer Watts' conduct.
"A simple typo or computer entry can significantly change so many people's lives," said Evans.
As far as the police department is concerned, Evans said one mistake should not have led to the other.
"Unprofessional behavior on behalf of the police officers is never justified," said Evans.
The dispatcher, Desi' Thorpe, also faces suspension. Police supervisor Sgt. Mike Turner has been talked to about avoiding such situations in the future.
That's great for the future, but the Chilton's wonder about the past. Both still face criminal prosecution for answering the door and pointing a gun at an officer - some one they originally thought was an intruder.
The district attorney won't drop the resisting arrest and aggravated assault charges, even though police admit they went to the wrong home.
General Whitsell said that mistake alone does not clear the Chilton's of their conduct when the police arrived.
Murfreesboro police say such mix-ups on 911 calls are extremely rare, and the department is reviewing policies to make sure everything possible is being done to make sure such a mistake doesn't happen again.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Gl...story.asp?S=10017849

 

[norad45]

They are still going to charge them? I'd like to be on that jury. And who is "General Whitsell"? Is that the guys CO?

 

[dlstewart01]

Yeah, can you spell lawsuit

 

[redlevel]

Originally posted by dlstewart01:

The district attorney won't drop the resisting arrest and aggravated assault charges, even though police admit they went to the wrong home.
General Whitsell said that mistake alone does not clear the Chilton's of their conduct when the police arrived.

One would think that the PD would be begging the DA to drop the charges.

 

[jeffj13]

I'm not a lawyer and not giving advice, but if it were me, I would use the charges as a bargaining chip to prevent a lawsuit and vice versa.

jeff

 

[Guest]

General Whitsell said that mistake alone does not clear the Chilton's of their conduct when the police arrived.

This comment "suggests" to me that maybe the gun that was carried to the door by Justin(the MP) just might have been his "issue" sidearm. And, unless things have changed very recently, that sidearm should not have been taken off Base. Again, this is nothing more than a "guess" but it would give the General a reason to become involved.

 

[rburg]

Want more dispatcher misconduct?

http://news.cincinnati.com/art.../903240327/1055/NEWS

 

[TxShooter]

A Google search showed that Bill Whitsell is the District Attorney General for Murfreesboro.

 

[moonshinew]

Yeah - I sat in on a couple of trials in Tennessee (long story - I wasn't involved though), and the judge referred to the prosecuting attorney always as "General".

Anyway - as stated above I'd love to be on that jury.

 

[zercool]

How do you say "oops"?

The wrong apartment - I can see that. I'm a dispatcher, and no matter how often we ask for an address, *typos happen*. It's part of being human. We try real hard to minimize the possibilities, but there's no such thing as a perfect system.

The rest of the antics ... well, there's a problem there. Charges? Are you kidding me?

 

[walkinghorse]

It does sound as if the police department is trying to rectify their mistake, and learn from it.

Luckily no shots fired !

Probably for multiple reasons

, but they are trying!

DA sounds like Jack McCoy on Law and Order, always right, never changing, always vocal, but sometimes loses, but at what cost to the defendant?

 

[bk43]

Originally posted by walkinghorse:
Luckily no shots fired !

Boy, that's what I was thinking. It appears this cop may not be the brightest bulb in his department but he doesn't know he's at the wrong address. All of a sudden he's looking at a gun and doesn't react?

Bob

 

[Wheelgunner840]

The district attorney won't drop the resisting arrest and aggravated assault charges, even though police admit they went to the wrong home.
General Whitsell said that mistake alone does not clear the Chilton's of their conduct when the police arrived.

He said that the police did not identify themselves, and thought someone was breaking in. What law says that you can't come to your own door with a firearm in hand?

WG840

 

[rburg]

Originally posted by Wheelgunner840:
What law says that you can't come to your own door with a firearm in hand?

When one of these major malfunctions takes place, almost everyone moves to cover your ass mode. If the Prosecutor insists on pushing, then I'm sure the victims will also begin to push. Right now, they need to find a really well known civil attorney to push for multi-million dollar damages.

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. It looks to me like thats what the PD is doing here. And they do have a huge problem. No dispute it was the wrong address. A vet, just home from the war. Abusive language from the PD after the entry. The "General" doesn't have a lot to build his case on. My guess is the jury will consider what would have happened had it been their house. Oh, I left out pregnant female, a class of people who most of us have sympathy.

My money isn't on the PD in this one. What it really shows is they must not only be on their best behavior, but they need to be polite, and always be aware they may have made a mistake.

 

[n4zov]

That's great for the future, but the Chilton's wonder about the past. Both still face criminal prosecution for answering the door and pointing a gun at an officer - some one they originally thought was an intruder.
The district attorney won't drop the resisting arrest and aggravated assault charges, even though police admit they went to the wrong home.

This is the part of police misconduct that infuriates me! They were clearly in the wrong, but they are trying to blame the victim for contributing to their foul up. This way the victim is criminally charged and the cops involved will probably get a letter of reprimand.

 

[Guest]

My earlier comment about the "General" may certainly have been a mistake on my part but I've never heard a Prosecutor or District Attorney referred to by any Military Rank not even in a Military Court Room except for the Rank that they actually held within the Military.

It is perfectly "Natural" for the City/County/Whatever to keep all the charges pending until the civil action is settled. Kind of a leverage even if it doesn't hold water. We're at that usual point, simply not enough information to go on.

 

[JoeR]

Just waiting for the spin boom puts on this one.

 

[walkinghorse]

Something like this happened to Loretta & I several years ago in a nice holtel. I had my pistol in hand when I opened the door, but not where it could be seen...

In Gravest Extreme, Massad Ayoob tells of a of similar encounter that happened to him when he was in a motel room asleep on the bed, and the stupid desk clerk gave another guest the same room and keys to the room. He stopped the other person after they unlocked the door and started into the room, and Mr. Ayoob had his pistol pointed at him. He said (if I remember correctly) that providence? kept him from pulling the trigger, and that it would have a correct use of a firearm.

 

[Douglas Haig]

Thank goodness it wasn't the SWAT idiots. The family would have all been killed instead of just offended.