How Did You Like Having A Gun Pointed At You?
BY Herschel Smith
10 years, 6 months ago
The fatal shooting of a fellow trooper was “at the forefront” of Michigan State Police Trooper Timothy Wagner’s mind last month when he pulled his handgun and pointed it at an 18-year-old woman during a traffic stop near Sturgis.
That’s according to a written statement Wagner provided to Detective 1st Lt. Chuck Christensen after Christensen informed Wagner he was under investigation for allegations of excessive force. The statement is included in a nine-page report by Christensen obtained by the Kalamazoo Gazette under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.
Wagner was westbound on U.S. 12 at about 5:35 p.m. April 15 when he spotted the woman’s eastbound red Pontiac, which he clocked on radar going 77 mph in a 55 mph zone, according to the report.
In-car video from Wagner’s cruiser shows him doing a U-turn to catch up with the Pontiac. The driver pulls over to the shoulder about 45 seconds after Wagner made the U-turn and about 35 seconds after he activated his lights and siren.
Wagner exits his cruiser with his handgun drawn and approaches the Pontiac.
“With the recent incident involving the murder of Tpr. Paul Butterfield while approaching a vehicle at the forefront of my mind I elected to ‘clear’ the vehicle for my safety as I feel the vehicle could have suddenly pulled to the side in an effort to lure me into a vulnerable position where I could easily be shot,” Wagner later told Christensen in his statement.
Video from Wagner’s dash-mounted camera shows him handcuffing the woman then taking her to his cruiser, where the conversation between the two is recorded. The woman apologizes to Wagner, telling him she was trying to get home because she had gotten a call from her father informing her that the family’s home had been broken into.
St. Joseph County dispatchers confirm the report of the break-in to Wagner as the woman sits in his patrol car.
Wagner tells the woman, “I chased you for two miles with my lights and sirens at almost 80 mph. Do you see a problem with that?”
“Yes, I do,” she responded. “I honestly didn’t see you.”
At the end of the audio captured from inside the car, Wagner asks the woman, “How’d you like having a gun pointed ….” The rest of his statement is inaudible.
St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough, who was asked by Michigan State Police to review the incident, focused on that statement in calling for Wagner, a 19-veteran of MSP, to be fired.
McDonough considered whether to authorize charges of felonious assault and conduct unbecoming a public official against Wagner, but ultimately decided his handling of the traffic stop did not warrant criminal charges. In a statement issued Wednesday, however, the prosecutor wrote that he was “appalled and disgusted” by Wagner’s conduct.
Loss of LEO life may have been on his mind, but perhaps loss of civilian life at the hands of LEOs may have been on the mind of the poor woman he stopped. Actually, I’m being coy. She clearly didn’t know anything about what was going on around her, and the LEO admits that very thing in the questioning, while he also makes excuses for his behavior.
Welcome to Amerika, where slowing down, stopping and apologizing is interpreted as flee and elude. And remember that for just about any reason at all, a LEO may unholster his weapon and point it at you, and you will be arrested and charged with felonious assault if you do something like that.
On May 20, 2014 at 4:56 am, Daniel Barger said:
When you screen and select for schoolyard bully’s to be your thugs and enforcers that is what you get….and bully’s, in addition to being prone to violence are cowards. THAT is why you have LEO pointing guns at EVERYONE ALL THE TIME. THAT is why you have 23 LEO firing nearly 400 rounds into a vehicle occupied by unarmed people. THAT is why America is no longer safe from the very people tasked with protecting it.
On May 20, 2014 at 11:58 am, MamaLiberty said:
Protecting people is NOT the task of the police, Daniel. Never really has been. Their job… their ONLY job, is to enforce the “laws” selected by their superiors, and to protect government assets, including themselves. That is the task entrusted to them. Mundanes are on their own as far as protection goes, and we know only too well how dangerous it is to attempt to protect ourselves from THEM.
On May 20, 2014 at 4:26 pm, TS said:
“To protect and serve” comes to mind. It always has been the duty of the police to protect law abiding citizens. Disgustingly enough, they are no longer required by law to protect. I know many who still would though, plenty of the police are still good honorable people, it’s just the bad ones who make it into the news 90% of the time.
On May 21, 2014 at 7:23 am, Noodies Man said:
And the ones you call “good honorable people” close ranks to protect the thieves, rapists, and murderers in their ranks. In my world anyone who protects thugs from facing the justice they deserve is just as bad as the thugs they are protecting.
On May 22, 2014 at 11:57 am, Ned Weatherby said:
“To protect and serve” is a slogan painted on police cars. The police have no compelled legal duty to protect any individual, or group of, citizens.
On May 21, 2014 at 3:50 pm, Daniel Barger said:
I am aware that the duty of LEO has been changed from serving the public to serving the power brokers….anyone paying attention can see that fact.
On May 20, 2014 at 9:07 am, Paul B said:
When you select to mediocrity that is what you get.
On May 20, 2014 at 2:42 pm, Sur Mar said:
With 1.5 million in Law Enforcement, and 10 million people with carry permits, Law Enforcement has more who misuse firearms than those who carry; yet Gun Grabbers insist that only Law Enforcement be the only ones to carry.