Welcome Home Petty Officer, Your Under Arrest

[rpm]

source

A cold welcome home for naval officer
 
10:50 PM CST on Tuesday, December 7, 2004
 

By GARY REAVES / WFAA-TV
 


As Navy Petty Officer Justin Tyler flew home last week from the base where he had been stationed in Rota, Spain, he was thinking about his young wife, his new baby, and taking them both to church.

He was hoping for some rest and relaxation during his 12-day leave back home in Dallas, but instead he got restrained and arrested upon arrival at D/FW Airport - all while his wife and new baby waited in the terminal.

And the worst part? It was for a crime he did not commit.

As soon as he stepped off the plane, Tyler was arrested on drug dealing charges in Waller County, northwest of Houston.

"They cuffed me right there," Tyler recalled. "(They) drug me thru the airport in cuffs and led me to a holding cell."

It was customs officers at D/FW Airport who made the arrests, but they were just following procedures. Their computer showed two felony arrest warrents for Tyler, and they had the right birth date, driver's license and other information to prove they had the right man.

Tyler said he didn't even know where Waller County was located.

"I had the cops booking me look it up on Mapquest," he said.

The indictment put Tyler selling a controlled substance, Xanax, at Charlie's Hamburgers near the town of Hempstead. However, Navy records proved Tyler was really on duty in San Diego. The indictments were dismissed, but his trip home was ruined. He only had 12 days' leave, and he spent two of those in jail.

Prosecutors in Waller County said it is often difficult for undercover officers to properly identify suspects they buy drugs from. They could not explain how or why they decided to indict Tyler. When News 8 contacted the county, assistant district attorney Dale Summa wouldn't apologize, and couldn't explain the mix-up.

"I can't give that information out, even if I knew," Summa said.

"We need to find out how this happened, so it doesn't happen again," said Tyler's wife Lydia.

The indictment is still on Tyler's record. He and his wife are paying a lawyer $1,000 to get it removed. To the Tylers, it hardly seems fair.

"He didn't do anything but serve his country ... and this was his welcome home," Lydia Tyler said.

[Bodhi]

pretty damn crappy for that soldier.  Hopefully the county reimburses him for time lost and the $$$ to remove the inditement.

[rpm]

Saw this story on the news tonight. No, the county will not reimburse him for 1 red cent and would not even offer a simple apology. Worse yet, his leave was ruined and I'm sure he will have more headaches when he returns to duty.

Considering the track record of Texas narcotics officers, I wonder how many other cases were against totally innocent people that did'nt have the Navy to back them up? This guy was indited by a Grand Jury, that means there was testimony under oath and a fairly elaborate story to go along with it. Surely a procecutor and a peace officer would not commit perjury just to get a bust.

[Bodhi]

Sadly, this will likely have to go to court where he (sailor) will have to sue the county / state to get it expunged.  If it does go that far, I agree with him receiving compensation for his troubles.

RPM, if what you say is true, that there is collaboration amongst the DA and the narc officer, then they deserve to be punished for lying under oath...

The other side I wonder about is identity theft... maybe they really are looking for someone who passed themselves of as the sailor.

[rpm]

Identity theft is a strong possibility, also. If that was the case, would'nt he have credit problems as well? This whole case is screwy. I really don't know how this happened, but there are some major recent incidents of Texas narcotics officers setting up totally innocent people.

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by rpm
Identity theft is a strong possibility, also. If that was the case, would'nt he have credit problems as well? This whole case is screwy. I really don't know how this happened, but there are some major recent incidents of Texas narcotics officers setting up totally innocent people.

Well, I can give you the example of an employee who was arrested at our shop for a crime committed last year for which he has a strong alibi... he was testifying at that moment as a witness for a trial in a state 1200 miles away to the moment it happened.  Still took us three days to get him out, and in the end, it turned out to be a case of identity theft with no "credit issues"  In the end the state compensated him for time and "other" but he still wishes it had never happened.

Hope thats all this is for that kid...

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by rpm
Identity theft is a strong possibility, also. If that was the case, would'nt he have credit problems as well? This whole case is screwy. I really don't know how this happened, but there are some major recent incidents of Texas narcotics officers setting up totally innocent people.

Screw credit problems....what if he has a sensative job w/ the navy.  He could lose his clearence for no wrong doing of his own.  No clearence.....no job!  Even with it being an honest mistake it wouldn't matter the them.  I've known of guys that have lost their clearence for something stupid....well they had 13-15 years in and they got the boot.  Admin. sep. of course but a few more years and they would have gotten a retirement check.

The other thing that bothers me in this story is a DAs inability to give the family an apology for this hardship.  It doesn't take an actual conviction to screw up a man's life many times the acusation are enough, but it allways seems that these city/county officials no matter were they're at do not feel that they need to apologize to people when they wrongly arrest them.

[fd ski]

Dude, you can get sationed in Rota Spain ? Holy smokes, i visited there once for 3 days and it was THE paradize on earth, 5000 guys came off the ship and anyone who wanted any, got some and didn't have to pay for it... just crazy girls from all over europe having fun....

Heck, i just might reenlist

[Shamus]

Well this is an example of what happens when there is little or no consequence for your actions.

The shield laws put in place under the guise of "tort reform" require that you show "gross  negligence" rather than simple negligence by government in most of these cases, the intent component is almost impossible tho prove.

I cant remember the last time that I saw a successfull false arrest or malicious prosecution case.

shamus

[Charon]

Here's a guy that catalogs a bunch of similar abuses of power, some with far worse consquences. He's a bit too black helicopter for me in general, but the incidents are real.

To be sure, it was puzzling: Davis wasn't a member of organized crime. Neither was he a distributor, seller or grower of narcotics. He was a gardener, and. … That was it! Out front, Davis had planted several ornamental Texas Star hibiscus plants. Baffled no more.

The plant's leaves admittedly look a little "pottish." But so do the leaves of a Japanese maple. And even someone with cataracts the size of silver dollars should have been tipped by the hibiscus' white flowers. Pot doesn't have lush, beautiful blooms.

Smack me, but I would think that folks charged with shoving gun barrels in suspects' faces for the crime of cultivating verboten verdancy would at least know well enough how to properly identify the plant. What if Davis had been in the house cleaning a gun when the raid commenced? Imagine the headline: "Man killed by police in mistaken drug raid: Landscape contractor brandished gun, shot 6 times for hibiscus."
http://issuesite.tripod.com/id66.html

 

The list isn't new. It has been in existence since about 1990 but was expanded after the September 11th attacks.

"It's a no-fly list, it's a list of names gathered through intelligence and law enforcement of individuals who are either known terrorists or have links to known terrorists," TSA spokesperson Mark Hatfied told Fiandaca.

The list is now alleged to include not only suspected terrorists and those believed to be a threat to aviation security but civil rights activists say it also targets people based on their political views. A list that is thought to include members of the Green Party, a Jesuit priest who is a peace activist and two civil rights attorneys.
http://issuesite.tripod.com/id70.html

Drug dealing is now classified as narco-terrorism* and has taken its place among other enforcement priorities of the War on Terror.  Last week (Nov. 2003), a Tinley Park resident's door was rammed in by ballistic armor-clad police in a suspected drug bust.  One problem -- no drugs were found.  "Oops," guest columnist Lee Enokian writes...

In summary, Tinley Park had a special tactical team execute a dynamic entry on two separate apartments, ostensibly to search Shane Bourke and his residence, but after all that work and property damage, police officials didn't want to interview him.  As a matter of fact, officers didn't even want to speak with Shane when he requested to see a supervisor.
http://issuesite.tripod.com/id54.html

Charon

[wombatt]

That is crap!
They owe that young man alot more than just an apologie!
They need to give him back those two days they took from him.
But oh waite they cant can they?

Stupid jerks