Wednesday, November 1, 2006

11012006 - Officer Ronald Dupuis - Dupuis filed civil rights employment lawsuit - Hamtramck PD

November 01, 2006: Officer Ronald Dupuis filed a lawsuit against the City of Hamtramck: Civil Rights / Employment. Police Chief refused to reinstate him. [November 2005 taser incident of Officer Graham].


























*Scroll down to bottom of page for Dupuis' law enforcement history*












Michigan cop with troubling history accused of imprisoning two women for days with no charges
byWalter Einenkel
FRI APR 24, 2015 AT 11:50 AM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/24/1380049/-Michigan-cop-with-troubling-history-accused-of-imprisoning-two-women-for-days-with-no-charges#


Highland Park Officer Ronald Dupuis is in trouble—again. This time it is a lawsuit from 2 women claiming he detained them for 4 days without charging them. The 2 women, Rhianna Turner and Kera Hill are domestic partners, they are represented by attorney Robert Morris:

Morris says in September of 2013 – Turner was working as a uniformed Detroit Parking Enforcement Officer.  While she was stopped in front of the old Detroit police headquarters at 1300 Beaubien, Hill showed up.  They were playfully wrestling over a set of keys when a nearby by Sheriff’s deputy feared that Hill was assaulting Turner.

Officer Dupuis came in to see what was the problem. Well, that sounds reasonable.

Despite the couple’s explanations that were was no assault – Morris says Dupuis arrested them.

“The fact that he actually took them to Highland Park, which has no jurisdiction with anything that could have occurred in Detroit, and he was able to convince his supervisors, who were already skeptical and didn’t understand why my clients were locked up – he was actually able to override their authority and keep my clients for four days,” Morris says.

They were never charged with a crime – but Morris says getting locked up cost Turner her job with the city.

That's not good. But, it's a he said she said situation here, right? Here's a video that was posted by Emma Craig on her Facebook page back in January. It shows Officer Dupuis beating a handcuffed suspect, facedown in the snow.

The suspect in that video may very well be a pretty crap human being but it isn't up to police officers to deal out punishment. Here is a report from when Officer Dupuis accidentally shot himself.

And here is Ronald Dupuis's history as a law enforcement officer, care of Detroit Free Press:

■ In 2012, a woman sued Dupuis, alleging he refused to let her use the restroom while she was in a jail cell — thus forcing her to urinate in her cell — and later "began to choke her" and began to call her vulgar names. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2013 because the plaintiff did not provide sufficient documents to the defense.

■ In 2004, while working as a Hamtramck police officer, Dupuis was sued by a man who alleged Dupuis wrongfully arrested him and had him jailed for no reason. The man was released without being charged. His lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount.

■ In 2006, Dupuis sued the city of Hamtramck after a female officer accused him of assaulting her with a Taser. He was fired as a result of the accusation, but was later acquitted on the assault charge. He ended up suing the city over his firing and its handling of the assault accusation. The case was settled.

■ In 2008, Dupuis sued the city of Hamtramck a second time over the Taser complaint, alleging the city had a duty to defend him in that lawsuit. That case was dismissed.

■ In 2012, Dupuis filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the city of Highland Park, alleging he was treated unfairly compared to his African American counterparts and that he was unfairly demoted in the police department. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2013.

Oh yeah, he resigned from the Southgate Police department back in the 2000s. It was in that same department he was reprimanded, in 1998, for allegedly assaulting a mentally disabled man...and stalking a woman, repeatedly pulling her over.

Innocent until proven guilty. But the police employment system that keeps him employed seems very guilty.


















VIDEO: What Does It Take To Fire A Bad Cop? Just Ask Ronald Dupuis
By MintPress News Desk
Minneapolis, MN
April 17, 2015
http://www.mintpressnews.com/what-does-take-to-fire-a-bad-cop-just-ask-ronald-dupuis/204481/

Ronald Dupuis, a police officer from Highland Park, Michigan, has a record of questionable -- and even outright bad -- behavior dating back to the 1980s. These decades of missteps don’t seem to be hampering his career, though.

With almost daily reports of brutality and fatal shootings of unarmed black people by police, activists in America are asking why officers so rarely face lasting consequences for their actions.

With almost daily reports of brutality and fatal shootings of unarmed black people by police, activists in America are asking why officers so rarely face lasting consequences for their actions.

When Darren Wilson left his post with the Ferguson Police Department, crowdfunding efforts raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the man who killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Investigations into Wilson’s past revealed that he’d first been employed by a Missouri police force that was disbanded for corruption.

A similar pattern emerged in the recent slaying of Walter Scott. Writing for Counter Current News, Jackson Mariana reported that Scott’s killer, North Charleston Police Officer Michael Thomas Slager, had a history of violent incidents:

“Back in 2013, Mario Givens, an African American North Charleston man, had been ‘roughed up’ when Slager came to his door, demanding to be let in ‘as part of an investigation.’”

North Charleston Police have faced 46 federal lawsuits since 2000.

But few cops can match the checkered past of Sgt. Ronald Dupuis, the officer from Highland Park, Michigan, who remains employed despite a string of incidents that have followed him through multiple departments. Highland Park is the seventh police force to employ Dupuis.

A new lawsuit alleges that Dupuis held two women in jail without charges for four days. Shockingly, the incident didn’t even begin in Highland Park, where Dupuis is employed as a cop and where he allegedly imprisoned the two women, “Rhianna Turner and her domestic partner Kera Hill.” Instead, Dupuis is accused of intervening in an incident in Detroit.

In September 2013, a sheriff’s deputy witnessed the pair “playfully wrestling over a set of keys,” and intervened because he feared an assault had occurred. Although both women denied a crime had occurred, Dupuis arrived on the scene, arrested the two women, and took them to jail in nearby Highland Park. Though no charges were filed, Turner lost her job as a Detroit Parking Enforcement Officer.

Just this past January, Dupuis made headlines when he was videotaped beating a man suspected of carjacking.

“The video of the arrest, which was recorded by Detroit resident Emma Craig on Monday on the city’s northwest side and posted on Facebook, shows Dupuis striking the suspect several times while apparently trying to handcuff him and administering a final blow after Jackson’s hands were secured behind his back,” reported George Hunter in The Detroit News.

In 2012, Dupuis was hospitalized for shooting himself in the leg with his own gun, which discharged accidentally outside a cell block. Another incident involved him choking a woman he had in custody.

He was previously fired from the Hamtramck, Michigan, Police Department for using a taser on his own partner. Although a jury declined to convict him for it, courts refused to force the city to reinstate Dupuis, which is how he ended up employed by Highland Park.

ReneƩ Harrington, creator of the Michigan Officer Involved Domestic Violence Project, compiled a lengthy timeline of Dupuis-related incidents dating back to 1997. According to the timeline, the Southgate, Michigan, Police Department fired him in 1999 for stalking a woman and repeatedly pulling her over.

Because there is a lack of national data on police violence in general, it is difficult to determine how often police face consequences for their crimes. But in 2013, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey estimated that 90 percent of officers fired from the Philadelphia Police Department force were later rehired through arbitration with police unions — even those accused of crimes including shoplifting and sexual assault.


















Michigan police officer with history of abuse arrests two women, holds them in jail four days without charges
Tom Boggioni
Raw Story
Thu, 16 Apr 2015 11:37 UTCMap
http://www.sott.net/article/295336-Michigan-police-officer-with-history-of-abuse-arrests-two-women-holds-them-in-jail-four-days-without-charges



A Michigan police officer with a string of lawsuits and accusations filed against him over the years - including Tasering his partner and assaulting a disabled man — has now been accused of arresting two women and holding them in jail without ever filing any charges. 

Highland Park police officer Ronald Dupuis — already under investigation for beating a suspected car hijackerhas been accused by two women of arresting them and holding them in jail for four days without every charging them with a crime, according to WXYZ. 

According to Robert Morris, attorney for Rhianna Turner and her domestic partner Kera Hill, Dupuis arrested the two women when they were playfully wrestling over a set of keys in front of the old Detroit police headquarters in 2013. Despite the women's insistence that they were not assaulting each other, Dupuis took them into custody before driving them to the Highland Park station where they were held in a cell for four days before being released without charges ever being filed. 

"The fact that he actually took them to Highland Park, which has no jurisdiction with anything that could have occurred in Detroit, and he was able to convince his supervisors, who were already skeptical and didn't understand why my clients were locked up - he was actually able to override their authority and keep my clients for four days," Morris explained. 

According to the attorney, Turner lost her job with the city as a Detroit Parking Enforcement Officer because of her jail stay. 

Dupuis, already under investigation for the beating of the alleged car hijacker earlier this year, has been in the spotlight for the past decade, having worked for seven different police departments, leaving either under a cloud or in a flurry of lawsuits. 

According to the Detroit Free Press, since 2004 Dupuis has been accused of unlawfully locking up suspects, choking a woman in her jail cell, stalking a woman, and assault, — including using a Taser on his partner. 

In 2012, a woman sued Dupuis, alleging he refused to let her use the restroom while she was in a jail cell — thus forcing her to urinate in her cell — and later "began to choke her" and began to call her vulgar names. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2013 because the plaintiff did not provide sufficient documents to the defense. 

In 2004, while working as a Hamtramck police officer, Dupuis was sued by a man who alleged Dupuis wrongfully arrested him and had him jailed for no reason. The man was released without being charged. His lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount. 

In 2006, Dupuis sued the city of Hamtramck after a female officer accused him of assaulting her with a Taser. He was fired as a result of the accusation, but was later acquitted on the assault charge. He ended up suing the city over his firing and its handling of the assault accusation. The case was settled. 

In 2008, Dupuis sued the city of Hamtramck a second time over the Taser complaint, alleging the city had a duty to defend him in that lawsuit. That case was dismissed. 

In 2012, Dupuis filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the city of Highland Park, alleging he was treated unfairly compared to his African American counterparts and that he was unfairly demoted in the police department. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2013. 

Dupuis has also sued several of the various police departments that have employed him, claiming discrimination, failure to defend him against accusations from the public, and for terminating him. 

In 2012 , Dupuis accidentally shot himself in the leg while standing outside a jail cell at the Highland Park station. 

















Officer seen in video has troubled past
By Gina Damron and Tresa Baldas
Detroit Free Press
11:18 a.m. EST January 15, 2015
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/01/14/officer-arrest-video/21771801/

One of the police officers involved in an arrest caught on video has had a career embroiled in controversy, with accusations of using a Taser on a former partner and assaulting a mentally disabled man.

The video, which surfaced on Facebook and is now under investigation by the Michigan State Police, shows police punching, kicking and handcuffing a 51-year-old parole absconder, who is accused in the carjacking of a mother and her two children Monday. One police official has called the officers' actions on Detroit's west side "proper."

One of the officers in the video is Highland Park Sgt. Ron Dupuis, Highland Park city attorney Todd Perkins confirmed to the Free Press today.

According to U.S. District Court records, Dupuis — listed as Ronald Dupuis II — is no stranger to the courts, though he has never been convicted of any crimes.

Over the last decade, his tumultuous law enforcement career has triggered a half-dozen civil suits in U.S. District Court — half of them he filed himself over employment disputes; the others involve police brutality accusations.

An attorney who has previously represented Dupuis in civil lawsuits, could not be immediately reached for comment today.
His legal troubles include:
■ In 2012, a woman sued Dupuis, alleging he refused to let her use the restroom while she was in a jail cell — thus forcing her to urinate in her cell — and later "began to choke her" and began to call her vulgar names. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2013 because the plaintiff did not provide sufficient documents to the defense.

■ In 2004, while working as a Hamtramck police officer, Dupuis was sued by a man who alleged Dupuis wrongfully arrested him and had him jailed for no reason. The man was released without being charged. His lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount.

■ In 2006, Dupuis sued the city of Hamtramck after a female officer accused him of assaulting her with a Taser. He was fired as a result of the accusation, but was later acquitted on the assault charge. He ended up suing the city over his firing and its handling of the assault accusation. The case was settled.

■ In 2008, Dupuis sued the city of Hamtramck a second time over the Taser complaint, alleging the city had a duty to defend him in that lawsuit. That case was dismissed.

■ In 2012, Dupuis filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the city of Highland Park, alleging he was treated unfairly compared to his African American counterparts and that he was unfairly demoted in the police department. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2013.

Also, the Free Press reported in 2006 that, in 1998, Dupuis was reprimanded by the Southgate Police Department after being accused of assaulting a mentally disabled man. Also while in Southgate, Dupuis was accused of stalking a woman and repeatedly pulling her over. He resigned from the department after being told he would be fired.

On Monday, officers with ACTION, a stolen vehicle task force, arrested a man suspected in a carjacking that occurred earlier that day.

Police have not named the man, but the Michigan Department of Corrections identified him as Andrew Jackson, Jr., who, according to the state's online offender system, was sentenced to prison in 2004 on charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, assault with intent to rob while armed and fleeting police. According to the corrections department he absconded from parole in April 2014.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said today it received a warrant request for a 51-year-old man, whose name was not provided, in connection with a carjacking that occurred on Evergreen on Monday. According to the office, the warrant is being reviewed and a charging decision has not yet been made.

Attorney Ben Gonek, who said he is representing Jackson, said his client has a "serious eye injury."

Gonek declined to discuss the carjacking accusations. Of the arrest, he said "it's pretty outrageous."

"There's no doubt in my mind that it was excessive force," said Gonek, who previously sued Dupuis, his partner and the city of Hamtramck on behalf of a man who said he was beaten during a traffic stop in 2002. The lawsuit was settled for $20,000.

The task force that made the arrest in Monday is made up of officers from Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park, Highland Park and Harper Woods. Detroit police have said none of their officers were involved in the incident. Detroit police spokesman Sgt. Michael Woody said Tuesday that the officers involved were from Highland Park and Grosse Pointe Park.
On Tuesday, Chief David Hiller, with the Grosse Pointe Park Department of Public Safety, told the Free Press that the actions of the officers in the arrest were "proper."

Hiller declined to comment when reached today. Highland Park Police Chief Kevin Coney could not be immediately reached for comment.

Highland Park city attorney Todd Perkins said that, in addition to cooperating with the state police investigation, Highland Park is also looking at the arrest, which has drawn scrutiny since a citizen posted a video on Facebook.

In the video, one officer yells at the man after he calls for "Jesus," telling him "Don't you dare," and another officer can be heard saying "that's a justified ass whooping."

Perkins said the city will look into the incident.

"I represent the people of the city of Highland Park and, in representing the people, you have to give them transparency," he said.

The incident drew out about a dozen protesters earlier today, who gathered outside of the Grosse Pointe Park police headquarters.

"This is the kind of thing that can ignite something," said Ron Scott, with the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality. "We're here on a peace mission. We're saying, 'If you don't deal with us, then there are a lot of people out here who are not gonna take the time to demonstrate.'"

"We also call for criminal and civil penalties for officers who have engaged in these actions," Scott said in the statement, adding, "We are calling for suspension of these officers until this matter is resolved."

















Suburban Robocops like those involved in Jackson beating on the loose in Detroit for years
Posted on 01/15/2015
Diane Bukowski
Voice of Detroit
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/15/suburban-robocops-like-those-involved-in-jackson-beating-on-the-loose-in-detroit-for-years/

Protest Jan. 14 at GPP headquarters: “No Justice, No Peace, Stop Racist Police;” end federal, state tax funding of multi-jurisdictional police forces
Highland Park cop involved in Andrew Jackson, Jr. beating has long record of assaults

DETROIT – Detroit Police Chief James Craig has washed his hands of involvement in the brutal beating of Black Detroiter Andrew Jackson, Jr., 51, by white Highland Park, Harper Woods, and Grosse Pointe Park cops Jan. 12, saying no Detroit officer was involved.  The police claim Jackson carjacked a woman and her two grandchildren at gunpoint.

But the question arises: why have Craig and previous chiefs allowed suburban cops free rein in Detroit for years?

The earliest news accounts of Jackson’s beating, caught on cellphone videotape by Detroiter Emma Craig, implied the carjacking took place in Grosse Pointe Park. However, the carjacking he is alleged to have committed took place far from that 99 percent east side white suburb, in west-side Detroit near Fenkell and Evergreen.

“You don’t become a criminal to catch a criminal,” said Ron Scott of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, Inc. during a protest outside the Grosse Pointe Park police headquarters Jan. 14.

“Those cops violated their own standards of safety when they beat Mr. Jackson before searching him. That beating had no place in a civil society; people are innocent until they are proven guilty. It’s sickening the Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief said it was justified, and that Chief Craig cares so little about Detroiters that he said he isn’t concerned about Detroit cops not being residents, and allows suburban cops into Detroit.”

Jackson’s attorney, Ben Gonek, told the Detroit Free Press that Jackson has a “serious eye injury,” and that the police were guilty of excessive force. The videotape shows Jackson being punched and kicked on the ground by two cops, as he calls out imploringly, “Jesus.”  An officer kneels on his back and says, “What did you say? Jesus? Are you calling Jesus? Don’t you dare! Don’t you f—king dare!”

The officers then bump fists to congratulate each other, and the Harper Woods officer says “that’s a justified ass whoopin.” (See full video with commentary below.)

Scott expressed doubt about Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief David Hiller’s statement that the cops found a gun in Jackson;s waistband. The full version of the  nine-minute videotape, cut short by most news outlets, contradicts that. It shows a white female and a white male cop stand Jackson up to search him, beginning from his feet on up. The white male declares as he is halfway up Jackson’s leg, “Oh, HERE’s the gun.” There is a slight note of sarcasm in his voice. 


Jackson is being held by Grosse Pointe Park police on parole violation matters. His record includes four very long sentences imposed for one incident in 2003 involving armed robbery and fleeing police in Oakland County,  two cases of receiving stolen property in 1995 and 1997, and two other “inactive” 1999 sentences of fleeing police and receiving stolen property. The Michigan Department of Corrections website says he absconded from parole April 3, 2014.

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s office has not yet approved a warrant for his arrest on the carjacking incident. The victim of that incident said in two interviews that she supports police actions in beating Jackson, although she does not say whether she identified him in a line-up as the man who carjacked her.

Since the protest, the Detroit Free Press has named Highland Park Sgt. Ronald Dupuis as one of the cops. Their article says he has a long history of assaults in various suburban departments, including tasering a female partner, beating a disabled man, refusing to allow a woman in a jail cell access to a bathroom, forcing her to urinate in the cell, and stalking another woman, repeatedly pulling her over. He was fired from the Hamtramck Police Department for the taser incident, and resigned rather than being fired from the Southgate Police Department for the incidents involving the women.

Dupuis was also sued for beating a man in 2002, with a settlement, and false arrest in 2004. In 2012, he accidentally shot himself in the foot in a police station. (Click on Ronald DuPuis record DV Project for full accounting from a domestic violence project.)




The protest was attended by Dawud Walid, Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), and over a dozen others.

They  included Eric Taylor, who told VOD he was the victim of a carjacking in Grosse Pointe Park on June 12 last year. “I had my wife call the police for help,” Taylor said.

“My friend and I were at a gas station getting a sandwich when my car was taken as I walked back to it. When the GPP police got there, they cut me off when I was explaining, and told me I matched the description of a carjacking suspect. Then they threated to “blow my f—king head off,” told me I was nothing but an animal, called me a n—-r, and told me if I sued they would come and kill my family.”


He showed VOD a cellphone photo taken by his daughter of his head a few days after the beating. He said he still suffers from headaches and other effects of the beating.

Grosse Pointe Park police were involved earlier in a racist incident where they forced a developmentally disabled Black Detroiter, who used to go into the Pointes to collect bottles, to sing and perform for them, then circulated several cellphone videos of the actions.

Grosse Pointe Park founded A.C.T.I.O.N. (Arresting Car Thieves in Our Neighborhoods) about ten years ago, using an initial $350,000 grant from the state of Michigan and funds from state car insurance companies. It originally included only the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, and police departments from Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe City, and Harper Woods. Since that time, other departments including Warren and Detroit have been added according to news reports.

Hiller included names of the Chiefs from all those departments on his press release on the incident, although Craig said he had not seen it.

Detroit has its own task force, however. The Detroit One Partnership announced the formation of a carjacking task force in April 2014, including the Detroit Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshal’s Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Michigan State Police, Michigan Department of Corrections, Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Emma Craig, who videotaped Jackson’s beating, said she also saw officers at the scene with I.C.E. (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) jackets.

In addition to the Detroit One and ACTION Task Forces, the State of Michigan has run an anti-carjacking task force called H.E.A.T. (Help Eliminate Auto Thefts) for the past 23 years.

Numerous protesters of the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, MO. Aug. 9 have condemned federal provision of military equipment including tanks, assault weapons, flash-bang grenades, flak vests, and other equipment to city police to carry out raids like the one that resulted in the death of seven-year-old Detroiter Aiyana Jones on May 16, 2010, and assaults on anti-police brutality marches.

“We resent that our public tax dollars are being used to fund such programs,” Scott said. Others noted the money would be far better spent on programs to provide jobs, end homelessness, build decent schools, and repair the infrastructures of the nations’ cities.

















Officer Ronald Dupuis' past law enforcement history:





Feb. 17, 1997: Officer Ronald Dupuis written up for careless driving while on duty. Ecorse Police Department.



Between 1997 and 1998: Officer Ronald Dupuis leaves the Ecorse PD and becomes an officer with the Southgate PD.



October 08, 1998: Officer Ronald Dupuis allegedly beat up a mentally disabled man. Southgate PD.



November 04, 1998: Officer Ronald Dupuis reprimanded by the Southgate Police Department for the October 8th beating incident.



Dec. 24, 1998: Officer Ronald Dupuis accused of falsifying overtime slips. Southgate PD.



March 16, 1999: Officer Ronald Dupuis accused of stalking a woman and repeatedly pulling her over while he was on duty. Southgate PD.



March 30, 1999: Officer Ronald Dupuis was informed that he would be fired from the Southgate PD [Stalking incident].



April 02, 1999: Officer Ronald Dupuis resigned from the Southgate PD, to avoid being fired for stalking incident.



Sometime after April 02, 1999: Officer Ronald Dupuis was hired by the Highland Police Department [after resigning from the Southgate PD, to avoid being fired for stalking incident].



Nov. 7, 2000: Officer Ronald Dupuis was laid off by the Highland Park Public Safety department.



Sometime after November 07, 2000: Officer Ronald Dupuis was hired by the Hamtramck PD, after being laid off by the Highland PD.



April 21, 2002: Officer Ronald Dupuis was accused of assaulting a man during a traffic stop. Hamtramck PD. Resulted in a lawsuit, which was settled for $20,000 on November 05, 2005. Dupuis was not fired from the Hamtramack PD. for this incident.



2004: Hamtramck police officer Dupuis was sued by a man who alleged Dupuis wrongfully arrested him and had him jailed for no reason. The man was released without being charged. His lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount.



Nov. 3, 2005: Officer Ronald Dupuis was accused of discharging a Taser stun gun and striking his female partner, Officer Prema Graham, in the leg with the weapon. [Hamtramack PD]



Nov. 10, 2005: Officer Ronald Dupuis was fired from the Hamtramck Police Department for tasering Officer Prema Graham.



Sometime after November 10, 2005: Officer Ronald Dupuis won legal challenges related to the tasering incident Officer Prema Graham, and the Hamtramck PD's firing of him.



Sometime after November 10, 2005: Officer Ronald Dupuis returned to duty at the Highland Police Department [previously laid off from department in November 2000].



Dec. 7, 2005: Officer Ronald Dupuis charged with misdemeanor assault and battery in connection with the Taser incident.



April 01, 2006: Officer Ronald Dupuis found not guilty at trial of November 2005 taser incident against Officer Prema Graham



June 16, 2006: Officer Ronald Dupuis won an unemployment claim dispute against the City of Hamtramck for their firing of him after the November 2005 taser incident Officer Prema Graham. Chief of Police also refused to reinstate Dupuis.



2006: Officer Ronald Dupuis filed a lawsuit against the City of Hamtramck and Officer Prema Graham [November 2005 taser incident]



August 2006: City of Hamtramck lost appeal on Officer Ronald Dupuis' unemployment.



November 01, 2006: Officer Ronald Dupuis filed a lawsuit against the City of Hamtramck: Civil Rights / Employment. Police Chief refused to reinstate him. [November 2005 taser incident of Officer Graham].



January 2007: Officer Ronald Dupuis filed suit to be reinstated to Hamtramck PD, following his being terminated after November 2005 taser incident against Officer Prema Graham.



October 31, 2008: Officer Ronald Dupuis filed suit against City of Hamtramck.



2012: Officer Ronald Dupuis was accused of choking a woman who was in custody.



February 28, 2012: Officer Ronald Dupuis filed a suit against Highland Park: Civil Rights / Employment.



May 22, 2012: Officer Ronald Dupuis' gun "accidently" went off outside the department's cell block. Dupuis was shot in the leg. Sources at the Highland PD said there would be no disciplinary action taken against Dupuis.



September 19, 2013: Highland Park Officer Ronald Dupuis arrested uniformed / on duty Detroit Parking Enforcement Officer Rhianna Turner and her girlfriend Kera Hill, in front of Detroit PD. Dupuis transported them back to Highland PD and had the women jailed for four days - without charges. Turner lost her job due to the unlawful arrest and imprisonment.



January 12, 2015: An online video from Emma Craig surfaced, showing Officer Dupuis beating a handcuffed Andrew Jackson during an arrest. "Highland Park city attorney Todd Perkins said he's aware of Dupuis' checkered past, although he said he will "draw no conclusions" from it." In April 2015, Highland Park Police Chief Kevin Coney stated that Officer Dupuis was not facing discipline for the beating of Andrew Jackson.



January 14, 2015: Michigan State Police investigation of Officer Ronald Dupuis and other officers for the January beating of Andrew Jackson. Officer Dupuis was not suspended from duty during this criminal investigation.



February 09, 2015: Officer Ronald Dupuis was shot in the leg during a raid. Officer Dupuis was still on active duty despite an MSP investigation of the beating of Andrew Jackson during a January 2015 arrest.



February 13, 2015: Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy began criminal investigation of Officer Ronald Dupuis and other officers for the January 2015 beating of Andrew Jackson. Officer Dupuis was not suspended from duty during this criminal investigation.
"According to the office, it received a warrant request from the Michigan State Police, which investigated the arrest of Andrew Jackson Jr. on Jan. 12 by officers...One of the officers shown in the video making the arrest is Highland Park Sgt. Ron Dupuis..."



February 25, 2015: Lawsuit filed by Andrew Jackson against Officer Ronald Dupuis for January 2015 beating.



April 15, 2015: Lawsuit filed by Rhianna Turner and Kera Hill against Officer Ronald Dupuis for unlawful arrest and false imprisonment [September 2013]



April 20, 2015: Officer Dupuis cleared by Prosecutor Kym Worthy of criminal charges in the January 2015 beating of Andrew Jackson.
"Worthy did not defend some of the officers’ conduct.  She said some of Sgt. Dupuis’s behavior was improper and warrants possible punishment from his superiors. Still, Worthy said, charges aren’t warranted."



April 20, 2015: Highland Park Police Chief Kevin Coney announced that Officer Ronald Dupuis was not facing disciplinary action for the January beating of Andrew Jackson.

















Tuesday, October 24, 2006

10242006 - Former Detroit PD Officer Daniel Linares - Michigan Sex Offender Registry

 












10242006 - Former Detroit PD Officer Daniel Linares - Sentenced: CSC


In October 2006, Officer Daniel Linares was sentenced for the June  CSC charge.










Wednesday, October 11, 2006

10112006 - MSP LT. Aaron Sweeney - Sentenced - Petoskey Post

Also See:

MSP LT. Aaron Sweeney charged with domestic violence [Sept. 06, 2006]

     



Post commander enters no contest plea
Petoskey News-Review, MI
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 2:51 PM EDT http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2006/10/25/news/local_regional/news02.txt

The commander of the Petoskey Michigan State Police who was facing a domestic violence charge has taken advantage of a plea agreement that will likely result in no conviction being entered on his record.

Special domestic violence prosecutor Mike Findlay said F/Lt. Aaron Sweeney, 41, pleaded no contest on Oct. 11 to a charge of domestic violence stemming from a Sept. 6 incident.

A no-contest plea is like a guilty plea in that the person is held responsible for the crime and a conviction is entered in the record. Such pleas are only allowed in cases where the defendant either cannot remember the circumstances surrounding the crime because of intoxication or that the case could have possible civil implications. In Sweeney's case, his pending divorce from the victim in the case was the basis for the no-content plea, Findlay said.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Sweeney was given a deferred sentence. That means that if he successfully completes the six months of probation - which includes paying several hundred dollars in fines and costs and participating in counseling - the conviction will be removed from Sweeney's record.

Findlay said such deferred sentences are very common in domestic violence cases such as Sweeney's, where a defendant has no prior convictions. He said Sweeney was not given special treatment because of his position and said the plea was offered after consultation with the victim in the case.

Emmet County Sheriff's deputies arrested Sweeney late on Sept. 6 after officers were called a report of a domestic disturbance at a home in Little Traverse Township.

Authorities have not provided details of the incident, but said no one was injured in the incident.
Sweeney was not available before press time today, Wednesday.

State police officials earlier said they would be conducting their own internal investigation into the incident, but said such investigations typically do not begin until after the criminal portion of the case has been completed.








State Police Lieutenant Pleads No Contest To Domestic Charges
WPBN-TV, MI
Oct 25, 2006
http://www.tv7-4.com/Global/story.asp?S=5588844&nav=1vrj

A Michigan State Police Trooper pleads no contest to domestic violence charges. In September First Lieutenant Aaron Sweeney of the State Police Post in Petoskey was charged with assault and battery. He has since pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge and was put on six months probation. If Lieutenant Sweeney does not violate any terms of the probation, there will be no conviction on his record.











Post commander gets fine, probation
He pleads no contest to domestic violence
Traverse City Record Eagle, MI
BY CRAIG MCCOOL
Oct 25, 2006
http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/oct/25sweeney.htm

PETOSKEY — A deferred sentence could mean a clean record for a Michigan State Police command officer accused of domestic violence.

Lt. Aaron Sweeney, commander of the state police post in Petoskey, was fined $500 and ordered to a term of probation with anger management sessions after he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count, Emmet District Court records show.

Judge Richard May signed the order Oct. 11. If after six months Sweeney has not violated any probation terms, no conviction will be entered in the public record.

Sweeney, 41, was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence after an incident with his wife at the couple's Little Traverse Township home. Prosecutors and Emmet County sheriff's officials repeatedly declined to discuss specifics about the incident.

Court records showed that special prosecutor Michael Findlay, an assistant state attorney general assigned to domestic violence cases in northern Michigan, offered the deferred status program as part of a plea agreement.

Sweeney declined comment and referred questions to his attorney, Joseph Kwiatkowski, who did not return phone calls.

The court took Sweeney's plea under advisement, Findlay said.

"The judge is kind of hanging this over his head, and as long as he does what he's supposed to, the conviction never gets entered," he said. Findlay said Sweeney did not receive special treatment.

"Any defendant, doing what he did, with no prior record and no history of assaultive behavior, would have been offered a deferred sentence," the prosecutor said. "Deferred sentences get used an awful lot with first-time offenders."

Findlay declined to discuss specifics of the incident, saying only that the victim suffered no injuries.

A conviction on Sweeney's record, now an unlikely event, could have jeopardized his career, as those convicted of domestic violence are not, under federal law, supposed to posses firearms.

Thursday, October 5, 2006

10052006 - Deputy Brian Vanmeter - Charlevoix County SD











          




 OCTOBER 05, 2006: DEPUTY BRIAN VAN METER ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH FELONIOUS ASSAULT AND RECKLESS DRIVING IN A DOMESTIC.






A higher standard of accountability
Petoskey News-Review, MI
Monday, January 29, 2007 12:00 PM EST
http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/opinion/opinion01.txt

As a community, we have a right and a duty to hold our law enforcement officers to a high standard, whether they are on the job or on their day off.

It follows that the courts and the policing agencies themselves, along with the everyday cop, need to meet those standards every day — as difficult or trying as that may be.

Police officers must conduct themselves in a manner above and beyond the rest of us, be beyond reproach. They need to understand this and, we suspect, that most of them do understand this.

If they cannot keep themselves to a higher standards, when they slip and fall and fail, it is up to our courts, our governments and ourselves to assure those high standards of accountability.

It is with particular dismay that we read where one local police officer, who strayed from the straight and narrow so far as to threaten harm upon a rival, was essentially allowed to plead down to a traffic citation.

The now ex-Charlevoix County Sheriff’s Department deputy, Brian VanMeter, was facing reckless driving and assault and battery charges after he allegedly chased down, with his car and while off duty, a man seen leaving his estranged wife’s home. VanMeter was originally charged with a felony count of assault with a dangerous weapon (the car). But a judge threw that charge out.

The court eventually accepted an extremely generous plea down to a traffic ticket of careless driving. The victim didn’t want to testify.

Part of his plea included VanMeter’s agreement to resign, an agreement that he would not sue the sheriff’s office or the county over the ending of his employment. Plus, the ex-deputy received back pay for the time he was on suspension.

The special prosecutor said the move to allow for VanMeter to receive his back pay was done to prevent the county from the hassle and expense of arbitration.

That’s a lame explanation and smacks of special treatment.

Another police officer who crossed over the line also saw ramifications recently, though in this case the punishment seems to fit the offense. Michigan State Police officials have demoted and re-assigned the former commander of the Petoskey post following an internal investigation into minor domestic violence allegations.

Aaron Sweeney, 41, was given a one-grade demotion from first lieutenant to lieutenant and re-assigned to a position as a trainer with the agency’s fire investigation unit in Gaylord. The disciplinary action follows a department investigation into an incident that took place at Sweeney’s residence on Sept. 6.

He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Sweeney was given a deferred sentence. That means that if he successfully completes the six months of probation — which includes paying several hundred dollars in fines and costs and participating in counseling — the conviction will be removed from his record.

Police officers are people, too. They make mistakes, like we do. But they have chosen a profession in which, for the good of the society they serve, they must be held accountable for those lapses in judgment above and beyond what their fellow civilian citizens could expect if they made the same mistake.

Yet in VanMeter’s case, we see the opposite. We see a light wrist-slap for a serious offense, and justice is not served by this message of leniency.







Deputy resigns as part of plea deal
Traverse City Record Eagle, MI
January 14, 2007
http://www.record-eagle.com/2007/jan/14week.htm

TRAVERSE CITY — A Charlevoix County Sheriff's deputy involved in an alleged off-duty road rage incident has resigned his position and will pay $200 in fines and costs after he admitted responsibility to a civil infraction.

District Court Judge Michael Haley accepted Brian VanMeter's plea to careless driving Monday in an early morning hearing in Traverse City. Careless driving is not a criminal offense.

The plea agreement required VanMeter, 42, to resign as deputy for Charlevoix County and admit he drove carelessly. But a resignation agreement with the sheriff's department allows him to receive back pay from his suspension in October until his resignation Monday and a letter of reference from the sheriff's department, said Mary Beth Kur, his attorney. The reference letter "will not disparage Brian VanMeter,” according to the agreement.

VanMeter initially was charged with felonious assault and reckless driving in October after he witnessed a man leaving his wife's residence and allegedly "threatened and intimidated” the man with his Chevrolet Malibu on M-66 near U.S. 31 in Charlevoix County's Marion Township, state and county authorities said at the time. The two vehicles never made contact, and no injuries resulted.

The altercation was allegedly part of an ongoing feud between VanMeter and his wife, which involved several other incidents between the couple, Kur said.



















Plea deal lightens ex-deputy's conviction
Petoskey News-Review, MI
By Steve Zucker News-Review staff writer
Tuesday, January 9, 2007 4:12 PM EST
http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2007/01/09/news/local_regional/news2.txt

CHARLEVOIX — The special prosecutor appointed to handle an assault case involving a now ex-Charlevoix County Sheriff’s deputy and the former deputy’s attorney say a host of factors played into a last-minute plea-agreement that prevented the case from going to trial Monday.

Brian VanMeter, 42, of Charlevoix had been slated to face a one-day jury trial in 90th District Court Monday on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and assault and battery. But on Friday VanMeter pleaded responsible to a civil infraction of careless driving in exchange for which the other charges were dropped. He was sentenced to pay $200 in fines and costs.

VanMeter was employed as a deputy with the Charlevoix County Sheriff’s office at the time of the Oct. 5 incident that led to the charges. Although VanMeter was not on duty at the time of the incident, county sheriff George T. Lasater placed VanMeter on unpaid suspension a short time after.

Both attorneys in the case said the deal also included an agreement on VanMeter’s part to resign from his position effective at 5 p.m. Monday and an agreement that he would not sue the sheriff’s office or the county over the ending of his employment. For his part, Lasater agreed to pay VanMeter for the time while he was on suspension and to provide him with a letter confirming his time of employment with the sheriff’s office and the fact that he resigned, the attorney’s said.

The case was prosecuted by Antrim County prosecuting attorney Charles Koop, who was appointed to handle the case by the state attorney general’s office at the request of Charlevoix County prosecuting attorney John Jarema.

Koop said a call from the victim saying he didn’t want to proceed with the case was one factor that played into the plea deal. Another factor, Koop said, was that the agreement “provided certainty that (VanMeter) will not be reinstated (to his deputy position).”

Koop explained that the move to allow for VanMeter to receive his back pay was done to prevent the county from the hassle and expense of arbitration.

“In my experience, if the sheriff had fired him, you’d be looking at three months of arbitration. With the attorney’s fees, it would far exceed the cost of just paying him,” Koop said.

VanMeter’s attorney, Mary Beth Kur, said her client took the plea deal, because he felt it was in his and his children’s best interest, given the risks involved in going to trial.

“From the beginning (VanMeter) has maintained his innocence in all criminal charges,” Kur said. “His acceptance of the plea illustrates that. If anything, this incident amounts to a simple traffic matter.”

“When he balanced all the risks of going to trial against a traffic ticket and a $200 fine and not having to put his kids through the publicity surrounding the trial, the choice was pretty clear,” Kur added.

The charges stem from an incident that took place in and south of Charlevoix early Oct. 5 between VanMeter and his estranged wife’s boyfriend, Brad Sanderson. According to police reports and earlier testimony, VanMeter allegedly confronted Sanderson shortly after he had left the VanMeter home.

Sanderson said VanMeter threatened him and then followed Sanderson as he drove back toward Charlevoix. Sanderson said VanMeter drove aggressively, following very closely at times and eventually forcing him to stop near the intersection of U.S. 31 and M-66. Sanderson said VanMeter got out of his car and, after attempting unsuccessfully to make Sanderson get out of his car — ostensibly intending to fight with him — VanMeter fled the scene.

VanMeter was originally charged with a felony count of assault with a dangerous weapon (the car). But a judge threw that charge out following a preliminary examination in November. The judge found that there was not enough evidence showing that VanMeter had the “specific intent” to use his vehicle to put the alleged victim in fear of immediate harm to warrant sending the matter on the circuit court.







Deputy pleads guilty to careless driving
Petoskey News-Review, MI
By Steve Zucker News-Review staff writer
Monday, January 8, 2007 11:47 AM EST
http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2007/01/08/news/local_regional/news3.txt

TRAVERSE CITY — The trial of a former Charlevoix County Sheriff’s deputy who was accused of chasing down and then assaulting his estranged wife’s boyfriend was called off at the last minute Friday when the defendant agreed to accept a plea agreement in the case.

Brian VanMeter, 42, of Charlevoix had been slated to face a one-day jury trial in 90th District Court today, Monday, on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and assault and battery.

Instead, court officials said, VanMeter pleaded responsible to one count of careless driving, a civil infraction. None of the attorneys involved in the case could be reached before press time today.

Charlevoix County Sheriff George T. Lasater said part of the plea agreement included that VanMeter resign from the sheriff’s office, effective today. VanMeter, who was not on duty at the time of the incident, had been on unpaid suspension since shortly after the incident occurred.

The charges stem from an incident that took place early Oct. 5 between VanMeter and his wife’s boyfriend, Brad Sanderson. VanMeter and his wife are in the midst of what his attorney Mary Beth Kur described in court as highly contentious divorce.

At the preliminary examination, Sanderson testified that he and VanMeter first crossed paths near the driveway of VanMeter’s home shortly after Sanderson had left the home. Sanderson said VanMeter threatened him and ordered him to leave the property.

Sanderson testified that as he drove away from the home toward Charlevoix, VanMeter gave chase in his car. He said VanMeter drove aggressively behind him revving his engine and racing up to within a few feet of his rear bumper before backing off.

Finally, Sanderson testified, VanMeter forced him to stop near the intersection of M-66 and U.S. 31 where he said VanMeter got out of his car, came over to Sanderson’s car and opened his car door saying “get out of the car.” Sanderson said the his vehicle’s seatbelt caused the door to shut and he quickly locked the door. He said when VanMeter could not re-open the locked door, he pounded on his driver’s door window and then returned to his car and fled the scene at a high speed.

Sanderson said he believed that VanMeter wanted to fight with him.

VanMeter originally faced a felony charge of assault with a dangerous weapon (the car). But in November a judge threw out the charge finding that there was not enough evidence to show that VanMeter had used the car to put the victim in fear of immediate harm.















Cop's assault charge dropped
Traverse City Record Eagle, MI
Nov. 07, 2006
By CRAIG McCOOL
Record-Eagle staff writer
http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/nov/07charlevoix.htm

CHARLEVOIX — A judge dropped a felony assault charge against a sheriff's deputy who allegedly threatened another man with his car.

A judge ruled there wasn't enough evidence against Charlevoix County sheriff's deputy Brian VanMeter to sustain the felony charge, though VanMeter still faces three misdemeanor counts for an alleged road-rage incident last month.

VanMeter, 42, was initially charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, a four-year felony, and reckless driving, a misdemeanor, following an incident in early October.

He allegedly spotted a man leaving his estranged wife's home and initiated a late night car chase on M-66 that ultimately lead to a confrontation. Grand Traverse District Judge Michael Haley dismissed the felony assault charge at a Nov. 3 preliminary examination.

VanMeter now faces two misdemeanor assault and battery charges and a reckless driving count.

Felonious assault must be committed using a dangerous weapon. There is no weapon component to the misdemeanor assault charges.

"The theory was that there was an assault and the dangerous weapon used was the motor vehicle," said VanMeter's attorney, Mary Beth Kur. "The judge said there was no probable cause to believe there was an assault with the car."

Antrim County Prosecutor Charles Koop was assigned to be the special prosecutor in VanMeter's case and said the two assault charges are both for threatening behavior: allegedly trying to force open the victim's car door after both vehicles were stopped, and then pounding on the victim's windshield.

VanMeter, a deputy with Charlevoix County for the past four years, was off duty at the time of the incident. He has been suspended without pay since his arrest.

The dismissal of the felony charge will not have an immediate impact on his employment status, Charlevoix County Sheriff George Lasater said.

"He's suspended ... until these cases have been disposed of, then I'll make a decision," the sheriff said.

Kur said a plea agreement in the case is unlikely.

"There was some discussion about a plea ... but I think it's going to trial on the misdemeanor charges," Kur said. "I asked for a trial as soon as possible."









                   







Sheriff's deputy suspended
He's facing charges following road rage incident
Traverse City Record Eagle, MI
Oct 11, 2006
By VICTOR SKINNER
http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/oct/11vanmeter.htm

CHARLEVOIX — A Charlevoix County Sheriff's deputy is suspended without pay following an alleged altercation that landed him in jail, state police said.

Brian VanMeter, 42, is free on $10,000 surety bond and is charged with felonious assault and reckless driving for allegedly "threatening and intimidating" another man with his Chevrolet Malibu on M-66 near U.S. 31 in Marion Township, state and county authorities said.

The alleged incident occurred at about 2 a.m. Thursday over "some type of personal situation," said Lt. Amos Horton, a detective lieutenant at the Michigan State Police's 7th district headquarters.

VanMeter's divorce lawyer, Mary Beth Kur, said the incident was prompted when VanMeter witnessed a man leaving his wife's residence.

"There were some verbal exchanges," Horton said, but added "there was no contact between the vehicles and there was no injuries that resulted."

Troopers responded to the early-morning 9-1-1 call, but when they arrived the situation had calmed and VanMeter had left the area, Horton said. State police arrested VanMeter Friday.

VanMeter was off duty at the time of the altercation.

The deputy's wife has since filed a personal protection order against him, Kur said.

"There is definitely more to this than what meets the eye," Kur said. "(VanMeter) is looking forward to having his day in court."

Charlevoix County authorities conducted the initial investigation before turning it over to state police in an effort to avoid the "appearance of impropriety or favoritism," a county press release states.

VanMeter has been a Charlevoix County deputy since September 2002 and had "no major disciplinary actions" on his record, Undersheriff Don Schneider said.

VanMeter's arraignment in 90th District Court is scheduled for Oct. 17.

The felony assault charge carries a possible four-year prison sentence. Reckless driving is a misdemeanor.








Details emerge on deputy's arrest
Petoskey News-Review, MI
Oct 10, 2006
By Steve Zucker News-Review staff writer
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 1:25 PM EDT
http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2006/10/10/news/local_regional/news03.txt

CHARLEVOIX - An alleged incident that lead to the arrest of a Charlevoix County Sheriff's Deputy last week appears to have started with an encounter at the deputy's home.

On Friday, state police arrested Charlevoix County Sheriff's deputy Brian VanMeter, 42, of Charlevoix on charges of felonious assault and reckless driving stemming from an alleged incident that took place early Thursday.

Charlevoix County Sheriff George T. Lasater has since placed VanMeter on unpaid suspension pending the outcome of the criminal case and an internal investigation.

According to a Michigan State Police affidavit filed in the case, the Petoskey-area man who is the alleged victim in the case told troopers that he had been at the VanMeter residence, located several miles south of Charlevoix and left the residence at about 1 a.m. Police said the man reported that shortly after leaving, he received a call from VanMeter's wife indicating that she was receiving several calls registered as “blocked” on the caller ID.

The man told police that he turned around and drove back to the VanMeter home. He told police that as he was about to enter the driveway, he noticed a vehicle parked about 200 feet from the home. He said the driver of the vehicle turned on its lights, “spun a doughnut” and approached the driveway where the alleged victim had stopped.

The man told police that VanMeter got out of his car, approached the Petoskey man's car and asked him to get out. The man said he got out of the car at which time VanMeter told him he knew “what was going on” at the home and then allegedly threatened the man twice, purportedly saying he would “kill him with one hand.”

Court records show that a divorce proceeding was filed in 33rd Circuit Court between VanMeter and his wife on Aug. 31.

The man told police that VanMeter told him to get off his (VanMeter's) property and that the man then left in his vehicle.

The man said VanMeter immediately got into his car and began following him as he drove toward Charlevoix.

The man told police that as VanMeter followed him he (VanMeter) was revving his engine and would race up behind his vehicle to within a few feet of his rear bumper and then brake hard, and then back off. The man said VanMeter repeated this process several times as they neared Charlevoix.

The man told police that as the two vehicles neared the U.S. 31/M-66 intersection - at about the driveway to Glen's - VanMeter allegedly passed the victim's car and stopped in front of him in the middle of the road, causing the victim to stop.

The man said that VanMeter got out of his car, came over to the victim's vehicle, grabbed the door handle and opened the car door saying, “Get out of the car.”

The man said the door swung open, but closed again because of the seatbelt after which the man said he locked the door.

The man told police that VanMeter then pounded once on the man's driver's-side door window with his right fist and then left the scene, allegedly running a red light at the U.S. 31/M-66 intersection.

No injuries or vehicle damage was reported in the alleged incident.

The affidavit does not indicate what, if any, statements VanMeter made to them about the alleged incident.

VanMeter was arrested on the charges Friday and has since been released from jail after posting a $10,000 surety bond. He is slated to be arraigned on the charges on Oct. 17. The court file did not list an attorney for VanMeter Monday.

Felonious assault (also called assault with a dangerous weapon) is a four-year felony. Reckless driving in a misdemeanor charge.

Charlevoix County officials have asked investigators from the Michigan State Police 7th District headquarters in Williamsburg to handle the investigation to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.
















Deputy arrested for felonious assault
Petoskey News-Review, MI
Oct 9, 2006
By Steve Zucker News-Review staff writer
Monday, October 9, 2006 12:44 PM EDT
http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2006/10/09/news/local_regional/news03.txt

CHARLEVOIX - A Charlevoix County Sheriff's deputy has been suspended after he was arrested last week on felonious assault and reckless driving charges.

Charlevoix County sheriff George T. Lasater, in a joint release with Charlevoix County prosecutor John Jarema and Charlevoix police chief Gerard Doan, confirmed that deputy Brian VanMeter was arrested Friday stemming from an incident that took place early Thursday morning in the city of Charlevoix.

VanMeter was released from jail later on Friday after posting a $10,000 surety bond.

According to the release, Charlevoix and Charlevoix County officials asked detectives from the Michigan State Police 7th District Headquarters in Williamsburg to take over the investigation “to ensure there is no appearance of impropriety or favoritism,” the release read.

Lt. Amos Horton, with 7th District headquarters, said the incident involved allegations that VanMeter used a motor vehicle to “threaten or to intimidate” another man following a “road rage-type” situation early Thursday.

Horton did not have extensive details of the incident available to him, but said dispatchers at 9-1-1 received a report of the incident, but by the time police arrived the situation had defused and VanMeter was no longer in the area. He said troopers from the Michigan State Police post in Petoskey handled the initial investigation and VanMeter was arrested Friday based upon their investigation.

Horton said there were no reports of injuries stemming from the incident. He said VanMeter was not on duty at the time of the incident.

Lasater said he has suspended VanMeter without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case and an internal investigation.

Felonious assault (also known as assault with a dangerous weapon), is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison. Reckless driving is a misdemeanor.

VanMeter is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges in 90th District Court on Oct. 17. Court files do not yet list an attorney for him.