Posted on 07/10/2012 4:53:14 PM PDT by Tainan
When the woman called 911 a deputy wasn’t sent because the compliance officer is a county employee.
A Georgia homeowner allegedly awoke to an unusual scene on July 2 — a county code compliance officer yelling at her over the state of her lawn from the doorway of her bedroom.
“I woke up, I didn’t have my glasses on or my contacts in and all I see is this big burly figure standing in my doorway,” Erica Masters explained. “A big huge guy with a grey shirt. It scared the mess out of me.”
She elaborated: “[He] yelled at me to wake me up, to let me know that I needed to come back outside and sign the violation notice,” informing her that her grass was too long.
“I could have been coming fresh out of the shower. I mean, if I’m not answering the door, maybe it’s because I can‘t hear you because I’m in the shower,” she later pointed out.
To top it off, the whole scene can be viewed on Masters’ home surveillance cameras.
video at site.
...the s**thead’s lucky he isn’t dead
Question - Would this have been a good shoot?
It still would.
The guy is lucky she didn’t have a gun and shoot him.
If he didn’t have a warrant, it would have been a good shoot.
I’d say shooting him would be justified.
If I were in her shoes, and a strange man were in my bedroom, my first thought wouldn’t be “he wants to talk to me about my lawn”.
Agreed.
Columbia County Administrator Scott Johnson says the investigation could be finished as early as Monday. He also says Vowell use to work at the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.
In 2004, he resigned from the Richmond County Sheriff's Office after he admitted that he took a computer from the property room.
http://www2.wjbf.com/news/2012/jul/06/3/code-enforcement-officer-administrative-leave-ar-4090363/
This woman is waaay too laid back about this. “Gee whiz I know I need to cut my grass”, when that isn’t even the point! Timid single woman needs to have at least a 22 on hand. Then, we’d be discussing how the county needs to pony up the funds for clean up.
A warrant doesn’t give one authority to break into a residence and enter the bedroom of a sleeping citizen.
Warrants must be served properly and constitutionally.
By breaking into her residence and entering her bedroom, he acted like a common criminal.
If he didn’t have a warrant, it would have been a good shoot.
Even with a warrant, a government employee of any type that enters someone’s home without knocking and identifying himself first, should be eliminated for the good of all mankind. Enough with the gestapo tactics.
We're being "enforced" and "complianced" into tyranny.
Compliance officer: made up job with no useful mission
That would be one dead “compliance officer”, if that was what he really was. I mean thugs dress up as cops to invade homes. Why not a “census worker” or fake package delivery guy, or supposed county worker.
Pull that at my house and they’d be picking 27 piece of 00 buck and three 12 gauge slugs out of his chest.
In 2004, he resigned from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office after he admitted that he took a computer from the property room.
So why does he have a government job? We need higher standards at every level of government.
A Georgia homeowner allegedly awoke to an unusual scene on July 2 — a county code compliance officer yelling at her over the state of her lawn from the doorway of her bedroom.“I woke up, I didn’t have my glasses on or my contacts in and all I see is this big burly figure standing in my doorway,” Erica Masters explained. “A big huge guy with a grey shirt. It scared the mess out of me.”
She elaborated: “[He] yelled at me to wake me up, to let me know that I needed to come back outside and sign the violation notice,” informing her that her grass was too long.
Illegal grass infraction.
I can’t help but think that BTK, the serial killer in Kansas, was a compliance officer. He used he abused his power and used his position to pick his targets. I think if she had shot, it would have been justified. I also think that the County is probably covering for someone they already know is a problem. I hope she pushes the point. I also hope she gets herself a shot gun.
I wonder if this thief got to keep his pension after resigning from his department in ‘04. I’d bet money he did.
Jeez!
Not to nitpick but have you ever heard of a no-knock warrant ... it is all the rage with SWAT units of late. Not that this incident would give rise to such a warrant, just say’n.
As for this clown, he should, at the very least, be arrested for B&E and should thank his lucky starts the occupant didn’t have a gun at hand. ;-)
Um, nowadays, strange ANYONE, man or woman. Don’t underestimate women. You’ll be dead quick.
What’s wrong with her lawn?
He’s also, at this point, been fired for his job for non-compliance with processes of the compliance department and for making false statements to his supervisor during the investigation yesterday.
According to another website/thread, it was her roommate that left the door unlocked, not the victim.
just FYI
“...Compliance officer ...”???
WTF!
If I go to bed knowing for sure that I’m alone in the house, and I open my eyes and there’s somebody standing over my bed, something very ugly is going to happen, and it’s going to happen damn near instantaneously.
When it came to be known that it was some fat, officious low-level government prick that broke into my house to harass me for my lawn being a couple of inches longer than he liked, I would probably stop feeling bad about it.
I kind of like the idea of having my own video system -well concealed- so that there’s evidence that matches what I said happened, when the smoke clears.
No knock warrants are unconstitutional.
They may be fashionable with SWAT teams, but SWAT teams of late have been ignoring the Constitution when it doesn’t serve the interests of The State.
True, but most violent criminals who break into homes are male.
You can bet he’ll be back with something else on his mind than the lawn. If not her bedroom door then her neighbor’s.
Unconstitutional? They have been challenged in court on several occasions and have been found very much in compliance. I don’t happen to agree, but who am I to argue with the courts. As for the SWAT teams ignoring the Constitution, they are complying with the orders of a judge somewhere. A warrant can’t be exercised without a judge’s signature.
Once again, I’m not in anyway trying to justify the no knock warrant, just stating the facts.
As a retired officer I never thought the no knock was constitutional but the courts said so, so who was I to disagree (by the way, I never served a no knock in all my 28 years).
Obviously the “compliance” officer is using his job to case residences and was probably surprised when someone was in the home.
The courts have ruled a lot of non-constitutional matters to be “constitutional” .
No knock warrants are unconstitutional. Period.
None of the founders would have supported government employees serving a warrant by intruding into a citizen’s home.
He has stolen before; I hope that lady has checked her residence to make certain all her valuables are still in place.
Far be it from me to disagree with you, you have me convinced, now all you have to do is convince the courts. Good luck with that, by the way. LOL!
Cronyism or nepotism. He got the gig because he knows somebody or else he’s a relative of somebody in county gummint.
You don't understand -- I was calling 911 for HIS safety. Well....OK, Nancy, if you won't come get him I guess I'll just have to shoot him.
And it wouldn't matter if it were. He has no business in your house without your consent without a warrant, no matter what his purpose, absent exigent circumstances. Long grass does NOT qualify, no matter what the city or HOA may say.
Why doesnt this headline read
“Compliance officer dead: Woman goes back to sleep”
“By breaking into her residence and entering her bedroom, he acted like a common criminal.”
And were it my house, he would have been treated as such! The headline would have gone something like this:
“Compliance Officer shot dead after breaking into resident’s home unlawfully.”
Enviro-friendly landscaping?
I dunno....maybe an HOA complaint?
Hadn't you heard? SCOTUS now lies about what's Constitutional and not.
Who am I to argue with the courts?
Uh, their boss -- the source of their salary? And someone with an actual job that produces wealth, as opposed to incinerating it, as by definition any government job does?
You forgot the subtitle: “Citizens Praise Righteous Shooting”
:-)
If you have taken the time to read all my responses, you will notice that I don’t disagree. I guess you just need to vent and by limiting your viewing of my responses to the ones you want to use in your rant you feel comfortable. So be it, I have taken more then one false beating in my life.
Selective reading is a wonderful thing. LOL!
Did you see the size of that guy? That would scare me to death if he were just knocking on my front door? Wish I could do a screen capture of her video showing him just walking down her hallway!!! Unbelievable!!!
Story should have read “Compliance officer killed after trespass, no charges against homeowner”
Question - Would this have been a good shoot?
Maybe not in NY or Cal. Everywhere in between, I think, would be a good shoot
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