Posted on 11/12/2023 5:47:53 PM PST by algore
Stephen Perkins, 39, was gunned down by cops from Decatur Police Department outside his home on September 29 in Decatur, Alabama.
Police have said that a tow truck driver had attempted to repossess Perkins pickup when it is alleged Perkins pulled a gun on him, causing the driver to call 911.
Surveillance cameras captured the moment Perkins was gunned down by responding officers, who fired eighteen shots at him. Appallingly, a driver from Allstar Recovery drives off with the dying man's truck as he takes his final breaths just feet away, with his final words said to have been 'help.'
That newly-released footage - first shared by Decatur Daily - has triggered outrage in the Alabama city, with both the repossession firm and police department blamed for what activists say was Perkins' needless death.
Officers can be seen standing over the body of Perkins in his front lawn after gunning him down, with the tow driver nonchalantly making off with Perkins' white GMC Sierra.
Officers can be seen standing over the body of Perkins in his front lawn after gunning him down.
They claimed Perkins had been told to drop a gun he'd been holding but that he'd refused to do so.
Chief Todd Pinion later said Perkins had been ordered to 'get on the ground' by officers who'd identified themselves as police.
The change of story has led locals to question whether the police department has also gotten other crucial details wrong.
After the shooting, the officers appear to pat Perkins down, with one officer moving from Perkins' right side over to Perkins' legs.
Out of sight, an unidentified repossession officer has hooked the GMC to their truck and begins to tow it away.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
If the economy was not looking good, and the future seemingly bright, he would not have bought the truck.
Its not the repo guys fault nor the cops.
It was also not that guys’ truck anymore.
the tow driver nonchalantly making off with Perkins’ white GMC Sierra.
Sounds like a deadbeat to me...
I’m failing to get all choked up here. Perkins lost more than a truck. He lost his life. Deliberately.
The perp was trying to keep someone from taking back THEIR truck and got themselves shot by police.
I see no issue with the guy taking his truck this idiot tried to stop him from taking.
Pay your bills deadbeat.
I live in Decatur! The dude pulled a gun on a tow truck driver. Then the TT driver split and came back with the cops and the dude still came outside with a fkg gun!! Black, White ,Green, Yellow, Purple...you do something that stupid and you’re gonna get shot!
The life of a repo man is always intense.
L
Yep.
Maybe not.
I personally will wait until I have seen the entire recording of what the police did.
Was he actually armed?
Did he actually refuse to put down his weapon?
If those two things are true then the police did nothing wrong.
If those two things are NOT true there might be a problem.
And if he was not armed at all there is a problem with the Repo Driver as well because he called the cops saying the man was armed. Not saying this was what happened in this case but it has happened where people called the police and reported people as being armed and threatening when they clearly were not. In those cases the police acted with restraint and the only tragedy was that the person who did the false reporting was not arrested and charged with attempted murder.
But the police changing their story is not a good sign.
what a crap headline...
I am taking what both sides are saying with a grain or two of salt.
It would be interesting if it turned out that he was NOT behind on his payments and it was all a mistake.
I’m past my tolerance point for yellow journalism.
Loaded words. Innuendo. Personal bias substituted for honest journalism reporting.
“gunned down” “a dying father’s vehicle” “final breaths” “said to have been help.” “tow truck driver nonchalantly making off.”
“ I am taking what both sides are saying with a grain or two of salt.”
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The cops’ body cam recordings and financial records will tell the tale.
A few years back, my brother and I were flying back from Florida, and we struck up a conversation with the guy in our row of seats.
When we asked what he had been in Florida for, he said he had gone to a convention. Not just any convention, but a car repo convention!
I remember saying something like “What? I never knew there were “repo” conventions!”
And the guy said “Oh yeah.” He was a professional.
For the next few hours, we talked intermittently about his trade. I think what impressed me the most was when I asked him about the practice of people who know their car is ripe for repossession, to park in a difficult area, or in the middle of a group of cars.
As he examined a fingernail, he said “They always think they can park someplace we can’t get it, in the middle of a pack of cars and such. But we can.”
He said it in such an indifferent tone that I realized the arts of car repossession are more advanced today than they were back in the Seventies!
Who’da thunk it-A Repo Man Convention. What must that be like?
Especially if what is in the trunk glows in the dark. I saw that movie.
So we shall see.
Until that point I am reserving judgment. People DO end up at wrong addresses. Happened to us when house hunting. We were at one house number on west street and our agent was at the same house number east street. Funny, but it would not have been if we had tried to go in the house and the owners had taken offense.
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