The cop was just trying to get out of the way of those falling prices.
Is there a reason why you excerpted this?
The law is for thee, not for me.
Why is flight risk relevant if he's not even going to be charged with a crime?!
And isn't it battery, too, when you shove someone down? Or through a window?
He said the investigation would be ongoing, but he said he "was unable to determine at the scene that there was any intent to commit an assault."
Collegedale Officer Paul Crosby said when he arrived at the scene he found a large group of people gathered outside the door of the store. He said some "were obviously angry and were pointing fingers and yelling."
He said one man was "livid" and was pointing his finger at Det. Freeman while saying, "You are a police officer? Shame on you."
Det. Freeman was involved in a scuffle with attorney Lloyd Levitt at the Courts Building in May 2007.
That's good enough for this FReeper to get 4-square behind Officer Freeman.
These Obama re-education camps are good for the mind and soul.
I hava a friend married to a cop and SOME, I said some, of these guys are the biggest A$$e$ your ever going to meet. This must have been one of them.
The cop sounds like an azz. But you don’t have to stop for the greeter if the alarm sounds.
Hmmm, just looked at reddit for comment. It is very depressing to read how many say they’d shove a 71-year-old too. Our society is going to hell.
Link (warning, some adult language): http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/7oj9z/off_duty_cop_shoves_71_year_old_walmart_greeter/
This man sounds like the very definition of bad cop. Chattanooga should rid themselves of this looming liability, before something truly expensive comes their way.
Well, if Detective Freeman isn't guilty, then I guess that the folks that trampled the WalMart greeter on Black Friday aren't guilty either. After all, it's only a WalMart worker. (/s)
This is right in my own area. I'll have to do some digging into this one to see what went down. I mean, besides the greeter who obviously went down to the floor.
Dumb cop is VERY lucky I was not there.
I would have preceived his actions a threat to the life of the 71 year old and placed to Ranger Ts in his skull.
Its called a Professional Courtesy.
Ordinary citizens who pushed down a Walmart greeter would have been arrested by the part time cop who worked there.
“Det. Freeman was involved in a scuffle with attorney Lloyd Levitt at the Courts Building in May 2007.”
an arrogant police officer shoves an old man to the floor and walks away? sad state of affairs.
The next time, the old man will know to step back and bow.
This all stems from an incident at the Collegedale Wal-Mart Christmas Eve. According to the reports, Officer Freeman and another off-duty Chattanooga Police officer were walking out of the store, when the alarm sounded.
The greeter reportedly told Freeman to stop and grabbed him on the arm.
The report goes on to state that Freeman was confident the alarm was sounding for a different customer, and not him, so he turned around and told the greeter “don’t be putting your hands on me.” Then, according to the report Freeman pushed the greeter with his left palm.
Lawyer Stuart Brown says as far as he is concerned, the case is resolved and Freeman does not plan to file a complaint against Wal-Mart or the employee.
Brown says his client knows what he did was wrong but calls what the greeter did “an egregious mistake.”
http://www.newschannel9.com/news/officer_974544___article.html/freeman_charged.html
“The local police chief and the rest of his department should be held responsible for allowing this type of behavior to exist, and new policies should be implemented to make sure this is does not happen again.”
“Our sheriff is already in prison for acting like he was a member of the Soprano’s, a high ranking officer with obvious substance abuse issues was allowed to get away with repeated breaches of public trust (at least), and another off-duty police officer pulls a gun on a tow truck driver that is about to tow his car and all that the public ever gets is “we’re investigating”, while no charges are ever filed and the incidents are swept under the rug.”
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_141955.asp
“Two words: Cover Up, oh, and two more, Police Brutality. Why do some police think they are above the law themselves? If it was Joe Q. Public, we would be in that squad car.”
“After Officer Freeman got in trouble at court, the city of Chattanooga promoted him? Right after they hired Keele in land management, huh? I would get a good lawyer and sue if I was you. This guy is a loose cannon. It is only a matter of time before something really tragic occurs; besides there are a million security cameras to bolster your case. Put this man out of a job; he is undeserving of taxpayer money. I question this authority, all the dirty laundry is not out of this town yet.”
******
“As a lifelong citizen of Chattanooga and Hamilton County I am concerned with the conduct of some Chattanooga police officers. The attack upon a 71-year-old Wal-Mart greeter in Collegedale by a Chattanooga police officer was totally unnecessary. The elderly gentleman was only doing the job for which he was hired to do.”
“Det. Kenneth Freeman shoving another citizen, Mr. Gholom Ghassedi, through a glass door is inexcusable. Any other member of this community who would do such a thing would have forced applied in effecting an arrest upon their body.”
“More troubling than this un-warranted attack upon two citizens is the management of the Chattanooga Police Department and of the city of Chattanooga. When the Public Affairs Department for Chattanooga only says they are investigating it raises a red flag. Investigation is not enough and the good citizens of all our communities need to hear that the chief of police and the mayor of Chattanooga have dressed-down Det. Kenneth Freeman in no uncertain terms, read him the riot act, and put him on notice. In fact I would recommend he be pulled off the streets for a six-month period so he can reacclimatize himself into the environment of civility. It should be apparent the man has a serious problem in controlling himself after this incident and another prior incident where he attacked an officer of the court. Apparently he was rewarded with a promotion for administering that battery upon the lawyer in 2007.”
“Evidently “investigation” means nothing so I do not look for anything to come out of this either from Internal Affairs. The motto of the Chattanooga Police Department is “to serve and protect,” not “to serve and attack.””
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_141955.asp