Posted on 03/28/2010 12:00:42 PM PDT by marktwain
Police reports on a disgruntled Oregon Department of Transportation planner who surrendered to a police negotiator and SWAT team early March 8 indicate that the man hadn't made any threats, but people who worked with him were increasingly concerned that violence could erupt.
Incident reports from Medford police and the Jackson County Sheriff's Department describe verbal outbursts and "a declining state of mental health" seen in slipping personal hygiene and appearance, and a "somewhat disorderly and uncooperative" exit when the man was placed on administrative leave on March 4.
Fears of retaliation prompted electronic surveillance that notified authorities when the suspended planner, David J. Pyles, 39, bought three handguns, a 12-gauge shotgun and a semi-automatic AK-47 rifle over the next three days.
The purchases only heightened police concerns, prompting additional meetings, surveillance and, finally, in the pre-dawn hours of March 8, the intervention of a negotiator and SWAT team, who took Pyles into protective custody for a mental-health evaluation and seized his guns. He was released in about 3.5 hours and his guns were returned March 12.
"Given the circumstances, we decided to react to be on the safe side," Jackson County Sheriff's Lt. Rich Fogarty said. "I think we did what was necessary."
The seizure of the guns and Pyles' trip in handcuffs to Rogue Valley Medical Center for a mental-health evaluation sparked controversy among gun-rights and civil-liberty advocates.
"If the cops have an explanation, they should give it," Oregon Firearms Federation Director Kevin Starrett said in the days following the incident, which he called "chilling."
The Mail Tribune requested reports from Medford police, the sheriff's department and Oregon State Police in an attempt to piece together the details. The OSP hasn't provided its report yet.
(Excerpt) Read more at mailtribune.com ...
All Teens are mentally stressed LoL
Lock ‘em up!
“If you were surrounded by a swat team. You may well need a shower too.”
Absolutely! I think is shows remarkable presence of mind and a very calm mind set to take a shower, get dressed and then go out to meet the SWAT team.
A tragic incident!
You forgot your sarc tag
I did not say NO harm was done, but this was not Ruby Ridge or Waco, or numerous other cases where innocent people were killed and coverups to protect the guilty were conducted.
No one was killed. No property was destroyed. His freedom was curtailed for only about 4 hours.
Do I think a real investigation should be done and that he should get some compensation? Yes, but this is nowhere near as bad as many other cases I have seen.
It is a good thing that people are upset about this, it keeps the authorities on their toes.
There but by the Grace of God.
I suspect that if this crap had happened to you words like “only” and “nowhere near as bad” wouldn’t be in your vocabulary in regards to the incident.
“You forgot your sarc tag”
Which post, I have been posting a lot!
I think it was a serious incident, that it should be thoroughly investigated, and reforms made. I have never had an incident as serious as this happen to me, but I have been stopped by police and checked out several times because I was exercising my right to bear arms. It isn't fun, it always raises the pucker factor a bit, but it isn't the end of the world either.
As an active participant on Freerepublic, you have read of many worse incidents than to one that we are discussing. Don't you think that this one could have ended up far, far, worse than it did?
“to one” should be “the one”
I did the same thing last job I lost. Stocked up on ammo cause lot of time on my hands and didn’t know when the next time I would be able to buy ammo would be.
gibberish the cops decided that they wanted to f**k with guy because they could . Hope he sues for violation of rights under color of authority.
I may never recover.
Sorry, but no deal. If it isnt legal in your state of residence, it doesn't matter where you buy it. If you're in to firearms why would you still be living in California?
Based on what?
>It was the fact that he went out and bought 3 guns almost immediately after being placed on leave that sent up red flags. I gather he already owned a number of guns before that as well, but it was timing of the new purchases that looked worrisome.
Perhaps; or perhaps he was going to take that leave time to go hunting, or hit the range, with some guns he’d been wanting to get but hadn’t “had the time” to.
“Precrime” is an absolutely STUPID thing to arrest people for, as far as jurisprudence is concerned, because we DO NOT PROSECUTE/CONDEMN based on “could have” but on DID.
There, fixed. ;)
{No offense intended, just a little humor regarding "cold dead hands."}
Was the ‘Behavior’ Illegal?
Are we moving in to a new era of “pre-crime” where it doesn’t matter if you have yet to commit a crime, but have only behaved as though you ‘Might’ commit one?
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