Posted on 08/13/2002 3:48:04 AM PDT by ResistorSister
MASSILLON — There were plenty of warnings that Donald W. Matthews might one day open fire on a police officer.
More than four years ago, a Jackson Township police officer warned that Matthews was dangerous and that Matthews threatened to kill any officer who would try to arrest him.
And Matthews himself wrote in a document filed Jan. 21, 1998, in Municipal Court, that “Anyone who tries to enforce a bogus warrant will do so at their own peril.”
The moment of peril came Friday night at the corner of First Street and Cherry Road NW. Ohio Highway Patrol troopers and Massillon police tried to arrest Matthews for driving 72 mph in a 60-mph zone. Police said Matthews came out of his car firing a semiautomatic handgun. Police returned fire.
One of Matthews’ bullets killed Massillon Police Officer Eric Taylor. Three bullets fired by police killed Matthews.
Massillon police and the Highway Patrol still are investigating the shooting. Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the FBI are assisting.
“We’re still trying to sort this out,” said Sgt. James Mizeres, who heads Massillon’s detective bureau.
But no one should have been surprised.
“Mr. Matthews made it very clear that he ... will defend what he believes to be his freedom to the death of himself and anyone violating his rights,” wrote Officer Tom Calhoun, who tried to stop Matthews for speeding Jan. 14, 1998.
But Matthews didn’t stop until he reached his home at 6688 Casper Ave. NW in Jackson Township. Calhoun pulled in behind him and asked to see his driver’s license.
Calhoun said Matthews told him it’s unconstitutional to require him to have a license or to follow speeding laws, the report said. He added that Matthews said he would not honor a court summons or ticket and, “if an officer attempted to physically arrest him, he will kill that officer or officers to defend his freedom.”
Matthews eventually calmed down and accepted a citation for driving without an operator’s license, but he would not sign it.
A week later, Matthews, who distrusted government and served as president of a group called the National Constitutionalist Academy, filed his own papers in Municipal Court, seeking to have the charge dismissed.
He alleged that Jackson Township police were “in disguise” and violated his rights, the Ohio Revised Code and the Constitution.
“... I was unlawfully restrained of my liberty,” Matthews wrote, “... by a person, who was in disguise of a uniform with a badge, a sidearm and a billy club ... .”
Matthews claimed the officers “joined in coercion, intimidation, kidnapping and conduct becoming a military occupation force, and were engaged in warfare against me.”
Matthews warned that if the officers approached him again, he would use his constitutional rights “to restrain such individuals in their criminal conduct with as much force as necessary.”
Matthews cited the U.S. Constitution, state law and court decisions in the redress of grievance. He filed two copies; one with a petition signed by two other Constitutionalists and the second with a petition signed by 14 Constitutionalists.
Above his signature, Matthews wrote: “American by birth, Constitutionalist by choice.”
Matthews eventually pleaded no contest, paid a fine of $167 and obtained a driver’s license.
There were other hints as to what might happen. The day after Calhoun’s encounter with Matthews, the owner of the Hidden Arms shooting range in Canal Fulton told Canal Fulton police that he’d overheard Matthews talking about a “constitutionalist group” while he was at the shooting range.
The owner told police that Matthews said he had just gotten a ticket in Jackson Township, and “was bragging that when the officers traffic-stop him again or come to pick him up on the warrant, he is going to kill them.”
A Miami, Fla.-based agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms who had investigated Matthews in 1997, told Calhoun that Matthews was a “very potentially dangerous individual and should be watched closely.”
Information from that investigation apparently was used to secure a warrant to search Matthews’ apartment this weekend. Police took a computer, 10 CD-ROMs, 80 floppy disks and about three rounds of ammunition in the search. The ammunition is used in the type of gun that Matthews used to shoot at police Friday, said Frank A. D’Alesio, ATF agent in charge.
Jackson Township Police Chief Harley Neftzer said the seized items have been sent to the state’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in Richfield for analysis.
There was another warning in February 2000.
Matthews entered Pileggi’s Foods & Catering at 5808 Fulton Dr. NW and talked with Jackson Township Police Officer Patrick Pileggi, whose relatives own the establishment.
According to Pileggi, Matthews repeated that he would kill any officer who pulled him over without a proper warrant.
Matthews also said, according to Pileggi, that he carried a loaded weapon all the time and that the “ammunition he uses is deadly and will go through any body armor that the average police officer wears.”
Calhoun said he warned the Massillon prosecutor’s office and court bailiffs about Matthews. “Future contact with Mr. Matthews by any law enforcement officer should be done with extreme caution,” Calhoun wrote.
Calhoun said Matthews told him, “I have lived a full life and am willing to die and will shoot any officer who attempts to take me into custody.” He said Matthews was “very convincing.”
The owner told police that Matthews said he had just gotten a ticket in Jackson Township, and “was bragging that when the officers traffic-stop him again or come to pick him up on the warrant, he is going to kill them.”
Matthews was out of his mind.
It's a shame these clowns never heard of the 10th Amendment, which gives the several States the right to set traffic laws and such.
So much for his constitutional convictions.
Maybe, this time - he thought he had to make up for giving in the last time. :-(
Yep...that was his bottom line...and his pride would not let him rethink the stupidity of that bottom line.
"Matthews eventually pleaded no contest, paid a fine of $167 and obtained a driver’s license."
To: ResistorSister
So much for his constitutional convictions.
# 7by robertpaulsen
In the movies, that's called "paying protection money." The analogy is a perfect fit, for just as you pay "protection money" to purchase a right you already own from gangsters, you pay fines and license fees to purchase the right you already have to travel on our roads.
The use of the roads is not a privilege, it is the right of every citizen. Travel is a right, just as self-defense is. Requiring a fee to purchase the use of a right is an un-Constitutional infringement on that right.
Your hard-earned money belongs to you, robertpaulsen. If a man walked up to you and said, "I need your money, share with me," you would stand on your right of ownership and tell him to take a hike. If that same man pulled a gun on you, you would regretfully, but dutifully, hand over your money.
So much for your convictions of ownership. Socialist. See ya next week, Comrade.
I did read that he was driving a car without a license, which was against Ohio state laws. Is that what you're referring to? Driving a car is a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution? I missed that.
To say that I give up my 'conviction of ownership' if someone steals money from me at the point of a gun is asinine. Nobody "pulled a gun on" Matthews and forced him to drive, nor did they "pull a gun on" him and force him to get a license. He voluntarily decided to give in to the system. Hence, my comment.
BTW, aren't the airlines violating your 4th amendment 'right to be secure against unreasonable searches'? Or do you just push your way past security? Or do you not fly? (Hint: The U.S. Constitution is a Federal document. It is not a State document. It is not a personal document.)
And they may walk or hire passage in a vehicle to their heart's content.
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