Police said this man tried to shoot an officer—turns out they lied and tried to cover it up

Rss@dailykos.com (thandisizwe Chimurenga) · Wednesday, August 17, 2016, 6:49 pm

“All Lives Matter.” Technically speaking, that’s true. But if it wasn’t for Black Lives Matter, we more than likely wouldn’t have the additional scrutiny of law enforcement shenanigans—the less than lethal things cops do—that we are now seeing on an almost daily basis. Take, for example, the case of Carl Roettgen. Last week Donald Stouffer, prosecuting attorney for Saline County, Missouri, dropped several charges against Roettgen because the arresting officers lied.

“After hours spent examining the video, trying to reconcile the video with the two officers’ statements, and consulting with staff, I reached the difficult conclusion that no reasonable juror could find the officers’ accounts credible,” he said.

Stouffer said the officers’ commander supported their false story so that the outcome of the criminal case would not be affected, raising further concerns about the department’s handling of the case. Furthermore, he said he will not file charges in any pending cases in which the officers, Tyler Newell and Josh O’Bryan, had a major role and that he’ll review other cases in which either officer was a key witness.

Police tried to arrest Roettgen for a parole violation in May 2015 in a Walmart parking lot in Marshall, Missouri. They stated that a passenger in Roettgen’s car jumped out as he was pulling away; that’s when one of the officers jumped into Roettgen’s car to try to stop it from moving. The officer alleged that Roettgen then pointed a gun at his face, and that he heard a ‘click.’ The other officer said that he had seen a gun in the car from the driver’s side of the vehicle.

Nothing but lies. Three counts of first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer, two counts of armed criminal action, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm were all dismissed against Roettgen, but he pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and was sentenced to four years in state prison.

The lying officers have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation. The officers’ commander at the time is the one who supported their lie, but he was not named by the prosecutor. So he has not been placed on leave.

This sounds like a case that should rile up a lot of indignation from the “there are good cops out there too!” crowd.

We’re waiting.

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