NORTH LITTLE ROCK POLICE OFFICER JON MICHAEL CROWDER ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH BATTERY THIRD DEGREE

NLRPD OFFICER JON MICHAEL

North Little Rock Police Officer Jon Michael Crowder was charged with Battery Third Degree, a misdemeanor offense yesterday afternoon.

The charges stem from an incident on  August 27. 2018 when Crowder responded to a call and injured a suspect during an arrest.

The dash camera video shows Crowder conducting a traffic stop on a blue vehicle at the entrance of SuperStay Motel on West Pershing. 

Crowder had the driver of the vehicle, Kristopher Ryan Lamar step out of the vehicle and move to the rear of the car. Crowder then placed Lamar's hands behind his back, with the assistance of another responding officer, and was able to place him in handcuffs. 

During the course of the arrest,  Crowder lifts Lamar's arms up behind his back, pinning his torso to the car. Crowder then transported Lamar to the North Little Rock Police Department Detective Division. 

While at the station, Lamar complained of a pain in his arms and was transported by another officer to Baptist Health Spring Hill Emergency Room where he was diagnosed as having mildly displaced features of the ulna bone in both elbow joints.

Here is the dash camera video.

After this encounter, a Subject Control file was created per departmental policy and reviewed by supervisory personnel. It was determined that policy violations occurred and resulted in disciplinary action being taken against Crowder.

Crowder was suspended for a period of 30 days starting on October 25, 2018.

Upon reviewing the initial felony case file for the arrested subject, the Pulaski County Prosecutors Office found that the officer’s actions while affecting the arrest rose to a criminal level. 

The Office of the Chief of Police was notified that the Pulaski County Prosecutor would be seeking charges against the officer.

Upon learning this information, Crowder was immediately removed from patrol and placed on modified duty. A criminal investigation was initiated and an affidavit was completed and submitted to the Pulaski County Prosecutor on Wednesday, June 26, 2019 at which time, an arrest warrant was issued for misdemeanor Battery 3rd. 

NLRPD Chief Mike Davis provided a statement to news media regarding the incident:

“Protecting the community is at the core of what we do. Ensuring our officers undergo extensive training that emphasizes the need to understand and appreciate their authority and limitations is paramount to ensure we fulfill our mission. We serve at the will of our citizens and we are accountable to our community. Giving officers the authority to use reasonable force and protect the public requires monitoring, evaluation and careful balancing of all interest. As always, we realize that to be effective in an ever-changing world, training and education must continue throughout an officer’s career."

 

NLRPD CHIEF MIKE DAVIS

A hearing has been set on Crowder's the Battery 3rd charges on Aughust 28, 2019.

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Kristopher Ryan Lamar, the man injured by Crowder was charged with theft by receiving in that incident last year. He got fines and probation.

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Crowder has a history of failing to pay his state incomes taxes when due.

We found records that the Department of Finance and Administration had to file numerous liens against him for unpaid taxes.

In one instance, the Sheriff collected the taxes when serving a writ of execution.

***UPDATE - 6/28/19- 3:30PM***

Max Brantley with the Arkansas Times reports that  the city of NLR wrote a check in November 2018 for $30,000 to the victim of Crowder's abusive use of force.

Our research found that the Office of Child Support Enforcement has a judgment filed against the victim. 

Wonder if they got their share before he got his?

DRUNK OFF-DUTY ARKANSAS STATE POLICE TROOPER HITS CAR AND FLEES SCENE - HE RESIGNED THE NEXT DAY AND NOW FACES FELONY CHARGES

Clint Daniel Vaughn, an Arkansas State Police trooper until June 7th, a day after he was driving drunk and rammed into another vehicle injuring the driver, is facing a felony charge following an alleged hit-and-run crash that happened on June 6th.

Court records show Vaughan, 34, of Quitman was formally charged in Faulkner County Circuit Court on June 12th with one felony count of failure of duty to give information or render aid and one misdemeanor count of third-degree battery. The charges stem from an late-night crash that occurred on June 6th.

  
According to the felony probable cause affidavit, the accident occurred along Highway 65 in Conway near the Church Alive.

 
Troopers were alerted of a crash around 11:18 p.m. Soon after being notified of the crash, they located a maroon Mazda passenger car that had “significant damage to the passenger side.”

Witnesses told authorities “a white full size dually pickup truck” struck the vehicle, injuring the Mazda’s passenger who ultimately was taken by ambulance to the Conway Regional Medical Center, the affidavit states.

The woman who was taken to the nearby emergency room “suffered contusions and abrasions on her face, arms and torso.”

Those who witnessed the incident said they believed the suspect vehicle sustained damages on its front passenger side and noticed it “was throwing sparks as it fled the scene,” according to the affidavit.

Conway Police Department officers soon located a Chevrolet Silverado Dually 3500 truck approximately one mile from the crash site, adding that it had damages consistent with those described by damages. The right side wheel and axle also appeared to be damaged, according to a report.

Authorities on scene ran the license plate, which featured law enforcement tags, and learned the vehicle belonged to the 34-year-old Quitman man. The Jim Smith Collision & Wrecker Center in Conway was called to pick up the suspect vehicle while authorities went to Vaughn’s house to question him about the incident, according to ASP Special Agent Gregg Bray’s report.

Vaughan was not home at the time authorities arrived in an attempt to speak with him regarding the crash, the report states. However, as other troopers worked the crash scene, a Cleburne County tow truck “passed through the crash site and drove to the location where the white dually was parked.”

The Cleburne County tow truck driver told police “he was contacted by Vaughan and told someone had stolen his truck but he located it near his hotel room at the Quality Inn in Conway.”

The affidavit states that ASP also learned Vaughan was at The Relax and Be (The RAB), a local bar located in the 400 block of Highway 65.

Quality Inn Motel staff confirmed the now ex-trooper checked into the motel around 11:16 p.m. Thursday. The following morning, authorities met with him in the lobby and confronted him about the crash that reportedly occurred the night before when Vaughan admitted to hitting “something” while driving along Highway 65.

“Vaughan admitted that he left the RAB and struck something in the roadway that deflated his tire,” Bray’s report reads in part. “He [said he] continued to travel on the flat until he reached the Quality Inn. Vaughan admitted to drinking at least two shots of whiskey and several beers at the RAB.”

Following the incident, the ASP special agent also obtained a search warrant to search Vaughan’s truck. In his request, Bray said he intended to look for:
 
Anything containing alcoholic beverages, whether it be full or empty.
Receipts.
Vehicle damages and paint transfers.
Digital and other electronic devices, “including but not limited to cellular phones, computers, GPS navigation devices, and computer tablets.”
Documents identifying the vehicle’s occupants.
”[A]ny other evidence of a crime.”

Stay tuned for updates.

ETHICS COMMISSION SETS FINAL ADJUDICATION HEARING FOR VALERIE TAUTUM'S ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE ACTIVITY

FAILED CHARTER SCHOOL HEAD AND LRBOD CANDIDATE HAS A SHITLOAD OF TROUBLES

The Arkansas Ethics Commission has set a final adjudication hearing for the complaint we filed against Tatum, it is set for June 21st at 9:00 am.

AEC Notice for Valerie Tatum Final Hearing by Russ Racop on Scribd

NWA JUSTICE OF THE PEACE & ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER GET ARRESTED FOR DWI

Andera Jenkins, a Washington County Justice of the Peace and a teacher at Farmington Elementary School was arrested on June 12th on suspicion of DWI, according to court records.

Body camera footage of the incident is quite entertaining.

Jenkins' son was involved in a car accident at the intersection of Highway 62 and Butler Road at about 8 p.m. Prairie Grove police arrived and asked him for proof of insurance. He had his mother bring it to him.

When Jenkins arrived, an officer asked her about her son's insurance card. The officer noticed a "strong odor of intoxicants" when she began talking.

Jenkins told the officer she had two glasses of wine before driving to the accident.

JUST TWO OFFICER!

Jenkins failed a field sobriety test, according to the preliminary police report form.

Jenkins can be heard on the officer's body camera saying the sheriff and the county judge are friends of hers and the officer should call them. She said the officer should let her family take her home.

She asked for the officer's name and said she would talk to the sheriff.

When the officer asked Jenkins to put her hands behind her back, she began yelling for her family to record the incident. The officer told her his body camera was recording the incident already. Jenkins began cursing and yelling and saying she had only driven there for her son.

The officer handcuffed her and put her in the back of the police car. On the way to the jail, she yelled and the officer "over and over" and said she had three glasses of wine and drove to the accident scene for her son.

At 10:29 p.m., a test showed Jenkins had a blood alcohol concentration of .17. That's above the .08 legal limit in Arkansas.

"It should be noted that Jenkins cursed and yelled for a majority of the time," the officer wrote in the report. "Often times she interrupted me during the field sobriety tests and rights form."

She told me multiple times that she was a teacher, school bus driver, and justice of the peace and I could have let her go," the officer wrote.

Jenkins was released at 5:52 a.m. today. Her next court date is scheduled for July 2nd.

Jenkins is a Democrat who represents Washington JP District 10. It comprises part of south Fayetteville and Farmington.

Jenkins was elected to the position in 2018. She defeated incumbent Robert Dennis with 2,215 votes to 2,185 votes.

Jenkins is also a 3rd grade teacher at Williams Elementary in Farmington.

She also drives a school bus. 

She probably won't be after this mess.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURTS RULES THAT SAYING "FUCK YOU" TO A POLICE OFFICER IS PROTECTED SPEECH - ARKANSAS STATE TROOPER'S RETALIATORY ACTIONS MAY COST THE STATE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS

ASP TROOPER LAGARIAN CROSS' FUCKERY MAY COST THE STATE A BUNDLE

Yelling “fuck you” at a police officer is an act of free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled on June 3rd.

“As protected speech, it should be free from retaliatory government actions,” the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals declared in a case from Fort Smith. 

The court’s decision came in an appeal of a lawsuit filed by Eric Thurairajah, who was arrested in Fort Smith back in 2015, after he yelled “fuck you” at state trooper he was driving past. At the time, Trooper Lagarian Cross was conducting a traffic stop. 

According to the court, “Trooper Cross ended the traffic stop of the van and pursued Thurairajah, stopped him, and arrested him, citing Arkansas’s disorderly conduct law.” The trooper claimed Thurairajah’s shout constituted “unreasonable or excessive noise,” and therefore violated the law. 

  

  

“Thurairajah spent several hours in jail but then was released and all charges against him were dropped,” the court wrote. 

Thurairajah filed a lawsuit, claiming the arrest had violated his rights. The state of Arkansas wanted the case to be dismissed, asserting that Trooper Cross was legitimately performing his duties, and therefore had “qualified immunity” and could not be sued for the arrest. 

A federal district court had already ruled that the qualified immunity normally enjoyed by law enforcement officers doesn’t apply in cases where an officer appears to have violated the Constitution, so Thurairajah’s lawsuit could proceed. 
 
The appeals court affirmed that decision, saying Cross’ action violated both Thurairajah’s First and Fourth Amendment rights.

Listen to a recording of the oral arguments by clicking here. The attorney for the state, Assistant Attorney General Vincent France,  flubs badly and at one point is speechless. 

ASS. ATTORNEY GENERAL VINCENT FRANCE SUCKS ON A CIGAR AS WELL AS ORAL ARGUMENTS

The next step in the case will be setting a hearing for damages.

Thurairajah’s attorney, W. Whitfield Hyman, is seeking almost $12k in fees just for the appeal filed by Trooper Cross.

Hyman has a interesting article about the case on his law firm's website. You can read it by clicking here.

 

ATTORNEY HYMAN SPEAKING TO NEWS MEDIA

We have requested a copy of Cross' personnel file and complaint/disciplinary history as well as any video from the traffic stop involved in this matter.

Stay tuned for updates.
 

WILL ASP TROOPER LAGARIAN CROSS BE HUMBLED?

VIDEO OF ABC ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR'S HIGH SPEED, RECKLESS DRIVING TRAFFIC STOP RELEASED

Related post: http://badaralcoholcontol.blogspot.com/2019/05/abc-administrative-director-blasts.html