• You are using the old High Contrast theme. We have installed a new dark theme for you, called UI.X. This will work better with the new upgrade of our software. You can select it at the bottom of any page.

Cop and CCW Shooter Indicted

Status
Not open for further replies.
Well said TexasSkyHawk.

My own opinion is that the cop had to be either drunk or high to get involved in something like this. A witness actually quotes the cop as saying, multiple times:
"I'll f***ing kill you. I don't care about jail."
Click to expand...

Forgetting about all the "color of law" stuff, what sucks is the cop gets a paid vacation and paid attorney fees all on the taxpayer. :mad:
 
So Kleck is asking us to believe that a very small number of legally carried firearms are used defensively more the a million times a year. And he based this on, not facts, not anything he could verify, but statements by criminals about how they avoided someone they thought was armed, or ran away when their target displayed a gun.
Click to expand...
Actually, Kleck's data comes from surveys and interviews, not with criminals but with people who have used a gun to stop a crime. I don't have the questions in front of me, but the survey questions are something like:
"Have you used a firearm to stop a crime in the last 1 (3) (5) years?"
"Has anyone in you household"
"Has anyone you know"
They are perhaps a little more comprehensive, but you get the gist. I don't have his work in front of me right this second, but his methodology is sound as far as statistics are concerned.

FWIW, one of his estimates was 2.5 million times annually.
 
From all the post I have read that actually pertains to the incident itself and the statements (we have to consider them true, because we are accepting others to be true) the cop was dead wrong and was justifiably shot.
As for cops being held to a higher standard, sure they should be. They are granted lots of leeway with their firearms and decision making pertaining to the public so a higher standard is reasonable. As for a CCW being held to a higher standard, sure they should be. They are the ones that want to carry for personal protection and from what I read thats exactly what he was doing. So from all accounts here on that story the cop was just wrong and deserved the shooting.

The statement that we have to agree cops are usually better trained compared to a CCW person may not be so true.

As for a CCW shooting a cop and the DA not seeking a indictment it happened in Florida, Massad Ayoob wrote about it. A CCW was walking home and passed an alley,a woman was screaming rape and a man had her mounted, he drew his 1911 and yelled for the guy to stop, he didn't and was subsequently shot. He was a vice cop trying to arrest a prostitute but never identified himself to the CCW. The cop lived and no charges were ever filed.
 
looks entirely like the officer was shot because of threatening to kill a family while brandishing his firearm, i hope he's a felon at the end of this. a poster on the first page talked about minnesota road infrastructure not being up to snuff, treptow almost certainly couldn't leave, and if he could then why would beard need to drive around on the shoulder for ,ultiple blocks? good riddance beard, hope you enjoy your new carreer as a burger flipper
 
Engaging in an argument is one thing, making terroristic threats is another thing altogether. "I'll bleeping kill you" and "I don't care about jail" is something most officers (well, people in general) probably should not say. I would be far less inclined to shoot someone who was simply arguing with me (as frustrating as that would be) than if they started the argument by shouting that they intend to kill me in front of my family. I mean, we have laws against that sort of thing post 9/11. Maybe if he had flashed a badge or something indicating he needed to pass, this could have ended a lot better for both parties.

EDIT: Seeing as they haven't determined who drew first, it seems it would be really difficult to charge just one of them, but the witness testimonies seem to advocate that Beard was acting more agressively, accompanying his act of flashing a handgun with the threat of killing. It just doesn't look good.
 
I tried to follow the links to the indictments but they were dead.

That being said, I assume that the reason both are being charged probably stems from the discrepency in statements as to who drew first.

If it can be established that the officer drew first, while yelling that he was going to kill them, then I would expect the other person to be found innocent. If that is the case, I can't agree with the statements made that he shouldn't have a gun.

If the officer even began yelling about killing him first it gets really muddled. If someone follows you and you aren't able to get away due to traffic, and then starts screaming that he's going to kill you ... would you display your weapon? How would you then respond if he started screaming that he was a cop and drew a pistol? I know that I would tend to disbelive he was a cop and be more likely to believe he was intent on carrying out his threat to kill me and my family.

On the other hand, if he drew, or even displayed the weapon prior to the officer drawing / displaying or yelling threats about killing him, then he is definately in the wrong.

All in all, something that the jury is likely to have to sort out. Especially since there are two stories, both believable, and both from "upright" citizens.
 
year-end: details confirmed; new info; commentary.

Well, at year's end, here's two blogs' commentary on this incident:

1. From MPR New - "News Cut" blog, comes this commentary. I think it's a fair general overview of the curiosity about this shooting.

2. Bob linked to another News Blog, shotinthedark--which, as a generally-conservative political blog that is also pro-CC, offers a dissection and legal commentary on the charges Treptow faces.

Among other details now verified is the fact that Treptow was indeed boxed in, and unable to leave the confrontation.

There are eleven 'points of fact' to shotinthedark's column, and interspersed with these are the comments about MN law as it pertains to them--and that helps a lot in understanding the ongoing process by us here.

And that's before the discussion--so read it; I have to read it again before I comment further--but maybe I'll have to make two donations to the Treptow defense fund.

Jim H.
 
Do you have one bit of evidence that Beard was acting under color of law? If you do, I suggest you present it now.

If Beard, was on duty, driving a city owned vehicle, the rules I have lived by, he was on duty.
 
So he was boxed in. So based on this more complete information he had no other choice.

And these charges do reek of CYA for the localities involved.
 
I do take exception to your inference that amounts to "the civilian would not have been charged if he wasn't guilty." This assertion is obviously flawed, and taken to its logical conclusion removes the need for jury trials.
Click to expand...
I really don't care if you take exception to it or not. It's the truth.
Click to expand...

I remember the same reasoning being expressed when District Attorney Micheal Nifong charged 3 Duke lacrosse players with the rape of a female stripper, despite the fact that the female kept changing her story and there was exculpatory evidence that actually proved the lacrosse players to be innocent.

But was this type of thing a rarity? If so, is that because this is really a rare event or because such events don't receive the type of coverage this event did?

Also, how many criminal cases have there been in which a prosecutor has filed a "no info" on the case even though the person was arrested by the local police? In fact, I have seen a number of such filings happen even after the arrestee has charged and arraigned.

---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------

TexasSkyhawk

Your previous post regarding the higher standards of LEOs was very well said. I have great respect for honest LEOs that realize that their profession means they serve society and not the other way around. LEOs that respect the authority they are granted by holding themselves to a higher standard have my utmost praise. However, I hold a great disfavor for the few officers that see their authority over others as a position superiority through which they can exert control over others. Such officers do cast a negative light over the entire profession.
 
anybody think that this leaning out the window yelling was part of his role undercover
he could have been method acting his crazy gansta undercover position
 
HKUSP45C is right about the information being low--although a google on Treptow does turn up some older stuff.

The best source I've found for following this case is this thread at twincitiescarry.com.

As of today, here's a post linking to the court schedule. It appears that the trial date was set back to next January.

From a scan of the more-recent posts in this thread, it appears that there is some negotiating going on. Meanwhile, the cop is back at work--and Treptow has been out there in the wind for about a year-and-a-half.

Jim H.
 
FWIW:

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/coon-rapids-mn/TCLPO62PKN102D9SQ
Coon Rapids, MN

Charges dropped against officer in Coon Rapids road rage shooting
The Anoka County Attorney's Office has dropped charges against Landen Beard, the Robbinsdale police officer who was involved last summer in a road rage shooting in Coon Rapids Beard had been charged by a grand ...

searching for Landen Beard in
http://www.twincities.com/archives
brings up the segment. You can buy the full article if you want.

1. St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) - May 3, 2008 - B1 Local

CHARGE AGAINST OFFICER IN ROAD RAGE CASE IS DROPPED EVIDENCE LACKING, PROSECUTOR SAYS OF INDICTMENT
Prosecutors have dropped a criminal charge against Landen Michael Beard, the Robbinsdale police officer involved in a road rage shooting last summer in Coon Rapids. A grand jury indicted Beard in December on making terroristic threats, a felony. But the Washington County attorney's office asked that the charge be dismissed, which was granted according to court records Friday. Martin Scott Treptow, who is accused of shooting Beard, was indicted on the same charge as well as...
 
Here's a question for the LEOs and legal types here.

Does just yelling out "Dammit I'm a COP!" constitute "identifying" one's self? Or would he have to produce a badge in order for it to count as "identifying himself as an officer"?

I can yell "I'm a COP!" or "I'm Joan Rivers!" but that doesn't make it so.
Click to expand...

Yelling "Police", "I'm a COP", "Halt Security Forces" etc is identifing oneself as a LEO. All of these are forms of warning and are used just as emergency identification.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
  • Locked
Man Suspected Of Shooting Officer Released
2 3 4
Replies
81
Views
6K
cassandrasdaddy
C
N
  • Locked
Atlanta cops indicted for killing eldery woman
2 3 4
Replies
88
Views
4K
TCB in TN
T
M
  • Locked
Black Panthers, forty years ago
2 3 4
Replies
79
Views
4K
ctdonath
C
J
  • Locked
Cops charged in La. shooting can work
Replies
11
Views
465
JWarren
J
E
  • Locked
Grand jury indicts Pelo on rape charges
Replies
15
Views
804
cassandrasdaddy
C
Back
Top