Cop resigns after spraying his cruiser with a mag full because an acorn dropped on the roof of a car

[M-Quigley]

I normally don't post about LE encounters outside of Ohio but this one is classic, has video.

Even though he emptied a mag he fortunately didn't hit the suspect or any innocent bystanders. The cop at one point said, "I'm hit!" but he was mistaken.
The suspect had been searched, handcuffed, and in the back of the cruiser. Some of his rounds even missed the cruiser completely.

https://nypost.com/2024/02/14/news/flor ... r-gunshot/

[schmieg]

Wow!

I will admit that I once mistook a backfire for a shot. I had just arrived home after my tour in Viet Nam and my wife picked me up at the airport. We were walking through the parking lot on the way to the car when a nearby vehicle backfired. I grabbed my wife and pushed her down into the snow on the ground with me on top of her before I realized what had happened.

I'm not nearly so skittish today, 51 years later.

[M-Quigley]

Wow!

I will admit that I once mistook a backfire for a shot. I had just arrived home after my tour in Viet Nam and my wife picked me up at the airport. We were walking through the parking lot on the way to the car when a nearby vehicle backfired. I grabbed my wife and pushed her down into the snow on the ground with me on top of her before I realized what had happened.

I'm not nearly so skittish today, 51 years later.

I guess if that would've been his reaction I could've understood it maybe. What he did though potentially endangered the lives of innocent people, it was very fortunate that the suspect and any innocent people past the cruiser wasn't hit, nor was any property of innocent people damaged. (that we know of so far) The cop I saw once shoot a unarmed suspect 6 times and missed, all his bullets hit a wall of a business that was closed, no potential harm to innocent people, although I guess that maybe that business had a claim against the dept. for damages? Actually I have no idea. If a cop shoots and their rounds damages a structure, do the owners have a claim against the agency or are they given a free pass under Ohio law?

In the story in the OP, it said the suspect was emotionally traumatized. So was the suspect I saw back in the day. He actually appreciated me taking him into temporary custody, as I was between him and the cop who then realized that he screwed up, and I guess was too busy thinking about that to do it himself. I told my supervisor later that at first I was a little concerned the guy would reload and start shooting again, this time at both of us (I was in full uniform) but then thought after what he did he probably couldn't hit either of us anyway. Can a suspect sue for emotional trauma for incidents like this?

[schmieg]

Anybody can sue for anything - it's keeping the case in court, winning and collecting that can be a problem.

Offhand, I'd say the suspect might have a case with this fact pattern.

[M-Quigley]

Anybody can sue for anything - it's keeping the case in court, winning and collecting that can be a problem.

Offhand, I'd say the suspect might have a case with this fact pattern.

When you say the suspect, you mean the one I saw, the one in the car in the news story, or both? I could've attested to the facts that he was unarmed and had his palms outward, the guy I saw, but then I wasn't involved in the chase where he ditched the gun along the way. (which they ended up finding anyway)

Unfortunately there are too many cities nowadays that would probably settle out of court for a large sum.

Regardless, I think in either situation, he suspects should forget about the "emotional trauma" part and just be thankful they weren't shot, but then I'm a half full glass kind of guy. And also maybe they should look at what got them put in those situations in the first place, and maybe make some changes in themselves.

[schmieg]

Anybody can sue for anything - it's keeping the case in court, winning and collecting that can be a problem.

Offhand, I'd say the suspect might have a case with this fact pattern.

When you say the suspect, you mean the one I saw, the one in the car in the news story, or both? I could've attested to the facts that he was unarmed and had his palms outward, the guy I saw, but then I wasn't involved in the chase where he ditched the gun along the way. (which they ended up finding anyway)

Unfortunately there are too many cities nowadays that would probably settle out of court for a large sum.

Regardless, I think in either situation, he suspects should forget about the "emotional trauma" part and just be thankful they weren't shot, but then I'm a half full glass kind of guy. And also maybe they should look at what got them put in those situations in the first place, and maybe make some changes in themselves.

The one in the car. While I agree with your feelings about it, from a legal standpoint, I think he has a case. How much it's worth is another issue.

[M-Quigley]

Anybody can sue for anything - it's keeping the case in court, winning and collecting that can be a problem.

Offhand, I'd say the suspect might have a case with this fact pattern.

When you say the suspect, you mean the one I saw, the one in the car in the news story, or both? I could've attested to the facts that he was unarmed and had his palms outward, the guy I saw, but then I wasn't involved in the chase where he ditched the gun along the way. (which they ended up finding anyway)

Unfortunately there are too many cities nowadays that would probably settle out of court for a large sum.

Regardless, I think in either situation, he suspects should forget about the "emotional trauma" part and just be thankful they weren't shot, but then I'm a half full glass kind of guy. And also maybe they should look at what got them put in those situations in the first place, and maybe make some changes in themselves.

The one in the car. While I agree with your feelings about it, from a legal standpoint, I think he has a case. How much it's worth is another issue.

I guess I could see how the guy I saw had a better case on being traumatized emotionally, he's looking directly at someone shooting at him from a close range. I never had someone so thankful for being taken into temporary custody. I stayed with him until one of the other officers who arrived took charge of him and put him in a cruiser, I guess hoping the probationary cop wouldn't start shooting again if I was standing there. I guess it helped him feel safer.

I don't think the cop in the news story was a rookie, IDK what his excuse was.