Transcript for:
Police Dispute Response and Civil Rights Analysis

this is how a police officer responded to a call  involving a dispute between neighbors don't make   me come in that house I will come in that house  I will come in that house get out here now do it   now do it now don't do that you think I'm going  to argue with you I'm going tase your within the   first few seconds the officer pulled out his taser  and started aggressively making threats to one   particular individual all I came here to do was  to talk to you don't tell me how to run my shift   I'll have as many officers here as I want do you  understand what I'm saying why because the other   neighbor that was involved was an off duty police  officer so I've got it he said she said granted   he's an officer but I'm asking you what you want  to do with it I'll do whatever whatever whatever   you want done you're the Vic um guess which  guy got charged I like prosecute for aga and   yeah but that's not how it ended I'll show you  the footage and I'll tell you happened with the   criminal charges and also the civil lawsuit  that was filed as a practicing civil rights   lawyer I'll go over some of the constitutional  rights at play here that people should understand   and if you like going over police encounters and  interesting and important court cases and learning   about civil rights Please Subscribe because I  try to put a video up at least twice a week so   let's dive [Music] in in East Ridge Tennessee  on a peaceful Suburban Street a man named named   cadon Lachlan was transporting a developmentally  disabled client to his home when all hell broke   loose involving a neighbor of that home where he  was delivering the client this video was submitted   to me by the criminal defense attorney who had  represented kadon against the charges that came   from what you're about to see although it happened  a while back the ensuing civil law suit was just   recently settled I haven't seen reporting about  it anywhere here's what happened 22-year-old cadon   Lachlan was working for a company called orang  Grove his job was to drop off a disabled client   at this particular home and as he was doing so the  family's dog ended up getting loose kadon helped   the family chased the dog up the street when  he finally caught the dog the dog had run onto   the property of an off-duty police officer named  Andrew Carter Carter and laan then exchanged words   and Carter told kadon to get off his property this  is kadan's version of what was said he said if you   step foot on my property I got something for you  then I said I got something for you too but off   duty police officer Andrew Carter called the cops  on Cadron and this is what he said happened this   is according to the police report Carter stated  Lan said shut the f up I got something for you in   car you effing Pig and went after the canine and  Carter stated that minutes later laan was walking   back to the other house and his vehicle making  indistinguishable hostile statements in hostile   body language I have a copy of the lawsuit that  was subsequently filed and this is what kadan's   lawsuit alleges about that moment kadon along with  the minor son of this family and his friend so two   minors went with Kaden down the street towards  officer Carter's residence to fetch the dog cadon   and the two miners saw the dog on officer Carter's  property and as they went onto the property to get   the dog it ran off down the street where plff  cadon and the miners gained control of the dog   and headed back to their residence as Kaden  the miners and the dog walked on the street   and passed officer Carter's residence Carter  while on his front yard yelled to the three   people that if they set foot on his property again  that he had quote something for you at no time   did cadon or the miners do or say anything  to officer Carter to provoke Carter's threat   Carter had his East Ridge issued police car  parked in front of the residence and kadon saw   Carter place his hand on a firearm that officer  Carter carried on his person he was not wearing   a police uniform at the time as kadon and the  two miners walked kadon responded to Carter   that he had something for Carter too at no time  did kadon ever display any weapon so Cadron the   two Miners and the dog made it back to the Lewis  family residence when just a few minutes later one   of Officer Carter's colleagues who was on duty  officer Roy stasher arrived with two other East   Ridge Police Officers arriving behind him officer  Roy stasher approached kadron and the homeowner   as they were on the front porch Roy stasher  was immediately and without any justification   verbally abusive towards the plff this is the  very beginning of the footage don't make me come   in that house I will come in that house I will  come in that house get out here now do it now do   it now don't do that you think I'm going to argue  with you I'm going tase your before even learning   any facts officer Roy stasher immediately gets  aggressive and escalates the situation while kadon   as you can see is compliant and calm I didn't do  nothing I I all I came here to do was to talk to   you you y they should have been War don't tell  me how to run my shift I'll have as many officers   here as I want do you understand what I'm saying  as kadan sits on the front steps of this house the   officers accuse him of threatening officer Carter  but they're not wanting to listen to kadon that   it was actually officer Carter who threatened  him and the kids you threatening off the offic   no he threatened but the officers chose not to  document in their police report that kadon said   he was threatened first by Carter accid let her  dog out that's all that happened Roy stasher then   told officer Carter that kadon and the homeowner  said that it was Carter who threatened kadron he   says you threatened him first is that an incorrect  statement it is Carter then falsely claimed that   it was cadon who made threats towards him so  I've got it he said she said granted he's an   officer but I have look at it from that side and  Roy stasher then asked Carter what do you want   to do with it I'll do whatever you want you're the  Vic meaning victim I'm asking you what you want to   do with it I'll do whatever whatever whatever you  want done you're the Vic um I'd like to prosecute   for agasa so he then charged and arrested kadon  rather than his colleague okay and yeah despite   off-duty officer Carter's wife saying that  she was not certain about who said what or   that she even saw anything and despite not  even interviewing the two miners who were   present during the alleged threats officer Roy  stasher still arrested kadron on the false charge   of aggravated assault I thought I was going to  tase his I was about to If he if he' had taken   one more step in the house I would have but get  this Rory stasher also charged kadrin with two   counts of reckless endangerment for having a  firearm while he was transporting Orange Grove   residence a firearm that was later found under  the front seat of his car as his lawyers alleged   in the in the subsequent civil lawsuit kadon had a  constitutional right to bear and possess a firearm   he was not prohibited by any state or federal law  from possessing a firearm nevertheless these false   charges indeed got cadon fired from his job with  Orange Grove this incident brings to light the   importance of understanding our constitutional  rights the Fourth Amendment protects us against   unreasonable searches and seizures while police  officers can make a warrantless arrest of somebody   if they're going to do so they must have probable  cause that the arreste has committed the crimes   they're arresting them for when the officer  arrested kadrin for aggravated assault the key   allegation there is that he was threatening  this off duty officer with his firearm and   in reality the facts that were available to the  offic officer at the time had nothing about the   firearm that was later found in kadan's car as the  officer admitted it was that he said she said the   officer alleged that kadron had threatened him  kadron alleged that the officer had threatened   him it was actually a complete nonissue non-crime  two people had words even at a time when kadron   wasn't even on the officer's property kadron never  refused to leave the officer's property kadron   never failed to comply with with the commands of  the officer he answered all the questions he was   calm but the officer acted in a very unreasonable  manner immediately detaining Cadron and pointing   his taser at him the case law is very clear that  a police officer pointing a taser at somebody who   is compliant and who is not posing an immediate  safety threat to anybody is unreasonable under   the Fourth Amendment and actually the real facts  showed that the only individual who was armed   during these words that were exchanged was the  off-duty officer he admitted to his colleagues   that he was armed at all times during this  incident and get this the criminal defense   lawyer Chris Dixon gave this footage to the news  media and so a TV reporter went out to officer   Carter's home to try to ask him some questions  about this incident and guess what he shows up   visibly armed we went to officer Carter's home  today to ask him about laan's accusations can   y'all leave please he told us he was not allowed  to comment and as we were packing up a uniformed   East Ridge officer showed up and his cop buddies  also show up in what appears to be intimidation   of the media but it didn't work because just  15 minutes after the story about this aired on   the TV news a press release was sent out by the  government notifying the media that all charges   against kadon laan were dropped East Ridge Police  Chief Stan Allen released the following statement   about dropping kadin's charges as a result of my  inquiry I believe the charge of aggravated assault   to be inappropriate I had a discussion with the  prosecutor and the decision was made to dismiss   the charge of aggravated assault and not pursue  the appropriate charges of reckless endangerment   for leaving a loaded firearm in the vehicle with  the clients so officer Roy stasher was given a   one-day suspension for the the language that was  used towards Mr laan and also remedial training   in Tennessee state law according to Chief Allen  after the criminal charges were dropped kadon   Lachlan filed a civil lawsuit I'll post a full  copy of it up on the blog the link will be in   the first pinned comment below several months  back the civil lawsuit was settled I looked on   Pacer and there's no mention of the settlement  terms I reached out to kadan's attorneys in that   case and they noted that they could not comment on  the settlement so unfortunately I can't give you   the details presumably he was paid some amount of  money in exchange for signing a release how much   money I don't know I wish we did know kadron  laan's encounter with the East Ridge Police   serves as a powerful reminder that the Thin Blue  Line is always there even when police officers   are off duty and that the only way to counteract  that Thin Blue Line is through exposure through   video footage through the public perception of  seeing something that's not right and then being   outraged about it this is just another example  of government only doing the right thing after   the public sees it and gets angry about it and  I have to say that the most shocking part of   this video footage for me is the disparity between  the officer just flying off the handle and really   wanting to harm kadron and kadron just being  completely calm and keeping his head together and   keeping things together because even though it's  it's not supposed to be required if you're a good   witness for yourself in incidents such as these  and people see this footage and they sympathize   with you because you're the good guy in the  footage rather than the bad guy that really does   go a long way in the end result clearly this  officer has a short fuse and I wouldn't be   surprised if we see more of them what do you  think about the officer's actions here what   do you think about the off-duty officer's actions  and what do you think about East ridge's decision   to only suspend this officer for one day let  me know in the comments so thanks for watching   don't forget to like subscribe and hit the bell  for more police encounters and constitutional   rights discussions remember our rights don't end  or your fear begins freedom is scary deal with it [Music]