Cops Gone Wild...

I just read in our local Sunday newspaper, The Charleston Gazette, that two of my hometown cops are in trouble for an alleged attack on two citizens during a routine traffic stop. One cop got fired for insubordination and the other is on administrative leave for being accused of using unnecessary force to restrain the motorists. The incident was reportedly racially motivated. I don't know how it all started, but this supposedly routine traffic stop stopped quickly escalated to an all-out brawl. The newspaper reported that both the driver and passenger of the car had to be transported to the hospital after first making a stop a City Hall. The driver, Lauren Reynolds, alleges that one of the policeman, Patrolman Matthew Leavitt, licked her on the neck and asked her "is that how you like it you little whore?" He claims that she was fighting him and pulling at his gun belt. Her husband, Twan Reynolds, alleges that his cornea was ripped when he was beat with the officer's nightsticks and his elbow was chipped while he was being stomped. Patrolman Leavitt claims that Mr. Reynolds came lurching out of the car when the officers asked his wife to step out. The officers had seen a half empty bottle of Vodka in the back seat and said that their intention was to give the driver, Mrs. Reynolds a Breathalyzer Test. Leavitt further alleges that another cop on the scene refused to help get the subject under control. Tests report that the Breathalyzer Test failed to indicate that the driver had been drinking. The Gazette reported that Mrs. Reynolds accused Leavitt of asking "Don't you know who owns this town? Well, your getting ready to learn." Now, I'm surely not a lawyer, but it all sounds like a big ole lawsuit to me. Oh, yeah...the mayor, who is also the town magistrate will be hearing the case to decide whether or not any wrong-doing took place. I know one thing-I would be asking for an outside, independent agency in a case like this.