Note: the day after I published this, Commissioner Darryl Fairchild reached out to me to discuss a point I made about the police ordering you out of a car as a 4th Amendment breach- is, unfortunately, untrue. Police, can do that, thanks to a bad decision, made in Pennsylvania v. Mimms [1]in 1977. It was a 6-3 decision. I will also stipulate that the Supreme Court doesn’t always make the right decisions- and in this case, they’d be hard pressed to find any reasonable idea that the police had the right to remove Owensby. His car, was in effect, his wheelchair, and separating him from it, put him in grave risk for his safety- the same excuse police use to warrant their right to have you step out of the car. There can be no doubt that two able bodied police officers were not at risk of being harmed by Mr. Owensby if he remained in the car.
I’m sure Clifford Owensby would have loved to be able to get out of the white Audi he was driving with hand controls (clearly visible in the body cam video) and no amount of asking by the Dayton Police officers who stopped him for a minor misdemeanor would help him do that.
Nor, was he going to run when pulled out of the car by his hair. There was no need to do anything but make sure he didn’t have a weapon on him, he wasn’t going anywhere. The flipping him on his stomach, putting their knee to his back, constitute cruel and unusual punishment- possibly life threatening, over a window tint.
We’re talking the difference between the 8th Amendment- and window tint. Officers who can’t tell the difference have no business being on our police department. And those who defend their actions don’t belong on our police department, nor should they be in positions of leadership.
This incident isn’t a case for further review- real leadership would know right away, if officers were told someone was a paraplegic- and they did this to them, and they were a white woman, they’d be fired already. Drug house or no drug house. Clifford Owensby was not a danger to those officers, nor was his holding on to the steering wheel an act of resistance- it was one of self-preservation. Paraplegics have to be incredibly careful what happens to their paralyzed parts of their body, since they become frail with lack of use, they often cannot feel things to warn them of actions that could break bones, tear arteries, or even lead to their deaths. They have to be much more careful than the rest of us, something these officers don’t understand.
All that aside, the idea that a police officer can order you out of your car without a legal reason- is also prohibited by the 4th Amendment:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Source: Fourth Amendment | U.S. Constitution | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute [2]
Watch the video, there is no reason other than hubris by these officers, for Owensby to leave the vehicle, especially after informing them of his medical status.
The statements by Acting Police Chief Matt Carper are measured, buying time, and failing to earn the confidence of our community- Black, white- human- for a gross miscarriage of justice. Carper should immediately be removed from his position and all consideration of his hiring as the next chief should be over.
As to the head of the FOP, Jerome Dix and his statement;
“The officers followed the law, their training and departmental policies and procedures,” Jerome Dix, president of Dayton Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #44, stated. “Sometimes the arrest of noncompliant individuals is not pretty, but is a necessary part of law enforcement to maintain public safety, which is one of the fundamental ideologies of our society.”
Source: FOP defends 2 Dayton, Ohio police officers who pulled paraplegic Black man from car [3]
The City leaders, Mayor and Commission, should suggest that the FOP choose more wisely, and re-read the constitution. Hair pulling is not how you get anyone out of a vehicle- ever. and to think 2 able bodied police officers, after being told Owensby is a paraplegic, couldn’t find a safer way to get him out of the car- is ludicrous. Dix has no business being a representative of a police force that has worked so hard to earn the respect of the community.
That the City Commission has a paraplegic on the commission, they should ask if it’s ever acceptable for a police officer to forcibly remove a person from a car- instead of just asking for the keys, handcuffing him to the steering wheel- or any number of other more intelligent responses those officers could have had. No amount of drugs, drug money, weapons, criminal record, or any other excuse rise to a threat level to these officers- nor was there any immediacy to his removal needed. It would take time for the drug sniffing dog to come- and even then, avoiding cruel and unusual punishment is still a fundamental rule in our nation.
The cost to the city for these two officers actions will be in the millions when Owensby’s lawyers get through with these officers. That cost is money that can’t be spent on paving roads, replacing lead water pipes, or paying police officers.
This was an avoidable lawsuit. And, if our Mayor and Commission doesn’t step up to fire the officers- and the people making excuses for the officers, we should be looking to replace all of them. Jeff Mims, you especially- no matter how insane your opponent is, it was time to put your big boy shoes on and you didn’t.
If these officers are still employed after the conclusion of the next city commission meeting and an official statement about Matt Carpers failure to act, it’s hard to figure out why those we elect are afraid to lead.
To Mr. Owensby- you have my sympathies, and I hope the money helps you find comfort and something better to do than being involved with the drug business (from past convictions- not from this event). You too have an opportunity to become a leader, to make sure than no officer ever does something like this again. Please, don’t look at this as just a payback- but, as a way to speak for those like Eric Garner and George Floyd, who came before you- and never had a chance to speak up.
One last note– this video was released in record time with redaction. It’s why the Dayton Metro Library should be in much bigger trouble than they are for their delays in releasing my library tapes [4]. We should also wonder why the KDT (the police terminal) was redacted- and the license plates of Mr. Owensby’s car were not.
Or he could have not tinted the windows illegally. Problem avoided.
@Jerry- window tint rules don’t warrant more than a ticket and you’re on your way. You must be head of the FOP. Give it up now.
Funny, my windows are tinted illegally, and I never get pulled over.
The white liberal classic. Some dumbass, inbred, black redneck hillbilly that has and IQ of 80, maybe, has to be babysat by white people is somehow a victim lol. The victims are the decent people of society that have to put up with black hillbilly’s like this that cause nothing but problems and commit 60% of the murders in our society because they suck. Stop being a white supremacist David and treat blacks like your own race when they act like retarded, racist dirty butts. If a white driver acted like this you would say they deserved it and never run a story.
And there we have it- Pat F has shown his true colors. His email is [email protected] if it is to be believed.
Typically, most people commenting on this blog either use their whole real name- or they use an alias because they are a source.
This idiot uses one because he’s a spineless racist.
Tell us more about how the tinted windows victimized you
In Rodriguez v United States (also ruled on by the a Supreme Court) it is unlawful for the police to extend a stop beyond its mission to call in a drug sniffing dog without reasonable articulable suspicion of a crime. People keep citing mimms but that’s to pat someone down for weapons for officer safety. What the officers wanted to do here was extend the stop beyond its mission (the mission was to issue a citation for the tint) to call in a drug dog to search his vehicle.
also, inform the commissioner of the Americans with disabilities act which stipulates that the police are to take care to not harm handicapped people that they arrest or move. Dragging a man by his hair is a no-no for a perfectly healthy person, doubly so for a cripple.
anyhow, mr owensby called for a supervisor. The fact that he wasn’t charged with resisting or obstruction, that the police did not find anything unlawful and now they are likely to get slapped with a hefty lawsuit… the cops should have called for one.
I feel that people are spending too much time talking about what mr owensby should have done. Well, he’s not facing any additional charges from trying to protect himself and the police are kinda in hot water after he warned them, they assaulted him and they turned up pretty much empty handed. I think it’s super clear as to who should have listened that day.
Get a life David, I am no racist lol. I just call it like I see it. You drop anti white garbage all the time and think it’s ok because you are white I guess and of course vote democrat. I am not the one providing blacks across the nation with a quality of life so bad that nearly 18 per day are murdered by other blacks. For example stepping outside Dayton the City of Chicago has provided blacks with such a awful and oppressive reality that statistically every single day a black person is murdered there. You would think this would be something the KKK did back in the 20’s but no it’s the democrats of the last 50 years running the city. Currently run by a black gay woman. A black gay democrat screws over more black people today than the KKK ever did. Wake up!!!
The spineless racist is you David. It is you.
Pat F, there is a vast difference between having my rights violated by the police, who generally are well protected by law and being a victim of intraracial violent crime. People in Chicago March and protest steeet violence EVERY YEAR but nobody us paying street gangs a salary to UPHOLD THE LAW just to turn around and see them drag crying people with severe disabilities across the pavement.
I think I have plenty right to complain when I’m literally paying someone over $100k a year (lots of the cops that assault people pull in about $100k a year or more) to do a JOB and they poo the bed on doing that job. Talking about “b-b-b-but Chicago!” Is an attempt to distract from the point. You say that you’re not racist but the whole “b-b-b-but Chicago!” is often used to tell black people to not complain about the police or kkk or whatever because there’s someplace in America where there is intraracial crime e]where you have black victims and offenders… but intraracial crime is the most popular form of crime for every demographic outside of Native American women.
Appreciate your speech Liquid. Discussion as much as we may disagree at time is the way to go. You complain about paying for cops but the bigger cost is the huge police and corrections systems we have to pay to deal with dirty butt criminals in Dayton. Decent cities don’t have to pay for this crap. This dude they polled over was a dumbass, you can tell just from hearing this idiot and his dumb slang, all my black friends agree. He had 22 grand in cash dude from probably selling drugs and getting blacks killed. The biggest problem of interracial crime is blacks raping, murdering and robbing white people. It is not racist, it is a fact.
All your black friends agree? Welp that solves that!
Pat F, having money is not a crime and I looked over the man’s record. In 19 years of police interactions, he doesn’t have a single arrest for selling, cultivating, trafficking or distributing drugs. It’s my understanding that he owns several rental properties, sir.
You called the author of this article a racist but so far you’ve said racist shit in every single comment that you have posted so far. You said the man was a “dumbass” because he speaks slang but you do t seem to be intelligent enough to know what intraracial means. Oh, and you claim you have “black friends” to shield yourself from your own obviously racist statements here. Suuuuuure, that’s what every black person wants to be, a “black friend” to a guy that unironically spouts 13/50 and Chicago memes on message boards and accuses an innocent black man of being a “drug dealer” because he has money. Oh, and calls the man a dumbass because he speaks slang.
Liquid it is all good if you want to try and play public defender, it is all good. There is nothing wrong with what the cop did. This dude is a dumbass and the white equivalent of a crooked tooth hillbilly. How many dozens if not hundreds of white people have been robbed in the Oregon by blacks and it is covered up by racist white journalists like Esnazi. We are lucky decent white people will even be cops in this town to keep a lid on the out of control violence and drugs. . Is it white cops that flooded the city with heroin and overflowed the morgue? Nope call the Mexicans.
Pat F
”There is nothing wrong with what the cop did.”
1) He dragged a paraplegic man across the pavement by his hair in violation of the Americans with disabilities act and basically committed aggravated assault instead of getting a supervisor as requested and required.
2) he extended a stop beyond the scope of its mission perform an illegal search in violation of Rodriguez v United States which stands to cost him qualified immunity. This is probably also why the man wasn’t charged with resisting arrest or obstruction.
3) he was warned multiple times beforehand that his actions would lead to a massive lawsuit and will now face a massive lawsuit.
4) he basically ruined his career and likely personal finances over a search that left him empty-handed.
”This dude is a dumbass and the white equivalent of a crooked tooth hillbilly.”
You keep saying that but the man looks like owensby is handedly winning this whole incident to me. He didn’t get any extra charges, the police didn’t find anything unlawful in their unlawful search, he’ll likely be able to sue the cops involved directly and he’s likely to get a huge payday here. ????
“We are lucky decent white people will even be cops in this town to keep a lid on the out of control violence and drugs.”
The main cop in this case was black, you idiot.
also, Dayton Ohio is majority white. You talk about black and white but the town that I personally live in is 60% black and it’s next to another town that’s 95% black and we have low crime rates. What these cops did in this case would not be tolerated where I’m from, the cop would have been immediately fired and charged with aggravated assault.
Pat, Esrati doesn’t cover it up. Hell, he had a whole blog entry about his encounter with a group of scary black people during Urban Nights. Ever since then, he’s been aggressively trying to prove his non-racism. He’s a NIMBY just like you and many others.