Cops At Work

Officer Caleb Lenz of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department attempts to catch up to an officer that is in pursuit of a stolen vehicle that was spotted earlier in the evening. As he races to the scene, the officer radios shots fired and soon afterwards radios that he has been wounded in the gunfight. Officer Lenz arrives second on scene and finds another officer with the injured man and a witness frantically pointing out the direction in which the shooter traveled on foot. A quick search of the area turns up the shooter’s shedded clothing. A K-9 Unit tracks the shooter to a garage and when the man becomes confrontational the dog bites him as he is pulled from the shed. He is quickly detained and the semi-automatic weapon used in the gunfight is recovered. The young man is treated for his wounds as Officer Lenz talks to the K-9 Officer about the track. Lenz is given updated information that the wounded officer will be okay and is in good spirits.

Man in crime spree sentenced to 44 years

A North Texas burglary suspect was hit by a concrete truck during a police chase and died early Friday morning, and the accident was caught on police dash camera. A DeSoto police officer first pulled over the suspect’s gray Ford F-150 truck about 5:40 a.m. on Hampton Road near Dalton Drive.

The officer was investigating a report of a nearby resident’s air compressor being stolen. DeSoto police say several similar burglaries have been reported in their city. When the officer questioned the driver, he became belligerent and attempted to reach into the center console, police say.

The suspect finally got out of the pickup truck and began to scuffle with the police officer, trying to grab his gun from his holster. The officer deployed his Taser, but the probes became stuck in the vehicle and ended up giving the officer a slight shock.

In the car’s dash cam video, you can see the officer step back from the truck as the suspect gets back in and drives away. The officer radioed for permission to pursue the suspect, which was given. Police say the suspect was driving south on Hampton Road at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.

The wreck happened in the city of Glenn Heights when the suspect ran a red light on Hampton Road at Bear Creek Road. A concrete truck, which had the green light, struck the fleeing pickup
truck on the passenger side. The concrete truck driver received non life-threatening injuries. The suspect was rushed to the hospital, where he later died. Police say there were multiple items in the bed of the pickup that they believe were stolen.

Subscribe Now To Catch All Of The Action!–The South Carolina Department of Public Safety has released a copy of a patrolman’s dash camera video showing the trooper ticketing Norway’s mayor and then being pulled over himself — by the mayor.

DMV records show Norway Mayor Jim Preacher was driving the town’s unmarked Dodge Charger 70 mph in a 55 mph zone on Jan. 18. Preacher was just outside the town’s limits when the trooper picked up the speeding on his radar. After the trooper issued Preacher a four-point ticket, the video shows Preacher make a U-turn and turn his lights and sirens on to make a stop on the trooper.

“Can I see your driver’s license,” the Norway mayor asked the trooper. The trooper pulls his license out when Preacher tells him the reason for the stop, “Are you familiar with interfering with a police officer?” Preacher asked.

Preacher claims he was acting as the town’s chief constable and was investigating an attempted armed robbery at a gas station that night in Norway. Preacher was driving the former chief’s patrol car. Norway has been without a police department since August 2011, after former mayor Cindy Williams sent a letter to the state’s criminal justice academy, stating that Norway “disbanded” its police force because the town couldn’t afford the officers.

Preacher took the trooper’s license and patrol car registration and spent 23 minutes with it, sitting inside his Charger. The trooper’s dash cam audio caught the entire episode. You can hear the trooper complying with Preacher’s commands, and then a string of phone calls between the trooper and his supervisors.

In the first call, the trooper tells his boss, “I don’t know what he pulled me for; he—I don’t know. He’s back there now, I don’t know what he’s doing.” Seventeen minutes into the stop, the trooper’s supervisor tells him to take his phone to Preacher.

“I’m going to file a formal complaint, I’m going to take him back to my office and issue him a ticket for interfering with a police officer,” Preacher told the unidentified supervisor. Preacher tells the supervisor that he should have gotten a “professional courtesy,” since he was a law enforcement officer, and let go without a ticket.

“Son, you got a lot to learn,” Preacher told the trooper as he handed him his license back and drove away. Preacher did not issue the trooper a ticket for interfering.

DPS launched an investigation into the stop the following day. After reviewing the tapes, DPS turned their investigation over to the State Law Enforcement Division to determine whether Preacher violated state law in stopping the trooper. SLED is also investigating whether Preacher had any police powers, since his law enforcement certification records show that his certification is “inactive” with the academy.

Preacher claims he is acting as Norway’s “chief constable,” a title granted to him during a Jan. 9, 2012 council meeting in Norway. Preacher who was sworn in as the town’s mayor just days before that, makes $32,000 a year in that position, according to records.

SLED turned its investigation over to the State Attorney General’s office for an opinion as to whether Preacher has police powers, and the authority to conduct traffic stops. The AG has not issued its opinion as of this report.