My letter to the editor... Opinions?

**HyDef** · October 6th, 2010, 10:42 AM

Here's the cliffs notes. Man has ND in his apartment, no one injured, gets arrested for reckless endangerment. Last year a Scranton cop has an ND in a supermarket, shooting himself in the hand, no one else injured. No charges against the off duty cop.Chief-of-Police and District Attorney both defend off-duty cop. My argument is drop the charges or charge the cop as well. Discuss.

Link to my letter: It's the last one
http://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/...2010-1.1044140

Here is a link to the recent ND:
http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/sus...ment-1.1041988

Suspect sought after shots fired in Hill Section apartment
By Denis J. O'Malley (Staff Writer)
Published: October 3, 2010

Scranton police were searching for a city man Saturday after he allegedly fired an AK-47 assault rifle inside his Hill Section apartment while his girlfriend and their infant child were in the next room.

Troy Nabried, 20, 913 Prescott Ave., fired one round from the weapon at about 5:30 p.m. in a third-floor bedroom adjacent to the child's room, police said.

After hearing the shot, his girlfriend, Lashonda Taylor, 20, found Mr. Nabried pacing back and forth nervously before their landlord came over from the other side of the double home, took the weapon and ordered Mr. Nabried to leave and not return, Sgt. Mike Mayer said.

City police said the round traveled from the third-floor bedroom through the ceiling of the home's second floor and into the stairwell before finally lodging in the basement steps.

No one was injured, although four or five people also lived in the home's lower apartment, which the bullet passed through. Sgt. Mayer said those tenants were home at the time but not in the affected room.

When police arrived, Mr. Nabried had already left in a purple sedan. Officers recovered the weapon from the homeowner. The weapon did not have a magazine, Sgt. Mayer said.

A warrant was issued for Mr. Nabried on a charge of reckless endangerment, the sergeant said.

Contact the writer: domalley@timesshamrock.com

The link I have to the supermarket ND no longer works, I think because they make you pay for access to their archives, so here is a copy and paste of that article:

Police probe clears Scranton cop in gun incident, but details are withheld

BY KIMM R. MONTONE
STAFF WRITER
Published: Friday, February 27, 2009
Updated: Friday, February 27, 2009 8:08 AM EST
An internal Scranton Police Department investigation has cleared a lieutenant who accidently shot himself while showing a gun to a supermarket owner, Police Chief David Elliott said Thursday.

Lt. Leonard Namiotka, a 16-year veteran, has returned to his job as head of the departments crime prevention unit, but several questions remained unanswered about the Feb. 8 shooting at Brunettis Shur-Save Super Market, 441 N. Main Ave.

Its an internal report. Youre not entitled to it, said Public Safety Director Ray Hayes, who said the matter is closed.

Chief Elliott also refused to release the report or discuss the matter in detail.

He didnt do anything wrong, said Chief Elliott. There were no violations of policy or regulations.

There is no way for the public to know that, however, because Chief Elliott and Mr. Hayes both declined to provide a copy of the departments policy on when an officer on or off duty may draw a firearm in public. They also refused to discuss the policy in detail.

The policy doesnt apply to this incident, Chief Elliott said, because Lt. Namiotka carried the weapon to the market in a box. The policy does not address transport of a weapon in a box, he said.

Chief Elliotts description of how the gun was transported to the store is apparently at odds with the memory of supermarket owner John Brunetti, who was with Lt. Namiotka in a walk-in cooler when the .40-caliber pistol discharged.

I dont recall a box, he said Thursday. I dont want to comment.

Last week, Mr. Brunetti told a Times-Tribune reporter that Lt. Namiotka initiated a discussion that led to entering the cooler. Mr. Brunetti said he couldnt remember whether he asked to see the gun.

He tells me he has a gun on him and ends up showing it to me, he said. He was extremely careful, but it (the shooting) happened anyway.

Lt. Namiotka has declined repeated requests for comment. Chief Elliott appointed Detective Capt. Al Leoncini to lead the investigation. Capt. Leoncini also declined comment.

District Attorney Andy Jarbola said last week he would wait for the results of the internal investigation.

Im just going to review the report to see if it was an accident, Mr. Jarbola said. He took the magazine out and went to dislodge it. And his finger was still on the trigger and shot himself in the hand. Being careless with a gun under this set of circumstances is not a crime.

Efforts to reach Mr. Jarbola were unsuccessful.

State police would investigate the matter only at the request of Chief Elliott, said Trooper Lt. Mark Lavelle. No request was made, he said.

City council President Bob McGoff and some other council members supported the decision to handle the investigation internally.

Councilwoman Judy Gatelli, however, said an independent investigation would have removed any speculation and suspicion. She also questioned Lt. Namiotkas judgment in showing his gun.

I dont think they should take their guns out and show people. Thats just common sense, she said.

Contact the writer: kmontone@timesshamrock.com

**LorDiego01** · October 6th, 2010, 11:26 AM

I'm surprised you didn't mention the case of the drunk, off-duty cop in Pittsburg, who thought some random dude was messing with him at the bar; so he found him outside, beat him up, and shot him in his hand.

All charges were cleared, with the judge saying something along the lines of "what this officer did was wrong, but it was not CRIMINAL".

**JoshT** · October 6th, 2010, 12:04 PM

The descrepency between how the courts and police treat officers and how they treat everyone else is getting ridiculous. Thanks for taking the time to make this argument.

Maybe someday they will realize cops are the same as everyone else, ordinary citizens, and that thier day job should not get them special treatment.

It would be nice to see the actual copy of your letter once you finish it.

-JoshT

**anonymouse** · October 6th, 2010, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by LorDiego01

I'm surprised you didn't mention the case of the drunk, off-duty cop in Pittsburg, who thought some random dude was messing with him at the bar; so he found him outside, beat him up, and shot him in his hand.

All charges were cleared, with the judge saying something along the lines of "what this officer did was wrong, but it was not CRIMINAL".

Please tell me you have more details about this!

**LorDiego01** · October 6th, 2010, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by anonymouse

Please tell me you have more details about this!

A very quick Google didn't turn it out. But there was a lengthy thread about this case. Happened maybe... 6 months ago.

From what I remember, the cop was drinking (very heavily) at a bar. He leaves the bar and mistakes a man driving a car for another.

So he assaults the man in his car, then pulls him out of the car through the window. Punches him in the head/face repeatedly, then puts his service weapon to the man's head.

When the man tries to get the business end of the weapon off his head, the pig.. sorry.. the Law Enforcement Peace Officer presses the trigger and shoots him through the hand.

Judge dismisses the case, and I very closely paraphrase "what he did was wrong, but was in no way criminal".

That's all I remember. As far as I know, that prick is still in uniform, roaming the streets.

**Kimba** · October 6th, 2010, 01:38 PM

I remember that. It was on the South SSide in Pittsburgh. Isll see what I can dig up.

**renegadephoenix** · October 6th, 2010, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by LorDiego01

I'm surprised you didn't mention the case of the drunk, off-duty cop in Pittsburg, who thought some random dude was messing with him at the bar; so he found him outside, beat him up, and shot him in his hand.

All charges were cleared, with the judge saying something along the lines of "what this officer did was wrong, but it was not CRIMINAL".

Originally Posted by anonymouse

Please tell me you have more details about this!

Originally Posted by LorDiego01

A very quick Google didn't turn it out. But there was a lengthy thread about this case. Happened maybe... 6 months ago.

From what I remember, the cop was drinking (very heavily) at a bar. He leaves the bar and mistakes a man driving a car for another.

So he assaults the man in his car, then pulls him out of the car through the window. Punches him in the head/face repeatedly, then puts his service weapon to the man's head.

When the man tries to get the business end of the weapon off his head, the pig.. sorry.. the Law Enforcement Peace Officer presses the trigger and shoots him through the hand.

Judge dismisses the case, and I very closely paraphrase "what he did was wrong, but was in no way criminal".

That's all I remember. As far as I know, that prick is still in uniform, roaming the streets.

Originally Posted by Kimba

I remember that. It was on the South SSide in Pittsburgh. Isll see what I can dig up.

The Kid who was shot was a good friends brother.

the way it went down was my buddy is a bar tender at Towne Tavern on the South Side, the off duty police officer was in the bar drinking and decided it was time to leave.

upon entering his car he put down his window. well, someone walked up to the window and punched the cop in the face. the cop then drove about 8-10 blocks to his home and retrieved his duty weapon. he then went back out and got in his car and drove around looking for the guys who punched him.

my buddies brother and a friend were sitting on their porch just up the block from Towne Tavern when the cop approaches, parks the car, gets out and points the gun at them yelling to "Get the Fuck down on the Ground".

They didn't know he was a cop and Caleb said that this is their house and who was he. at this point the cop pistol whips Caleb in the back of the head knocking him to his knees. Caleb then reaches for the back of his head and the cop shoots him through his hand just missing his head by an inch.

at this point Towne Tavern Clears out and everyone comes outside since some of the patrons were off duty police officers they went to investigate. they found the cop sitting on the curb with the gun in his hand and Caleb laying on the ground holding his hand while his buddy was trying to stop the bleeding.

the police show up, take the gun and don't even cuff the guy, they just sat him in a cruiser. the ambulance shows up and takes Caleb to the hospital and i think he had to get 65+ stitches to close the wound and had to go back twice for reconstructive surgery. i saw him 3 days after getting out of the hospital.

i'll pull up the news articles.