Man killed by cops after car thief alleges meth find

[mfcorey1]

A Georgia man was killed by police executing a search warrant obtained after a car thief told police he stole methamphetamine from the dead man’s vehicle, media reports say.

According to WMAZ in Macon, the car thief broke into a pickup truck in Laurens County, near Dublin, and stole some items on the night of Sept. 22 or the predawn hours of Sept. 23.

The thief then stole an SUV from the home, a Lincoln Aviator, and drove to Dublin, according to police.

The homeowner, David Hooks, a 59-year-old grandfather and businessman, reported the missing SUV.

At about 3:45 p.m. on Sept. 24, police arrested Rodney Garrett, who admitted stealing the SUV and said the 20 grams of meth police found on him were not his, but had been stolen from Hooks’ pickup truck.

Would police believe such a story?

Apparently so, because at 10 p.m. the same day Laurens deputies got a non-attorney deputy magistrate to sign off on a search warrant, according to Mitchell Shook, the attorney representing the Hooks family.

An hour after getting the search warrant, Shook said David Hooks’ wife saw camouflaged men in her yard with guns and told her husband.

David Hooks’ final act was to arm himself with a shotgun.

“The [deputies] broke down the back door of the family’s home and entered, firing an excessive sixteen shots. There is no evidence that David Hooks ever fired a weapon,” said Shook, who also says the warrant did not have a “no-knock” clause and therefore required law enforcement to identify themselves.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting but said it would make no comment until the investigation is complete, says The Macon Telegraph.

The sheriff’s department also refuses comment.

Police searched the home for 44 hours and found no drugs, says Shook, who says the “true facts of this tragedy are in stark contrast to … reports released by law enforcement.”

http://newstome.blog.ajc.com/2014/10/03/man-killed-by-cops-after-car-thief-alleges-meth-find/

[rock]

1. What color is the dead man?

n/a

[bravenak]

2. I think he was a white man. His family is traumatized.

[Raine1967]

10. The car thief was a white man.

I thought that was interesting. Check this out:

13WMAZ obtained the search warrant that led to the raid. It says the night before that raid, a man claimed he found 20 grams of suspected methamphetamine inside a pickup at Hooks' home.

Rodney Garrett reportedly told investigators that he took a plastic bag from the pickup, believing that there was money inside,and a set of digital scales.

Then he stole another vehicle from Hooks' home, a Lincoln Aviator SUV, the warrant says. After he drove the SUV to Dublin, Garrett said, he realized that the bag contained meth instead of cash.

Garrett told officers that he "became scared for his safety," and turned himself in to Laurens deputies, the warrant says.

Link: http://www.13wmaz.com/story/news/local/dublin/2014/10/01/warrant-meth-raid-led-to-fatal-laurens-shooting/16538903/

[bravenak]

11. The whole thing is outrageous

They should have never taken his word for it, and never have kicked in his door. Knocking on the door would have worked just fine. Anything in the the name of the drug war.

[Raine1967]

14. Agreed.

They went straight for the search warrant instead of sending the case/file whatever to a detective to see if this is true.

Does anyone remember detective work?

Throw the damn car thief into jail and look into the accusations made. Seems pretty simple to me.

[brush]

26. Where are they getting these dumb ass cops from

Taking a car thief at his word and acting on it like it's gospel — and breaking in, in violation of the warrant, and killing a man in his own home.

Kinda like the killing at the Walmart because some caller said someone was point a rifle at people (later recanted).

Seems there needs to be an IQ requirement or something to be accepted on police forces because lately, mostly because of cell phone videos being everywhere, too many cops have been shown to be trigger first, scared-of-their-own-shadow dumb asses who take the word of every Tom, Dick and Harry to kill innocent people — and that's not counting the bullies who just love to throw their weight around then shoot or tase people who don't hop to their every command (like the 62-year-old woman who was tased in the back after asking a question about a suspect detained for walking in the street because there were no sidewalks).

We REALLY need smarter, non-bully cops.

[Lancero]

29. Someone sued a department for refusing to hire him because he scored to high on a IQ test...

http://www.mintpressnews.com/can-someone-be-too-smart-to-be-a-cop/192106/

[brush]

30. God! That's tragic.

So they want them to be not too smart.

[NYC_SKP]

4. Seems to have a medium complexion.

Hispanic, could be Greek or Italian, South or Central American, or combinations of these and other origins, it's difficult to say.

The family had already been victims of burglary and theft of their car, and were within their rights to be armed.

Police need to be tried for murder.

May he rest in peace.

[jmowreader]

19. And the car thief needs to also be tried for murder

If he wouldn't have blamed the car owner for the meth that was almost certainly the thief's, that man would still be alive.

[NYC_SKP]

20. Accessory to murder, perhaps. The police and the signer of the warrant, for sure. nt

[jmowreader]

23. To be charged with "accessory" he had to know they were going to kill the guy

I think the best charge is involuntary manslaughter - he didn't intend for the cops to murder the guy whose car he stole, but they wouldn't have murdered the guy if he hadn't claimed the meth belonged to the car owner.

[NYC_SKP]

24. I'm no expert with these things.

I think the judge needs to be held to an even higher standard, should have known that a raid might result in injury or death.

And to what end, some meth?

Crazy world.

[avebury]

27. The car thief may have not known for a fact that the

home owner would be killed by the police. However, given the times we live in and the increasing level of violence committed by the police on citizens, he should have know that there was a high probability of a bad outcome for the home owner. If I were on the jury of the car thief's trial I would take a really hard look at any type of murder/manslaughter charge brought against the car thief. The car thief can in no way shape or form claim ignorance of the outcome of his actions.

[jmowreader]

28. Which is why "accessory" isn't the best charge

I don't know if you could get a third-degree murder charge to stick - he did, after all, tell the cops "this is my victim's meth" rather than "hey, go execute my victim for running a meth lab" - but were it not for this probable lie, the homeowner would still be alive...so, go with some level of manslaughter.

[lindysalsagal]

3. Like he's the only meth dealer in the world, and any amount of force is justified

Like there aren't meth dealers in every town. Like the meth is a contagion that needs to be contained for public safety.

The truth is most police already know who the drug dealers are in their neighborhoods, and should have been skeptical if they'd never heard of this man before. And, since when does a thief become a legitimate source for probably cause?

It also proves they aren't any good at their jobs if they don't already know who their local dealers are.

Plus, meth dealers are usually too slow or stoned for a quick response: they should have known they had time to ask some questions and pull up records to see who lived there and if they were likely dealers or not.


They messed up in so many ways, I don't know where to start.

[safeinOhio]

5. I hope the Sheriff is up for re-election this year.

The buck stop at his desk.

[n2doc]

7. He'll probably be unopposed

Seems to be the usual in these cases.

[TheBlackAdder]

6. Perhaps they benefit from being able to seize the SUV owner's peoperty. nt

[Mariana]

17. That's certainly a possibility. nt.

[Raine1967]

8. So many things are messed up here. This in particular:

camouflaged men in her yard with guns and told her husband.


I really believe that LEO's should not ever wear camouflage, ESPECIALLY when executing (sorry for that choice of words) a search warrant. This man should not be dead.

And this:

Police searched the home for 44 hours and found no drugs, says Shook, who says the “true facts of this tragedy are in stark contrast to … reports released by law enforcement.”

Shook told the Macon Telegraph that Hooks owns a construction company that does work on military bases and has passed background checks by state and federal authorities.

Perhaps we need police to look into on background checks that should be readily available by at the VERY LEAST the State.

Mr Rodney Garrett was believed to be a credible witness to what, exactly? here is mr. Garret: ?h=188&w=250

I would love for our DU lawyers to help me with this.


http://reason.com/blog/2014/10/03/deadly-drug-raid-over-meth-that-wasnt-th

Garrett’s now been charged related to the burglary and motor vehicle theft. Deputies searched Hooks’ home for 44 hours, according to his family’s attorney, and found no drugs. Cops claim Hooks pointed a gun at them "aggressively" before they fatally shot him, but won't say how many times they shot or how many times Hooks was hit.

Cops claim they investigated the Hooks home in 2009 over meth allegations but won’t say what the disposition of that investigation was.

It’s the not the first time a drug raid’s been executed on wrong information. Anti-narcotics police often rely on information from highly questionable sources. In July in Habersham County, Georgia, police raided a home with an infant in it, tossing a flashbang grenade into his crib, based on an informant who said he bought meth at the home from an individual who wasn’t present. Police said the informant told them there were no children in the home and that they didn’t see any during an alleged drug buy.

[CaptainTruth]

9. So if someone is breaking into your house you have the right to ...

... defend yourself, right? You don't know who the nutjob in camo is, he's just breaking & entering into your home. You're allowed to fire on an intruder with a gun, right? Without getting killed or charged with a crime? It shouldn't matter if the person is a serial killer, a cop who's failed to clearly identify himself, or NRA Militia Santa with a sack of guns for Christmas ... they're breaking & entering & they're an armed threat ... a citizen should have the right to defend themselves.

The concept of a no-knock warrant is truly bizzare & I don't see how it can be legally justified because it assumes that a person in their home has no right to defend themselves against intruders. When did we lose that right?

How many innocent people have died as a result of this BS?

[Vattel]

22. Excellent point

[TygrBright]

12. Paging Mr. Scorpio. This needs to be added to the "Bad Cop, No Donut!" thread. n/t

[whereisjustice]

13. Our police force has become the enemy of civilized society. They are causing more problems

than they prevent.

[Raine1967]

15. Seems like detective work and investigations prior to search warrants are no longer used.

This man should not be dead. He should not be dead based upon the words of a car thief.

It is disgusting.

[davidthegnome]

16. This doesn't make any sense at all.

I live in Northern Maine - lots and lots of gun owners, especially in more rural areas, like where I live. If a group of armed men in camo were wandering around outside their homes - of course they'd get their guns out. Of course they would point them at the intruders. Hell, you show up at one of their homes just wearing camo and sneaking around, that would be enough for some of them. People have a right to defend their homes and families.

These ... "cops" did not announce themselves, did not present their warrant, were apparently not in uniform... how was the home owner to tell the difference between them and a group of thugs or lunatics?

Basically what happened here... a thief steals a man's car, then when found with 20 grams of meth... tells police it belonged to the man who's car... he stole. Police believe this story... (WTF?!?) and show up at the man's house in camo clothing, and basically just start shooting when the man thinks his home is under attack.

You know what this says to me? Never report a crime. Ever. Just suck it up - because law enforcement could very well do much worse than the crime committed. Thief stole his car... and a bunch of fucking asshole lunatic murderers KILLED him. Shit.

[jmowreader]

18. They're believing car thieves now?

"Yeah, I stole that guy's $70,000 truck but that sack 'a' meth, it ain't mine, you know?"

Most of us would have handed the car thief a jar and escorted him to the can for an observed urinalysis, but apparently raids are more fun.

[mindwalker_i]

25. Maybe Issa needs to investigate...

[Logical]

21. Idiot cops. A thief lies to them any they believe it. How fucking stupid are they? nt