Whitehall police officer suing fellow officers

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Zach, because I know you're you know, you're a news
hound like all the rest of us, and you see
this kind of stuff. Before we get into the calls,
I want to get into you know what. You and
I are generally generally of the same mind. Here the
Columbus police officer identified I guess Marcy's law, you know,
protects his identity as Officer Doe his wife Jane Doe,

(00:24):
following filing suit against the Whitehall Police Department slash officers
who had in their possession the punks that were stealing cars.
They got their hands on a Porsche, they fled the
Whitehall area. I don't know all the particulars, but from
reading the coverage, it seems that at some point they

(00:47):
were confined by Whitehall police but then allowed to escape.
Then I remember they were out on Hilliard Rome Road
and an officer observed them out there exiting awkward or so.
Then they ended up on seventy headed back toward downtown,
coming up on Cooper Stadium, which is where the shootout
with Columbus police.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's a long chase, Yeah, that's a long chase.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
And an officer was you know, critically injured by the
bad guys, three of them, and all three were caught eventually,
but the officer has apparently chosen He and his wife
chosen to file suit against Whitehall Police, either the department

(01:31):
and or the officers that were named for not keeping
this this particular bad guy under control, allowing him to escape,
which resulted in him shooting the Columbus officer. I have
never heard of such a lawsuit being filed.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Did a lawyer get to him? And I'm not I
don't know. I've never heard this before, and I've never
heard like we're chase it's body or where to shoot out.
And because my partner or the other officers that I
work with were completely negligent.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Well, John was asking before the break there too. You
know how his wife is involved? I would say, you know,
if something like this, she's definitely involved. Her life, her family,
her existence, her her support, her everything is affected well
sure by him. So I can see that. And if
something were to happen to him during the course of
the case, then I'm sure everything would differ over to

(02:33):
her so that she could continue on in looking for
whatever compensation they're looking for.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Sure, she might not want to, this is a speculation.
She might not want him to be a police officer,
and she's like, this is her way out, Well this
is your way out?

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Could be or maybe he doesn't. I don't know. I mean,
you know, taking a few bullets can change your career
direction in a hurry. Yeah, I can't.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
I've never been shot, so I really don't understand the minds. Yeah,
exactly when that happens. So but no, I've never heard
of it. Very unique situation because I can't think of
anything similar to this that I've ever heard of in
my life.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
And does it open up a can of worms? I
mean to what exit? Okay, if you sue the Whitehall
Police Department, should you also sue up? I mean, should
we sue the families if they what if some of
their families have money or something?

Speaker 2 (03:19):
I mean, if somebody in a partner recks and then
I get hurt right into him, you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (03:25):
And does this not then turn also on the Columbus
Police department. If I get, you know, hit by somebody
who's fleeing Columbus police because they allowed them to jump
in the car and take off, am I not you know,
apt to sue in the police department for not restraining
and confining them right when they had the opportunity to

(03:48):
do so, instead of letting them flee where they ran
into me and ran me off the road.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
And yeah, it does open a camp. If you start
thinking about it, you could think of any type of
lawsuit that you could come up.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
I mean, I've always asked how far are you willing
to go when we've started seeing lawsuits about you know,
companies or organizations suing suing gun companies or suing manufacturers
of ammunition for violence in Chicago, which I found ridiculous. Okay,
so you're going to sue the company that made the

(04:19):
sue the people doing the shooting, and how far are
you willing to go with that? Should if you get
somebody gets pulled over for you know, drunk driving, they
run over somebody because they're out there driving drunk, then
you want to sue the bar that served them. Should
you not serve the Sue the manufacturer of the alcohol.
Sue the manufacturer of the automobile that they were driving

(04:41):
for not having an installed breathalyizer. Sue the gas company,
the gasoline oil producer where they bought the fuel that
allowed them to operate the car that ran over people
sue the government that issued the permits to that oil
company to drill and get oil so that they could
produce that gas. How far are you willing to go?

Speaker 2 (05:00):
I mean, I remember Ralph Nader trying to sue the
fertilizer company that McVeigh used.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
I don't remember that.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
I don't he was at a presidential candidate, but that's
one of his things that kind of got him on
the map.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
This so this isn't about right or wrong, or good
or bad. This is about my UH, I don't know,
my surprise at the situation and my I guess, my
lack of my lack of understanding of the UH of
the logic behind it. I will absolutely not say that this,

(05:33):
this officer and his family do not deserve compensation and
UH and he should be you know, protected and cared
for financially for the rest of his life, as should
his his wife, his family. I just I this, this
is catching me off guard. So maybe I'm the odd
man out on this. A two one nine eighty six

(05:53):
A two one w TV and and has been on
hold the longest JOW on the Legacy Retirement Group dot
com phone lines.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
And yeah, this is not just a can of worms.
I mean what this will do to the morale of
police officers. They're already being suited by everybody. They're already
getting their hands.

Speaker 4 (06:13):
And tack cuffs.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
I mean, I put it back on Columbus Police Department.
If one of their officers get hurt, that should already
be written in their contract that they will be taken
care of. I mean, you don't know, and we don't
know if she hasn't been unwrapped. It was Whitehall told
where the officers told, hey, sorry, you got that gup, buddy.

(06:38):
I think this is just I feel bad for everyone involved.
It hurts that they're doing this because now it's the
now what okay? And then what if you know if
they if a police officer writes me, writes another police
officer a ticket and he doesn't like it, you're gonna

(07:00):
get sued. I mean I know that different, but I
don't know.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Well again, and like I said, how far are you
willing to go? What if an officer pulls somebody over,
writes them a ticket for say speeding or something, and
they go get back and they stop speeding, but they
drive onto the bank where the gun that the officer
did not notice in their car is used to shoot
up the bank and rob it is that officer then respect.
This is what I worry about. Everything. Everything is a

(07:27):
spider web if you allow it to be.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
Yeah, and you know, and we're going down a slip
reflap that they win and if they really just file
the taump, I put a back on Komba City. Please
contract to take care of your people. If you're in
the military, if.

Speaker 5 (07:45):
You get hit, you have a gun and you but you.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Get hit, you know, and you get hurt. You know
you're in the military. You know that that could happen.
But you're not gonna suit. You can't sue them. You
can't sue the federal government. What you pull, you bad
your gun properly. I mean, this is such a slippery slope.
I don't know I feel about it. I feel terrible

(08:11):
for everyone involved. However, I don't think I should go
down that alley.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
We're on the same page, Ann and I don't think
I've ever talked to you before, but welcome to the show,
and I hope to talk to you again. A two
one ninety six A two one WTV and Doug. You're
on six to ten DOUBLETV.

Speaker 4 (08:27):
In.

Speaker 6 (08:28):
Yeah, Hey, Chuck, I've listened to you all the time
on different shows and stuff, and what I was one
what I'd like to hear is, I know you're on
Target a lot on Saturdays. I'd like to know what
Eric feels about this. You're on a show all the time.
Hopefully I'll bring that up. I want to know what

(08:49):
other police offers feel about it.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, we're having to talk about this, and I I
did not want to throw Brian Steele under the bus
right away because this is such a news story, but
I'll have Ryan on most likely during the course of
the week next week because this is as the as
the president of the FOP, he needs to address.

Speaker 6 (09:06):
This too, right And he was the other guy I
was going to say, I'd like to see what Eric
has to say about and see what Brian Steal has
to say about it. But no, love what you do man.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
As a as a just an observer, Doug as a citizen,
what do you think? And are you I mean deep?
Do you see the reason here? Or do you think
this is a little off?

Speaker 6 (09:25):
I like you said, I don't think I've ever heard
this before and it seems a little off to me.
But I you know, I believe in law and order,
but I'm not a police officer, so I you know,
that's why I want to hear from them, all right.
I want to hear what they have to say about it.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
And that's the other part of the equation too. But
you know, as as as pro law enforcement as I am,
we're not cops. And this is uh right, there's a
perspective here that you and I are not going to
understand because we don't do that job.

Speaker 6 (09:55):
Every day, exactly exactly.

Speaker 1 (09:58):
I appreciate you, my friend, thank you very much for
the call, and I will I'll reach out to Brian.
We'll get him on here next week. Will you're on
six ten WTVN.

Speaker 4 (10:07):
Hey, Chuck. I'm thinking this has a lot to do
with one of the lowest forms of life on Earth,
insurance companies and operators. I think that to get the
coverage that this officer needs for his injuries and to
be set for life, that he doesn't have to be
a cop or a bye paper pusher or what have you.

(10:29):
I think it all boils down to he's been advised
to sue everybody and anything so that he can get
more money. Now, I'm not faulting him, But I am
following the insurance companies in stead the coverage being to
cover this individual. No, well, we can only give you
so much, but Whitehall can give you some, and then

(10:50):
white Hall can give you a little more because each
officer that you sue also will have some kind of coverage.
I think that's what it boils down to. I don't
think it comes down to one top. Hey the other
guy was at work for SOB and let the dude go.
It's how do you get how do you get your money?
How do you get paid?

Speaker 1 (11:07):
Insurance companies have been known to do such things which
explain seat belt laws. As far as I'm concerned, will
good observation. It's something I hadn't even thought about. But
the officer may have heard, Hey, we're going to have
to recoup this some way, and uh, one way is
we need you to file suit? Not out of the question.
It is not out of the question. Rick, you're on
the Legacy Retirement Group dot com phone line height? Did

(11:32):
I have it? Hang on? Let me try let me
try that one. Are you there?

Speaker 4 (11:35):
Rick? All right?

Speaker 6 (11:39):
You're up.

Speaker 7 (11:40):
So my thought would be that a lot of the
to go down this rabbit hole is what about the
legislators that there are, get you back out after they've
stole a car, and they get out and go do
the same thing again.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Okay, exactly in this case, these kids, what if they
were one of those and you're breaking up on me, Rick,
But what if they were one of those notorious Kia
boys or something who were on their eighteenth car theft
and ended up running over an officer and doing great damage.
You know, our is our system of justice not then

(12:21):
liable for that. You kept letting them out and an
officer was injured, not even an officer. What if they
run over Zach. Shouldn't Zach be able to say, hey,
I'm suing because you let him out over and over again,
refusing to make them pay for their crimes against the city.
I think you should have that right, Eric. I think
you're gonna wrap us up.

Speaker 5 (12:41):
You're on six t n WTVN all right, I'll try
to make it quick. I agree with what everybody's saying.
It's all sounds ballid. But I was kind of starting
back at the beginning about the Whitehall Cup. What about
due diligence, you know what I mean? He knew those
those guys were headed to Columbus get on the horn
call Columba's cops get the helicopterra up and try to

(13:02):
have them off. But did they do that. I don't
know if we have not.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yeah, that is part of the lawsuit filing, is that
they did not warn them what was coming their.

Speaker 5 (13:11):
Way exactly had they done that? And maybe the guy,
maybe the other cop when the guy shot.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
It's one of those things, Eric, for you know, and
see if I was. Let's say I myself, I am
Columbus police and I get a call from Zach who's
Whitehall police. He goes, hey, maniacs man stole a car,
got guns, you'd be ready. I'm frankly, I'm more apt
to open fire on them the moment they get in
my proximity because I know what they are, what they're bringing.
And then you lose on that battle too, So it's.

Speaker 5 (13:42):
Yeah. But then at the end of the day, you
fast forward the cop, the injured cop sitting there with
his wife at the kitchen table and guess what we need.
We need some money.

Speaker 1 (13:51):
He goes home, You're right, I'm with you. I appreciate you, Eric,
thanks for the call. Man,