24 cops and armored vehicle needed to collect money from old man

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > 24 cops and armored vehicle needed to collect money from old man

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BigBallChunkyTime: Nov 25, 2011; Kyle Schwarber: World Series hero, Beefy Lad, better than you.; Illegal Hen

I skew more "pro police" than most of GBS, but this is absolutely asinine. A police department in some little podunk Wisconsin town needed 2 dozen cops and an armored military vehicle to collect an $80,000 fine from a 75-year-old retiree.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/armored-vehicle-helps-collect-civil-judgment-in-small-town-b99376798z1-280427872.html

quote:

When officials in the tiny Town of Stettin in Marathon County went to collect a civil judgment from 75-year-old Roger Hoeppner this month, they sent 24 armed officers.

And an armored military vehicle.

Among other issues, the recent unrest in Ferguson, Mo., focused attention on the growing militarization of local law enforcement, particularly the use by even very small police departments of surplus armored military vehicles.

Marathon County sheriff's officials aren't apologizing for their tactics. Sheriff's Capt. Greg Bean said officials expected to have to seize and remove tractors and wooden pallets to pay the judgment � hence the cadre of deputies. He also said what while Hoeppner was never considered dangerous, he was known to be argumentative.

Hoeppner said when he noticed deputies outside his house, he called his attorney, Ryan Lister of Wausau. Lister said he quickly left for Hoeppner's house but was stopped by a roadblock that was kept up until after his client had been taken away in handcuffs. "Rather than provide Mr. Hoeppner or his counsel notice...and attempt to collect without spending thousands of taxpayer dollars on the military-style maneuvers, the town unilaterally decided to enforce its civil judgment" with a show of force, Lister said.

Bean said deputies had to handcuff Hoeppner because he was not following all their instructions, but did eventually agree to pay the $80,000 judgment after a visit to a bank � accompanied by deputies.

Bean also said the armored truck was summoned only after Hoeppner initially refused to come out of his house. Once the truck appeared, so did Hoeppner.

"I've been involved in about five standoff situations where, as soon as the MARV showed up, the person gives up," saving time, money and increasing safety, Bean said.

Madison's police recently made a similar endorsement after officers used one to carry out the safe arrest of a man who had fired at police from a window of his home.

MARV stands for Marathon County Response Vehicle, which his department obtained in 2011. It's the only one in the county and gets used 10 to 20 times a year, Bean said.

"People may not always understand why, but an armored vehicle is almost a necessity now," Bean said.
Long-standing rift

Hoeppner has filed a notice of claim against the town, and is considering a federal civil rights lawsuit, according to a Madison attorney who represents him in another case about Hoeppner's right to speak at town meetings.

"It's a long-running, heavily litigated dispute over his use of his property," said the lawyer, Jeff Scott Olson. "They're trying to collect in a very heavy-handed manner."

Hoeppner owns about 20 acres along Packer Drive, which runs nearly parallel with Highway 29 west of Wausau, where he restores antique tractors and runs a pallet repair business. The latter at times featured giant piles of the wooden pallets visible from Packer Drive.

In 2008, the town sued Hoeppner over claimed violations of ordinances about zoning, signs, rubbish and vehicles. About a year later, the two sides settled; Hoeppner was supposed to clean up his property, and the town was supposed to open discussions about its zoning.

The town felt Hoeppner had not complied, and it brought a motion for contempt and enforcement. In September 2010, a judge ordered Hoeppner to remove certain items from his land.

The following May, the judge found Hoeppner had still not complied and authorized the town to seize assets. In the summer of 2011, the town hauled away several tractors, pallets, equipment and other items and auctioned them off for "pennies on the dollar," according to Lister.

But the dispute wasn't over. In April 2013, the judge entered a final judgment that imposed a $500-a-day fine against Hoeppner for not adhering to the original May 2011 order, and granting the town's legal fees.

Hoeppner appealed, but lost in a March ruling. So by Oct. 2, he owed the town about $80,000, according to court records, and the Town of Stettin obtained a writ of execution to collect � without notice to Hoeppner or his attorneys, they say.
Threats alleged

Town Chairman Matt Wasmundt said neither he nor other town officials and their attorneys could comment about Hoeppner or the serving of the writ, citing pending litigation and "threats."

Hoeppner, retired from a job at a paper factory, and Lister deny Hoeppner ever engaged in threats of any kind against Wasmundt or other town officials.

In a federal civil rights suit, Hoeppner contends that Wasmundt infringed on his free speech rights by calling deputies to town board meetings where Hoeppner wished to address the board during public comment periods, and for later eliminating public comment entirely from meeting agendas.

Once, Hoeppner said, he was arrested by the deputies at Wasmundt's direction, only to later be released without charge.
Town called unfair

In an interview, he said he wanted to address what he felt was the town's unfair focus on his property, when there are dozens of others arguably in violation of the town's zoning, which is all agricultural-residential.

He said he felt Wasmundt has a "vendetta" against him and a "my way or the highway" style of running the town.

He described deputies with guns drawn walking around his garage.

Asked if he was, as the sheriff's captain described him, argumentative, Hoeppner admitted he was probably "hostile," though not threatening when confronted with a writ.

"The $86,000 figure is enough to shock most men," he said. "And they wanted it now, today." He said the town later agreed to $6,000 less because it wouldn't have to pay for hauling away his other equipment to sell.

Hoeppner estimates that, in all, his battle with the town has cost him about $200,000, a retirement fund he "worked very hard to accumulate." In addition, he said, his arrest the day the armored truck appeared upset his wife so much, he had to take her to a hospital for a few hours.

tl;dr bored small-town cops use military vehicle to collect $80,000 from old man.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:42

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 00:56

TEAYCHES: Jun 23, 2002

was he a sovereign citizen tho

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:43

orangesampson: Nov 22, 2012; by Ion Helmet

Retail Slave posted:

I skew more "pro police" than most of GBS, but this is absolutely asinine. A police department in some little podunk Wisconsin town needed 2 dozen cops and an armored military vehicle to collect an $80,000 fine from a 75-year-old retiree.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/armored-vehicle-helps-collect-civil-judgment-in-small-town-b99376798z1-280427872.html

tl;dr bored small-town cops use military vehicle to collect $80,000 from old man.

A good use of the towns tax payers money. I bet it cost 110,000 dollars to collect 80,000.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:44

paranoid randroid: Mar 4, 2007

quote:

He also said what while Hoeppner was never considered dangerous, he was known to be argumentative.

CRANKY OLD MAN SIX O'CLOCK GO LOUD GO LOUD

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:45

Effectronica: May 31, 2011; Fallen Rib

apparently, the point is not to remove the eyesore, but rather to punish people for defying the will of the township government.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:45

paranoid randroid: Mar 4, 2007

OH CHRIST HES TALKING ABOUT HOW MUCH A DOLLAR USED TO BE ABLE TO BUY, SEND ATTACK HELICOPTERS AND BAZOOKAS

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:45

Snooze Cruise: Feb 16, 2013; hey look,
a post

the cops were bad at math, so their chief told them to bring a couple more officers with them to help count the money

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:46

Yaldabaoth: Oct 9, 2012; by Azathoth

Don't you understand how a Kyriarchy operates? It's a massive web of interconnected people oppressing each other and all it takes is one guy saying No to bring the whole thing crumbling down so that's why they need to put on such an overblown show of force against literal Naysayers

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:46

VendaGoat: Nov 1, 2005

My normal reaction to poo poo like this.

Jesus Christ.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:46

Chinatown: Sep 11, 2001; by Fluffdaddy; Fun Shoe

But remember guys. Police officers are highly trained profess----hahahaha.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:49

1gnoirents: Jun 28, 2014; hello

I'm more "pro cop" that a lot of GBS too (which amounts to me being "vaguely reasonably anti police") but this is pretty dumb lol.

Someone should blow it up

this guy might be a total rear end in a top hat though

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:51

Pornographic Memory: Dec 17, 2008

um did you read the part where it said the guy was "known to be argumentative"? like, what do you expect them to do in the face of that? talk to him with words? :rolleyes:

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:53

paranoid randroid: Mar 4, 2007

*busts in thru skylight on zipline* your car tags are expired

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:54

1gnoirents: Jun 28, 2014; hello

Pornographic Memory posted:

um did you read the part where it said the guy was "known to be argumentative"? like, what do you expect them to do in the face of that? talk to him with words?

lol small town police saying "this guy is known to be ... argumentative" probably means he is a raging rear end in a top hat

of course raging rear end in a top hat != armored personnel carrier

I like how he just had 80k lying around from his loving pallet repair business. im in the wrong line of work

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:55

haljordan: Oct 22, 2004; the corpse of god is love.

Do they still teach kids to find a policeman if they need help? Cuz they should be teaching kids to punch the cop in the dick and run like hell if they get too close.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 00:56

Peroxide Cowboy: Nov 30, 2013

"But I choked my ire and held my peace, and the judge squalled that I had shown contempt for the court, and that I should be hurled into a dungeon to rot until I betrayed my friend. So then, seeing they were all mad, I drew my sword and cleft the judge's skull; then I cut my way out of the court..."

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:00

Effectronica: May 31, 2011; Fallen Rib

There are few things more likely to bring out the inner fascist than lawncare. The fear of one's neighbors, the possibility of criminal penalties for vague, catch-all descriptions, the back-breaking effort to keep up with the Joneses, and finally, the denunciation of the slackers next door who let weeds grow up.

Death to subdivisions.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:01

orangesampson: Nov 22, 2012; by Ion Helmet

Pornographic Memory posted:

um did you read the part where it said the guy was "known to be argumentative"? like, what do you expect them to do in the face of that? talk to him with words?

Common sense tells me that cops don't need a Taser or a shotgun to subdue a 95-year-old man.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-02/news/ct-met-kass-0802-20130803_1_butcher-type-kitchen-knife-park-forest-police-taser

Cops seem to be well trained.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:03

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

I like the part where the cops cuff him, take him to his bank to get cash, then let him speak to his lawyer. Next time they'll drive him around to a bunch of atms and make him withdraw the maximum from each before letting him go.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:09

Seizure Meat: Jul 23, 2008; by Smythe

that poor old man those cops are assholes

oh he's a loony Republican that has cows? lol I hope they fuckin shoot him

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:09

Cyks: Mar 17, 2008; The trenches of IT can scar a muppet for life

$500 a day in fines haha get bent.
How about charge him the cost to hire a clean up crew which in turn would hire locals who could use some pocket money?
lol j/k then they couldn't afford the 2014 model attack choppers the military is about to dump to deal with jaywalkers.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:36

Tubgirl Cosplay: Jan 10, 2011; by Ion Helmet

quote:

"People may not always understand why, but an armored vehicle is almost a necessity now," Bean said.

People may wish it were, but things ain't the way they used to be in the 'good old days'. Old dudes are grumpy. Repair shops have garbage now. We cannot afford a pre-9/11 mentality

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:40

orangesampson: Nov 22, 2012; by Ion Helmet

Tubgirl Cosplay posted:

People may wish it were, but things ain't the way they used to be in the 'good old days'. Old dudes are grumpy. Repair shops have garbage now. We cannot afford a pre-9/11 mentality

Old people are cool though, I had a MEXICAN as a neighbor who made me drink shots of tequila while he talked about lizards and poo poo, old people rule.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:42

Helical Nightmares: Apr 30, 2009

You think this is bad, wait until Podunk police departments start using UAVs on the reg. One is going to fall out of the sky by accident, poo poo maintainance or user error and kill a child.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:46

Tubgirl Cosplay: Jan 10, 2011; by Ion Helmet

Helical Nightmares posted:

You think this is bad, wait until Podunk police departments start using UAVs on the reg. One is going to fall out of the sky by accident, poo poo maintainance or user error and kill a child.

Two days later the police department distributes Facebook pictures of that child flipping off the camera ~just saying~

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:48

Pornographic Memory: Dec 17, 2008

orangesampson posted:

Common sense tells me that cops don't need a Taser or a shotgun to subdue a 95-year-old man.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-02/news/ct-met-kass-0802-20130803_1_butcher-type-kitchen-knife-park-forest-police-taser

Cops seem to be well trained.

its well known that old people more than make up for the physical degeneration of their bodies with the wealth of knowledge accrued over the course of their lifetimes, a man of retirement age knows many more killing techniques than any cop

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:48

haljordan: Oct 22, 2004; the corpse of god is love.

If you're the worthless shitbag coward who fired a bean bag gun at a 95 year old man from 5 feet away and killed him how do you not kill yourself and your family in complete shame? Does that guy still wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and think "I'm making a difference in my community!"

I read another article about that story and some retired cop said "They could've just shut the door and waited for him to fall asleep."

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:50

orangesampson: Nov 22, 2012; by Ion Helmet

haljordan posted:

If you're the worthless shitbag coward who fired a bean bag gun at a 95 year old man from 5 feet away and killed him how do you not kill yourself and your family in complete shame? Does that guy still wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and think "I'm making a difference in my community!"

I read another article about that story and some retired cop said "They could've just shut the door and waited for him to fall asleep."

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/dramatic-video-shows-man-refusing-lie-police-guns-pointed/#lWYiPBQcvmVh8I8t.16

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:52

Radical 90s Wizard: Aug 5, 2008; ~SS-18 burning bright,
Bathe me in your cleansing light~

People may not always understand why, but an armoured vehicle is almost a necessity now. :colbert:

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:52

Wicker Man: Sep 5, 2007; Just like Columbus...; Clapping Larry

"You people just don't understand, we NEED our cybornetically enhanced SWAT teams to break knee caps for protection money!"

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:52

Zzulu: May 15, 2009; (â°ËvËâ°)

america your country is goin to poo poo and this is bad for everyone, so please deal with it and get better tia

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:55

haljordan: Oct 22, 2004; the corpse of god is love.

Zzulu posted:

america your country is goin to poo poo and this is bad for everyone, so please deal with it and get better tia

We need more heroes like Eric Frein.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:55

orangesampson: Nov 22, 2012; by Ion Helmet

Zzulu posted:

america your country is goin to poo poo and this is bad for everyone, so please deal with it and get better tia

Privatizing prisons is a step in the right dirrection

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:56

Radical 90s Wizard: Aug 5, 2008; ~SS-18 burning bright,
Bathe me in your cleansing light~

If only this town had a ROOK TACTICAL DOZER to shift all those pallets.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:56

KennyLoggins: Dec 3, 2004; Welcome to the Danger Zone

shelter in place please!

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:57

haljordan: Oct 22, 2004; the corpse of god is love.

lol its unbearable how pathetic this country has become

# ? Oct 28, 2014 01:58

a shiny rock: Nov 13, 2009

mr.capps posted:

the cops were bad at math, so their chief told them to bring a couple more officers with them to help count the money

this is p good

# ? Oct 28, 2014 02:03

ramenpower: May 6, 2007; Society must take every means at its disposal to defend itself against the emergence of a parallel power which defies the elected power

Zzulu posted:

america your country is goin to poo poo and this is bad for everyone, so please deal with it and get better tia

Word

# ? Oct 28, 2014 02:04

VendaGoat: Nov 1, 2005

haljordan posted:

lol its unbearable how pathetic this country has become

I would put it as such; Holy poo poo how pety and hyperbolic old white men have become in a futile attempt to hold on to the last dying gasp of power.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 02:09

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 00:56

orangesampson: Nov 22, 2012; by Ion Helmet

VendaGoat posted:

I would put it as such; Holy poo poo how pety and hyperbolic old white men have become in a futile attempt to hold on to the last dying gasp of power.

Koch brothers in full force in senator ads this year.

# ? Oct 28, 2014 02:10

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