The Columbia Tribune’s recent story on a civil lawsuit being filed over an incident involving a taser is currently drawing massive amounts of attention in the Columbia community:
Two Columbia police officers are the focus of a civil lawsuit concerning an incident last year in which a man was tasered after a traffic stop.
Attorney Samuel Trapp filed the civil suit yesterday in federal court in Jefferson City on behalf of Cadilac Derrick, 23, of Columbia.
On Feb. 24, 2009, Derrick was driving his registered Suburu down Providence Road when Columbia police Officers Tim Giger and John Logan pulled him over, according to the lawsuit
A video posted on YouTube shows the incident captured by police cameras. The officers approached each side of the car, in which Derrick’s girlfriend Amanda Reed and her 3-year old child were passengers. Derrick handed officers his license and registration and asked why he was being pulled over. One officer can then be heard instructing Derrick to step out of the car.
Although the subject of Americans for Forfeiture Reform is about the troubling forfeiture systems across the country, it is important to highlight other instances of police abuse. The incident involving Derrick exploded in popularity when this Youtube video hit the internet:
It is also worth noting that the Columbia Police Department conducted an investigation over the incident, finding their officers had “acted properly.” If you are curious about the specifics in the lawsuit, I would recommend you read the official complaint filed by Trapp.
By the way, I figure I should introduce myself… so I’m Greg Young, and I will be blogging here from time to time. For those who are interested, I’m a junior at Mizzou, majoring in Political Science & Journalism. I’m very excited that Eapen gave me this unique opportunity to do some work on reforming a clusterfuck (also known as civil forfeitures,) so look for my posts throughout the week!
