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Old Man Says Cop Beat Him for Trying to Help
Courthouse News ^ | Wednesday, May 18, 2011 | By STEVEN CALLEGAN

Posted on 05/21/2011 12:15:50 PM PDT by Fitzy_888

Fairhope, Ala. (CN) - A police officer beat an elderly man who called 911 to report an accident and stop a drunken driver from leaving the scene of a crime, according to a complaint in Baldwin County Court.

Dorsey Henderson says he investigated an auto accident that happened across the street from his house. After determining that one of the drivers was belligerently intoxicated, he told the man not to leave and called the police.

When Officer Trent Scott arrived on the scene, Henderson tried to tell him what had happened and that he had put the driver under "citizen's arrest" because he was trying to leave. Officer Scott told Henderson there is "no such thing as citizen's arrest in Alabama," adding "get out of the way[,] old man."

While citizen's arrest is a gray area in Alabama, Henderson says he had "only been trying to help."

Nevertheless, Scott put him in an arm bar, tearing the man's rotator cuff, and walked him across the street.

When they were back in Henderson's driveway, Scott "slammed" the elderly man face first into the driveway, breaking his nose and his glasses. Scott "proceeded to beat" Henderson in "the back of the head, neck and arms." Scott did not arrest Henderson or charge him with any crime.

Henderson's wife, Dorris, watched from a wheelchair 18 feet away and called 911, saying that Scott was "beating the hell out of my husband." When the ambulance arrived, Scott sent it away, handcuffed the man and put him in the back of his patrol car.

Scott's superior showed up, released Henderson and called the ambulance back to treat Henderson and bring him to Thomas Hospital.

As of May 16, 2011, Officer Trent Scott was still employed by the Fairhope Police Department.

Henderson and his wife seek damages for constitutional violations. They are represented D. Keith Landers of Daphne, Ala.


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: al; alabama; baldwincounty; corruption; donutwatch; dorseyhenderson; govtabuse; leo; lping; moralabsolutes; policestate; roguecop; trentscott
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To: LostInBayport

Well if he has an IQ of 80; the runner ups are probably in the 70’s.


61 posted on 05/21/2011 3:32:09 PM PDT by org.whodat
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To: KoRn
The police these days are digging themselves a DEEP hole. One day, they are going to need ‘us’, but most people will just stand there and watch, as they are eaten by the ‘zombies’. They would have brought that fate upon themselves....

I always say that the LE community does a damn fine job of "making vietcong" out of normal civilians. You're right. One of these days, they're gonna need us, and they'll be screwed.

62 posted on 05/21/2011 3:38:12 PM PDT by SIDENET ("If that's your best, your best won't do." -Dee Snider)
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To: Jim Scott

Presumed hell, I believe he did it and has gotten away with it.He knew he could do it and get away with it or he would not have done the deed.


63 posted on 05/21/2011 3:42:28 PM PDT by sport
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To: Fitzy_888
"I was telling him that I was just trying to help. I called him ‘son’ instead of ‘sir,’ and that might have riled him," said Dorsey Henderson of Fairhope,

a retired Army intelligence officer and veteran of World War II and of the wars in Korea and Vietnam.

64 posted on 05/21/2011 3:50:19 PM PDT by dennisw (NZT - "works better if you're already smart")
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

You are of course correct. Sigh.


65 posted on 05/21/2011 3:50:48 PM PDT by piytar (Obama opposed every tool used to get Osama. So of course he gets the credit. /hurl)
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To: null and void

There are so many of these incidents that if someone posted every single incident on FR it would create a wall of text that would make it hard to find other subjects without doing keyword searches.

Who wants that?


66 posted on 05/21/2011 3:53:04 PM PDT by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: Fitzy_888

Perfect justice demands perfect righteousness.

Where is the municipal or county District Attorney investigating the behavior of the LEO?

If not fully investigated, then the those enforcing justice are also corrupt.


67 posted on 05/21/2011 3:55:27 PM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: Fitzy_888

BTW, there ARE good cops. My little town in Texas has all retired military as our police. They know us. I’d take a bullet for one of them. In a heartbeat.

The next town over, though? Let’s put it this way; They know our police will arrest them if they set foot in our town in uniform. No love. They’re thugs. I avoid that town like the plague.


68 posted on 05/21/2011 3:55:29 PM PDT by piytar (Obama opposed every tool used to get Osama. So of course he gets the credit. /hurl)
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To: Venturer
They go pschycho, when a citizen does their job.

Most of them go psycho if you just ask a simple question of them, or God forbid you question their justification about any of their actions...

69 posted on 05/21/2011 3:59:40 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour (With The Resistance...)
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To: MrEdd
There are so many of these incidents that if someone posted every single incident on FR it would create a wall of text that would make it hard to find other subjects without doing keyword searches.

That is a point I have tried to make many times here to those who refuse to believe we have a cop problem in this country.

http://twitter.com/#!/InjusticeNews

70 posted on 05/21/2011 4:01:04 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour (With The Resistance...)
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To: SuperLuminal

You forgot something:

He needs to have shot at least two dogs in addition to roughing up or feeling up two pre-school kids.

Federal agents have their standards, you know.


71 posted on 05/21/2011 4:24:07 PM PDT by NVDave
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To: dennisw
"I was telling him that I was just trying to help. I called him ‘son’ instead of ‘sir,’ and that might have riled him," said Dorsey Henderson of Fairhope, ...

Shoot, 'son' is just basic southern-speak for pal, bud, friend or pardner. Any cop working in Alabama who takes offense at that is too dumb to do a "fries with that?" job.

72 posted on 05/21/2011 4:54:04 PM PDT by TigersEye (Who crashed the markets on 9/15/08 and why?)
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To: razorback-bert

Fairhope is full of retired mìlitary.It used to be a really nice little bayside town. Now it is another tight suburb of Mobile.


73 posted on 05/21/2011 5:18:22 PM PDT by arthurus (Read Hazlitt's "EconomicsI am glad to have this. thanks. In One Lesson.")
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To: Jim Scott

don’t think the police much care about respect from the people any more. They see themselves as an occupying army in a hostile populace.


74 posted on 05/21/2011 5:19:18 PM PDT by arthurus (Read Hazlitt's "EconomicsI am glad to have this. thanks. In One Lesson.")
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To: piytar
My little town in Texas has all retired military as our police. They know us. I’d take a bullet for one of them. In a heartbeat. The next town over, though? Let’s put it this way; They know our police will arrest them if they set foot in our town in uniform. No love. They’re thugs. I avoid that town like the plague.

We have sort of the same thing in my small town. The boys on our football team are all good, fine, upstanding, all-American young men.

Those bastards on the team in the next town over are nothing but a bunch of cheating troublemakers and thugs, though.

I don't go over there, either.

75 posted on 05/21/2011 6:23:06 PM PDT by PalmettoMason (Blacks are not inferior, but it is racist to hold them to the same standards as everyone else.)
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To: FreedomPoster
"Ping. Aren’t you nearby? Any inside scoop? I haven’t read the thread yet to see if you are here already. "

I'm on the west bay. Fairhope is on the east bay and is a very good neighborhood...it is often at the top or close to the top of an 'ideal' place to live, retire and etc. The county voted 68% for George Bush.

Anyway, I don't much follow the local news and only know about this incident from reading FR.

Fairhope is to Mobile as Sausalito is to San Francisco.

76 posted on 05/21/2011 7:57:31 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam

That makes it even more interesting that this sort of thing is going on there.


77 posted on 05/22/2011 3:26:07 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Gargantua

I’d send it to the local newspaper instead


78 posted on 05/22/2011 2:12:22 PM PDT by Shimmer1 (Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.)
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To: PalmettoMason
Ya know, I wasn't going to respond. But your comment has been bugging the #### out of me.

I was 100% dead serious about the situation with the local police. That you even think that has some equivalence to football teams is, well, let's say baffling. One has state sanctioned authority to detain and even kill you. The other is entertainment.

This isn't some "home team" rah rah garbage. It's part of why we live where we do, and why we don't live where we don't.

Just wow.

PS And no, I was not exaggerating the situation in the least.

79 posted on 05/22/2011 11:11:12 PM PDT by piytar (Obama opposed every tool used to get Osama. So of course he gets the credit. /hurl)
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To: piytar
There was no intent to offend.

My post was simply an (obviously weak) attempt at humor in pointing out that people are sometimes territorial in our perception of what is "good" and what is "bad". My small town is that way, and I guess I see it more because I have only lived here a couple of years. Folks here see "our" High School (and all of it's activities") as "good", while the next little town is, if not downright bad, then just simply "not as good". The same goes for OUR police department, OUR City Council... heck, even OUR Town Square (yes, we still have one) is prettier than "theirs". LOL

I get a kick out of it because as a military retiree (Army), I have lived all over the world and seen this same attitude everywhere. My post was just me pointing it out.

Sorry to have offended. Have a great week.

80 posted on 05/23/2011 4:21:43 AM PDT by PalmettoMason (Blacks are not inferior, but it is racist to hold them to the same standards as everyone else.)
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