This is the officer dragged to his death.
Posted on 11/04/2006 7:51:30 AM PST by Sybeck1
He's respectful, polite, say friends of suspect
Chuck Cummings wants people to know his son, Dan, is polite, respectful and loves Ole Miss, not a 20-year-old who carelessly killed a campus police officer.
"We've had an outpouring of support from people who knew Dan as a real polite guy," Cummings said in a telephone interview Friday. "I'm not aware of how he's being talked about. We've been too busy with details to keep up with it."
Cummings' comments were the first public statements by the Germantown family since the younger Cummings was charged with capital murder in the Oct. 21 death of Officer Robert Langley of the university's police department.
Cummings is accused of dragging the officer while speeding away from a traffic stop just off the Oxford campus. When Langley fell from Cummings' truck, he hit his head on the pavement. Langley was taken by helicopter to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, where he was pronounced dead.
Cummings has been held without bond since the incident. A bond hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Lafayette County Circuit Court. Defense attorney Steve Farese, who requested the hearing, contends his client is "overcharged" and should be eligible for bond.
Family friends used terms such as polite and respectful in describing the suspect who was once elected Mr. Houston Middle School in the eighth grade.
"He's a great kid who made a bad, tragic mistake," said Jamye Waters, whose son, Graham, has been friends with the younger Cummings since middle school.
Chuck Cummings, 49, who is controller for the Dobbs Automotive Group, declined to discuss details of the case against his son. He did say he and his wife, Kaye, who live near Forest Hill-Irene and Wolf River Boulevard, got the call early in the morning of Oct. 21.
"It's been very hard as it would be on every parent," Cummings said. "We're overwhelmingly sorry for the officer's family, and the whole Ole Miss community. ... Dan loved it there, and it's where our daughter (Sarah, a senior at Houston High) planned to go."
The father also went to Ole Miss, which made the son a Rebel fan at an early age.
The elder Cummings said Dan seemed popular, sort of a "connector of people" introducing students to each other and active in his fraternity. The son enjoyed the atmosphere so much he stayed for both sessions of summer school this year. Kaye still shuttled laundry the hour and 15 minutes from Germantown to Oxford.
"We're real proud of him," the father said, "but we're a little partial.'
Cummings' tone is controlled as he talks about his son; not emotional, but there is the despair of the unknown facing the student.
"We're just taking this deal one day at a time," he said. "I can't look back or forward more than a day."
The father described his son as an average student if he studied, but acknowledged the academics "always came hard for him." He recalls the two working together on math problems during Dan's days at Houston High.
He played football, but abandoned baseball his freshman year. There are few dual sports participants at Houston, so Dan concentrated on football.
"He was a wonderful kid," said Jerry Daniel, who coached Dan when he played catcher for the Germantown Sox in 1999 and 2000. "I thoroughly enjoyed coaching him. ... He was a respectful kind of fellow, a Gentle Ben kind of guy."
Other friends spoke well of the suspect also. Several considered him a Southern gentleman, and said they would have been proud to have their daughters date him.
"I've never seen Dan as anything but respectful to adults," said Norma Allen. "He respected authority. ... Not anything like what I've been seeing on the news."
Allen also expressed sorrow for Langley's family.
"At least Dan is on this Earth today," she said.
The elder Cummings acknowledged that in the past his son received a speeding ticket in Germantown and was charged with vandalism, the latter offense expunged after a period of probation.
"That's been cleared," he said. "Compared to where we are now, that was very minor."
He doesn't know what the future holds for his son.
"We're scared for him."
-- Clay Bailey : 529-2393
Copyright 2006, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.
This is the officer dragged to his death.
God Bless the family of this officer. God have mercy on the family of the young man who killed him. As regards the killer, may justice be swift and fair. Actions have consequences.
If I recall correctly, Ted Bundy was polite too. How sad for this officer and his family.
He was such a good boy...Except for the gruesome murder part.
Chuck Cummings is responsible for the death of Officer Langley. Officer Langley's family will only get to stick by their son/husband/brother/father one more time, that will be during his funeral.
Awww. Who knows what to believe? The cops always depict the officer as an avatar of the Second Coming, even if he is in reality a drug dealer and a pimp who threatened to shoot the boy if he didn't go down on him. The parents always depict their kid as a "good boy" who made a "mistake", even if he's a serial rapist.
Wow. I need coffee today.
LOL... make those lights flicker on Main Street.
You need more than a coffee.
Oh yeah, like you've never had a brain f@rt.
Have them all the time.During my time as a police administrator I hired a few guys that turned out to be bad cops. I believe I fired most of them and prosecuted one.We're all expected to make mistakes.
Capital murder
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