Posted on 06/04/2005 3:23:12 PM PDT by elkfersupper
An Albuquerque couple says Santa Fe police roughed them up on their wedding night.
Alexandra and Terry Claus had just gotten married at an Albuquerque public library and were driving to a lodge for their honeymoon when Santa Fe police pulled them over.
Terry Claus said police accused him of driving drunk, but he passed a field sobriety test and wasn’t arrested or ticketed.
“And they said this is your wedding gift from us, that we’re not taking you to jail,” he said. “I wasn’t even intoxicated or anything.”
So, Alexandra Claus said, she broke down.
“The policemen didn’t seem to like my crying too much because he told me to shut the — up and kept pushing me on my chest while I was on the curb, telling me to shut up repeatedly,” she said.
She said officers then put her in the back of a police car and beat her up, hitting her in the eye and bruising her arm.
The couple said one officer then handed them a police department business card with “Congratulations” written on the front, and the address to a temple where they left their car on the back.
But, when the couple went to pick it up, they say the car door was jammed, the inside handle damaged and the front end badly dented.
The Santa Fe Police Department didn’t comment on the case, except to say that no one has been suspended.
State police are investigating the case, according to state police Lt. Jimmy Glascock. “No charges have yet been filed,” he said. “It’s still too early to determine what happened.”
It is getting to the point where people cannot travel anywhere or do anything without attracting the attention of Revenue Enhancement.
The fact that NMSP was called in to investigate Santa Fe Police actions add credibility to the couples' story.
You oughta know since you live in NM. BTW, were the cops Hispanic and the couple white. Just wondering.
Its almost something straight out of a cartoon.
The couple were probably white and apparently Jewish. Who knows about the cops. In any event, it doesn't matter anymore. There are two sorts of people now--cops and criminals. Sometimes one is both.
I believe it because I have experienced a variation of the same thing. Sooner or later we all will.
My bet is the cops were focusing on the groom as a potential "drunk" driver. Lots of money in that.
" My bet is the cops were focusing on the groom as a potential "drunk" driver. Lots of money in that."
And how is there 'lots of money'?
Strange. Gotta be some things missing in this story.
Santa fey?
I've been a juror on DWI trials. Officers testify that they have been trained to recognize drunk drivers by various small things they do. If they stop someone who isn't drunk it means that all of their "training" was not very good. Hard to admit.
?????????????
20,000 New Mexicans per year, 1.8 million nationwide. Average of $3,000 in fines, court costs, "re-education" camp fees, "administrative" fees, plus at least a year's worth of probation costs, ignition interlock lease fees, lawyer fees. Then there's the insurance premiums after the fact.
The DWI industry grosses over $75 million per year in NM alone (population 1.6 million).
You must live in a real sh**hole.
That's why "DWI" now means whatever the LEO on the side of the road or at the checkpoint wants it to mean.
Different strokes for different folks. Maybe they're "bookish" - or employees.
Yep. I've been looking for a place where people value their liberty. Looks like it's Costa Rica - for now.
But Costa Rica does not have elk. :-)
..."SANTA Fe police roughed them up on their wedding night.
Alexandra and Terry CLAUS had just gotten married..."
How disappointing.
I thought this was going to be some cheesy, poorly timed Christmas joke.
Especially with the names Santa and Claus in the first two sentences.
Yeah, they got booked twice in one night!
I don't believe for a second that this woman was complying 100% with the police and they just decided to beat her up for no reason (not that the police should ever use unnecessary force to restrain anybody).
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