Posted on 12/20/2007 7:56:08 AM PST by jdege
Coon Rapids man charged with shooting officer in road rage
The Anoka County courthouse revealed documents Wednesday that charge 35-year-old Martin Scott Treptow with the shooting of a Robbinsdale Police officer.
Treptow, of Coon Rapids, claims Officer Landen Beard was not wearing a uniform at the time he forced Treptow off of the road on June 7. Beard supposedly was driving an unmarked car. When the two men confronted each other, Treptow claimed Beard pointed a gun at his wife.
"We were about three feet away from each other and he pointed the gun at my wife. It was a tough situation, but I couldn’t drive away at that particular moment and I had to protect my family," said Treptow.
Treptow, a trained security guard, shot the Officer Beard in both of his legs.
A grand jury charged Treptow with drive by shooting, reckless discharge of a firearm and terroristic threats.
"He was just scared and he just did what he thought was the right thing to do at that moment to protect his family," said Treptow’s attorney, Kurt Glaser.
Glaser said Treptow has a strong case, if it ever reaches a courtroom.
"He’s faced with some other person who’s driving crazy down the road, confronts him, and pulls out a gun. He did exactly what he thought—and he was trained—to do," said Glaser.
Beard will appear in court Thursday.
If convicted of all charges, Treptow faces a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison.
http://joelrosenberg.livejournal.com/222522.html
http://northernmuckraker.blogspot.com/2007/12/outrageous-injustice.html
Critical point that isn't stressed in the story - Treptow was the first to call 911. Immediately after the shooting, he pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store, called 911, and waited for the police.
The recording of the call gave no indication that he knew that Beard was a police officer. Damned-near every witness with a cell phone called 911, and none of them gave any indication that they thought that Beard was a police officer.
Whatever it was that began this, out on the highway, Beard didn't call it in, he didn't turn on his siren or lights. He followed Treptow off the highway, pulled up alongside him on the shoulder, as Treptow was blocked at a stoplight, got out of his car and approached Treptow's, and pulled his gun rather than his badge.
There are some side issues in this case - why was Beard in Coon Rapids in the first place, when he was supposedly on-duty. Beard lives in Coon Rapids, but he works for the Robbinsdale PD - 10-15 miles away. Beard is married to a staffer for Fox 9 news, and a Fox 9 reporter apparently violated privacy laws in improperly obtaining background info on Treptow's wife. But mostly, these just confuse the issue.
All of this was six months ago, and it's taken this long for the prosecutor to decide what to do. Clearly he's decided to file multiple felony charges in hopes that Treptow will plead out. Keeping this from going to trial is essential to the process of sweeping the whole thing under the rug.
This IS a road-rage case, I think. But it sounds like it’s the cop with he road-rage.
If a cop doesn't act like a cop then he shouldn't expect to hide behind the badge and be treated like one.
BTTT
These charges are a travesty. The cop was in the wrong. They need to just let this one go.
Based on what's written here, this guy did nothing wrong and in fact acted in self-defense or defense of another (his wife).
Under the new bill, this guy could have his guns taken away, lose his job (he has a security job), and be forced to spend lots of time and money getting it erased from his record.
If what is being said in the article is correct, it looks like the guy was acting in self defense. How ironic that the Fox newsbabe did what she did, to further harm the guy.
Jackass punk cop thought it was Training Day.
Yep. This one is seriously messed up.
bkmarking these links for later.
If what is being said in the article is correct, it looks like the guy was acting in self defense. How ironic that the Fox newsbabe did what she did, to further harm the guy.There is a legal defense fund, details are in the commentaries I linked in comment #1
Thanks for filling in the blanks. I hope Mr. Treptow prevails on this - he & his wife have already been through enough...
Sure does.
The headline is misleading - it clearly implies that the shooter was the one with "road rage." From the article itself, he was calm and in control, did exactly what he should have and the officer was out of control.
BUMP
/sarc
A grand jury charged Treptow with drive by shooting, reckless discharge of a firearm and terroristic threats.
This ought to send a chill down all our spines.
"Terroristic threats"? What the hell does that mean? This is exactly the kind of abuse of the word that we feared.
That term has been defined as law for decades in some states. It's not a new phenomenon
"Terroristic threats"? What the hell does that mean?Apparently, it means he honked his horn and gave Beard the finger.
The cop needs to be the one facing charges.
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