Posted on 12/04/2009 2:44:04 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
Jeremy Engelking will appear in Douglas County court this afternoon to face a trespassing charge. But here’s the kicker: The Superior man allegedly trespassed on his own property.
Engelking, 27, aimed to hunt deer Wednesday morning when he noticed a pipeline crew on his land. He hopped on his ATV and told workers they had no right to be on his property because he had received no compensation from Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. for an easement.
Engelking said workers told him he was in an unsafe place and asked him to come to an equipment staging area, where he continued to argue his case.
But just as he was turning to leave, Engelking said an officer from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department arrived on the scene and approached with a Taser drawn.
“He ordered me to 'get down on the ground now!' And he said that I was being arrested for trespassing,” Engelking said.
When Engelking protested, pointing out that he was on his own property, he said Sgt. Robert Smith told him: “It doesn’t matter. You’re going to jail. You can tell it to a judge tomorrow.”
(Excerpt) Read more at duluthnewstribune.com ...
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Did they shoot his dog?
Sounds like Douglas County and Enbridge Energy Partners L.P are going to be forking over a chunk of change to this guy.
So, yeah, he was on his own land but on the easement holder's part of it ~ more a landlord/tenant situation the way I read it.
So, ACLU? Where are they? Not likely ACLU will ever come to the defnese of a landlord.
I’m looking forward to hearing more about this.
I’m sure if he had one they would have blasted it a time or two...
There was an earlier thread, with some good comments;
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400258/posts
It is a utilities right-of-way. Everyone makes the mistake of yelling at the guys on the job. They have nothing to do with the situation. These guys are doing what they are told in order to have a job. I did power line maintenance for 8 years. You would be very surprised to find out where I can go on your property if you have a transmission line through it, and I need to get to a structure. Just saying.
In recent years we've had FOUR cable companies run additional lines in the phone company easement.
One of the installation companies has so far managed to bust up three sewer lines between homes and the street. In this county, if not your own, the cable companies are subject to TRIPLE DAMAGES for busting up sewer or water lines.
Your damage from a broken sewerline could run to over $45,000 in just a few days ~
Naw...they will condemn his land and “Sonia Sotomayor and the Supremes” will put the stamp of approval on the theft....
Engelking said workers told him he was in an unsafe place and asked him to come to an equipment staging area, where he continued to argue his case.
Thats where he should have gone home and called the sheriff to discuss.
The power company has lines that come down through our pasture. Last year they knocked at the door and told me they were planning to replace the poles, so they’d be higher and closer together. I said, “OK, fine. Thanks for telling me.”
I wouldn’t expect to delay them until they paid me for the privilege. Seems kind of silly, since they were doing an improvement to the power system.
Does the power company pay for an easement? I don’t know. I inherited it. But we do need power in our neighborhood.
“To me, it appears there are three situations which might have authorized the police to arrest of this man: 1) violating a court order regarding this right of way dispute. This was not mentioned, so I will presume there was no order of the court; 2) an arrest pursuant to a warrant, which was also not mentioned; 3) a warrant-less arrest, which in the case of a trespass, requires the officer to personally witness the violation of law, but also, in the case of trespassing, for there to have been a complaint made by someone authorized to make a complaint (the owner or his agent). This is not mentioned here either. Police can typically only make trespassing arrests in the absence of a complaint if the owner has appointed the police as agents for such purposes (also not mentioned, but it seems highly unlikely given the circumstances.)
Unless the reporter failed to report relevant information (sadly, a common occurrence in today's media), this officer appears to have made a warrant-less arrest, and, based on what is reported here, it appears he lacked probable cause to do so.
If I were the officer, I would be worried. Lacking probable cause to arrest the man, the officer could be held in court to have deprived the individual of his civil rights “under color of law”, which could subject the officer to severe criminal and civil penalties. Furthermore, the officer would likely not be able to claim conditional immunity, and so he could be sued in his personal capacity (without his department also being sued), which could be financially devastating to the officer no matter the final verdict.
It will be interesting to see how this case pans out. I wonder if the ACLU will get involved? This is exactly the sort of case they like. The individual might also choose to file a criminal complaint with the FBI.”
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
Interesting article.
Read the comments, they run just like a thread here might look...
Libertarian ping
I suspect laws vary from state to state but that analysis makes sense to me.
I’ll be watching FR for updates on how this turns out.
The easment in question legally required notification of the land owner - as per the artoicle had you been literate enough to read it.
It doesn’t make a damned bit of difference where the equipment was parked.
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