By Michael Hasch at TribLive.com.
A part-time Whitaker police officer was charged on Friday with official oppression, attempted extortion and related crimes after being accused of using his gun to break a female motorist’s window and threatening to send her to jail if she did not admit responsibility and pay for the damage.
Willliam S. Davis, 35, was charged by investigators from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office after an investigation surrounding events that occurred about 9 p.m. June 27, when Davis was in plainclothes and riding in an unmarked police vehicle.
“I’m really surprised,” Whitaker Councilman Jack Esken said when told of the charges. “I hadn’t heard any complaints about him from any citizens. I thought he was doing an excellent job. He’s not one to sit around.”
The criminal complaint states:
The woman told investigators that she crossed the Rankin Bridge and Davis pulled her over. She said she became frightened because he was wearing khaki shorts and a v-neck shirt and displayed no badge, so she drove off and called 911.
Davis — who told investigators that he was conducting an undercover narcotics detail with a badge dangling from his neck and that the woman’s BMW looked like a vehicle drug dealers use — said that when the woman finally stopped, he broke a window with his gun because she ignored his commands to get out and appeared to be reaching for something.
Davis said he opened the door, got her out and handcuffed her. He said the entire incident was witnessed by other uniformed officers. The other officers said the woman was in custody by the time they arrived.
Davis had the BMW towed and took the woman to the police station and interviewed her, but agreed to let her go if she signed a statement accepting responsibility for everything and paid for damage to his gun.
Investigators said he charged the woman with fleeing and eluding police, careless driving and other motor vehicle violations after she told him she had contacted the district attorney.
According to text messages, the woman wrote: “I have spoken with the district attorney’s office and they instructed me not to communicate with you. Please do not contact me regarding this matter.” Davis replied: “No problem. I’ll file the charges.”
Investigators found:
“Officer Davis clearly provided (the woman) only two choices: accept total ‘responsibility’ for the incident … in which case Davis would not file any charges … or refuse to accept ‘responsibility’ and be charged. … This option … included the immediate threat of going to jail and the potential long-term negative impact on her employment.”
What a winner. One, why do cops assume everyone who owns a nice car is into drugs? And lrt me gues, now owning a nice car is RS all on its own. Notice that bar is getting low enough for a 2yo to jump over?
Two, what makes cops believe a plain clothed officer in an unmarked car will be seen as anything other than a robber or rapist? A plain clothed officer should not be making a stop or arrest on his own. It is common sense no one will believe them to be what they claim. Are cops so brain dead stupid they can’t see the credibility issues with a plain clothed officer? They see it well enough that they are told to obey uniformed officers and worry about identifying themselves afterword.
This lady’s lucky. The public servant/protector in Culpeper, Virginia earlier this year murdered Patricia Cook. It’s a good thing this public servant/protector didn’t go even further out of control and shoot this lady in the back of her head and claim she rolled his arm up in the window and was dragging him. There may not’ve been any witnesses this time. I wonder if this public servant/protector likes to hit the sauce like the one that murdered Patricia Cook.
No its not just a nice car, it’s a nice car and driving while black.
Deion Sanders grew up in the hood in Ft.Myers, FL and every time he came back to visit his Mom, the leos pulled him over because he was driving a 100K+ Mercedes. It got so bad that one time, the leos came up to the window and said “How you doing Deion before he could even say anything. They just wanted to get his autograph.”
At least he’s getting jacked up for doing it. I wonder who he pissed off to get thrown out from behind the blue wall.
“You saw what happened right, right?”
“We didn’t see shit dumbass…”
A thug driving a pickup truck came to my sister’s apartment last week, banging on the doors and windows. She was scared to death. She didn’t know him and he appeared very agitated from her hidden position, looking out the window, with the laser bead pointed at his heart.
The next morning, the same pickup showed up and he did the same action. After seeing it was the same person, she sat down on her couch facing the door and held the laser bead on the door, in case he tried to break in (she recently had two laptops and her purse, with all ID stolen) and she was afraid it might be someone about to rip her off or harm her.
Her son happened to call as the man was leaving and told her that he had just gotten a text from the local drug enforcement criminal with a badge, wanting to meet him and that he didn’t think my nephew would want him bothering his mother and friends. He replied with his attorney’s phone number and wrote that he would meet him on Monday of the following week (this past Monday) at the attorney’s office, but not in person, unless there was a warrant for his arrest (he was informed there was not).
He was at the lawyer’s office and my sister immediately recognized him as the piece of shit that scared the piss out of her.
He delivered divorce papers to my nephew. It could have gotten him killed.
BTW: virtually everyone who has spoken with her since, including a few attorneys and other policemen, have said that she should have shot him and made the entire community better off. Even they know what a piece of shit he is.
Yeah, I’m sure police officers told her to shoot someone for simply knocking on the door.
@BuelahMan
They’re just clueless that people won’t recognize them as cops. I mean, isn’t that the whole point of not wearing a uniform? That you won’t be seen as a cop?
Put on a uniform for when knocking on someone’s door or trying to pull them over. If you won’t do that, then cops shouldn’t cry when the idiot gets ignored or killed.
Usual suspects, am I somehow incorrect in this? Is it not common sense that if you want recognized as a cop, you should…well, dress like one?
I see someone wearing worn jeans and a T-Shirt, I won’t very easily believe he’s a cop, and will treat him as I would any wacko trying to harm me.
This kind of situation is the very essence of the problem; not just of police corruption, but the authoritarian mindset. ‘Do what I want or go to jail’. It makes you feel so powerless and vulnerable and is the exact opposite of what a just civil society is supposed to be. Thank goodness this lady did the smart thing, but so many others are simply too uninformed or frightened to to do anything but obey, just as the trolls and boot-lickers want. It makes me sick…
The criminal is well known in these parts, having been kicked out of one county force and hired by a more corrupt force next door. He is also known for his abuse of drugs, having been publicized in a local paper about his “rehab”. He is also known for his patronizing with a nurse, who was giving him information on people seeking help for pain and/or their addictions. This affair also caused his divorce.
Just like most cops I ever knew, he is a piece of shit. (Much like Common Sense)
I live in Whitaker. E. Homestead; fair, even Compassionate. W. Homestead; their rep utation speaks for itself :( Munhall; bunch of guys looking for ‘action’ at your expense.
It is time to not only disarm all police, but to end all undercover/plain clothes operations.
Disarm the police?
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Thanks for the good chuckle buddy!
@Underoath
I’d be careful about laughing too hard. Ultimately, if cops keep pissing people off by shooting too easily, the choice won’t be yours to make. While i don’t agree with disarming cops, only holding them accountable for shooting when they didn’t have to. The old “he reached for his waistband’ excuse is getting a little worn out, for one. And shooting someone in their own back yard when you’re the prowler.
I mean, seriously, the excuses for why cops have to shoot so many unarmed people and innocents are wearing thin. A few might be commiting suicide, but in too many cases it is simply police cowardice. Unreasoned fear is killing people. Like the cop who shot the woman in her own yard.
Grow balls or do something else for a living.
@Underoath
And let’s not forget the innocent home owner with cops who wont identify themselves.
Even if he did have a badge hanging from his neck, there is no way a citizen should stop for someone not clearly a police officer. It happens a lot that folk impersonate police…serial killers have done it. The whole point of a uniform is, that it is not something you can hide and then suddenly produce, like a badge is. Meaning a person wanting to impersonate takes a chance if they dress as a policeman. They can more easily get caught. But if all that is required is a badge whipped out at an opportune time…it’s easy not to get caught.
Nobody should stop for other than a uniformed police officer.