Nebraska State Patrol Checkpoint Abuse

Josh H shared this post via CopBlock.org’s submit page.

Date of Interaction: April 26, 2014
Police Employees Involved: Trooper Elliot #665, Trooper Cerney # 680
Police Employee Contact Information: Troop Commander–Captain Mike Gaudreault 4500 Avenue I P.O. Box 1500 Scottsbluff, NE 69363 Phone: 308-632-1211 Email: mike.gaudreault@nebraska.gov

I was arrested for obstruction at a NSP checkpoint in Scottsbluff, NE.

This video is what I was able to record up until my phone was taken from my hand by a Nebraska State trooper.

I was traveling with my girlfriend and 2.5 month old son. As you can see, it was a license and registration checkpoint. I had all of my information ready to hand to the officer. It is all accurate and up to date and valid. From there I would assume that would be the end of the stop. Why the trooper would go to the passenger side of the car or why I would be asked to go to secondary is beyond me.

What happened after the video is I was handcuffed and made to sit on the side of the road. They couldn’t tell my why they were detaining me. They called a tow truck to move my car one block north and charged me $75 to do so. I was then arrested for obstructing an officer and taken to jail where I was made to post a $1,000 bail. My girlfriend was also charged with obstructing but was only given a ticket.

I’m obviously going to be fighting this charge and am in the process of finding a lawyer.

I’ll update this page as the process moves forward.

Please contact the Nebraska State Patrol to voice your concerns about the harassment of law abiding citizens at these intrusive checkpoints.

Josh H