‘Highway Robbery’: Drivers Allege Rohnert Park Police Illegally Seized Cannabis, Cash

Allegations of Humboldt County cannabis being illegally seized by Rohnert Park Police Officers which were first reported here have been further investigated by KQED News. Today, they released the results and are sharing them with our readers:

[UPDATE June 12: NPR is now sharing the story.]

Rohnert Park Squad Car.

Rohnert Park Squad Car. [Photo by Sukey Lewis]

By Sukey Lewis, KQED NewsThis story was reported in collaboration with the North Coast Journal and independent reporter Kym Kemp.

Huedell Freeman was heading south on Highway 101 through Cloverdale and was just over the Sonoma County line when he said a police squad car flipped a U-Turn across a 25-foot grass median and pulled up behind him with lights flashing.Freeman said he was carrying 47 pounds of marijuana in his rental car that day, Dec. 29, 2016, but said he wasn’t too worried about the weed because he had a permit to grow medical cannabis in Mendocino County. He was driving it down to his client, a licensed dispensary called The Higher Path in Sherman Oaks, near Los Angeles. And, he said, he had the paperwork to prove it.It struck Freeman as odd, though, that the two police officers pulling him over weren’t from Cloverdale. They were from Rohnert Park, some 40 miles south on 101. Freeman said he’d been obeying the traffic laws, and the cruise control on the car was set at the speed limit. He expected the traffic stop to end quickly.He didn’t expect to lose a year’s worth of income.As Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety Officer Joseph Huffaker approached the car, Freeman said he rolled down his window and asked why he’d been pulled over.

Huedell Freeman

Huedell Freeman

Freeman said Huffaker told him his vehicle had “touched the white line” on the side of the road.

“I had not, so I looked at him, and I said, ‘No I didn’t,’ ” Freeman said. “And he grinned and smiled at me and did not respond. At that moment I knew I’d been had. I knew that this was not a normal traffic stop.”

Then Huffaker asked if he had any marijuana in his car, Freeman said.

“Yes, I do,” Freeman remembered saying. He also carried a large battered black leather briefcase filled with documentation — what he calls his “compliance briefcase” — and he said he provided the officer with a grower’s permit issued by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, contact information for The Higher Path dispensary with which he had an agreement to both grow and transport marijuana, and his compliance lawyer’s information.

Essentially, Freeman was trying to be as legitimate as he could be.

Freeman said that as he and Huffaker talked, another Rohnert Park officer, Sgt. Jacy Tatum, stood off to the side, barely speaking except to ask Freeman at one point about the strains of marijuana he was carrying.

Freeman’s account of his run-in with Rohnert Park police echoes those of eight other drivers who say a group of officers from the city conducted pretextual traffic stops with the goal of unlawfully seizing marijuana and cash. Four people allowed us to share their stories publicly, while five others would tell us about their encounters only if we agreed not to name them, saying they feared police retaliation.

Their stories suggest a pattern of questionable and potentially illegal stops and seizures over the past three years by officers from a small city along a major marijuana transportation corridor.

The city of Rohnert Park said in a statement that its police officers “joined other law enforcement agencies in drug interdiction efforts” along Highway 101 seeking drugs including “methamphetamines, opioids, cocaine, ecstasy and

marijuana.” But the city says it ceased “most interdiction efforts” related to marijuana in 2017.

There is a financial benefit to the city for this work. Through a legal process called asset forfeiture, both the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety and the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office get to keep a cut of seized cash suspected to be the proceeds of a crime.

Jacy Tatum is sworn in as a Rohnert Park police sergeant in July 2015.

Jacy Tatum, officer on the right, is sworn in as a Rohnert Park police sergeant in July 2015. [Photo from the City of Rohnert Park Police & Fire Facebook page]


A report issued by the California Attorney General shows that from 2015 to 2016, the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety received more than $1 million in seized cash. The Sonoma County District Attorney received $188,419 of the money from assets seized.Tatum was responsible for much of that asset forfeiture windfall to his local department. In 2015, the mayor publicly recognized him for his drug prevention work. Tatum thanked the City Council for allowing him the opportunity to “fight the war on drugs.”But Tatum has another reputation: A growing chorus of defense attorneys say he’s a rogue cop. He’s being sued for unlawfully taking a man’s cash, and he has a documented history of dishonesty on the witness stand.“When I say highway robbery, I really mean it,” Sonoma County defense attorney Izaak Schwaiger said. “Officer Tatum has been involved in dozens of questionable traffic stops both above and below the Mendocino-Sonoma County line, where he has seized marijuana farmers’ product and/or their cash and given them no receipt and no criminal charges were ever brought.”Now Tatum and his partner, Joseph Huffaker, are under investigation by the city of Rohnert Park.They are both on leave, according to their attorney.Allegations of a Cover-UpRohnert Park began an administrative investigation around April of this year after independent reporter Kym Kemp published a series of articles about another suspect traffic stop and marijuana seizure.Texas resident Zeke Flatten said he was driving south on Highway 101 last December, when an unmarked black Ford Police Interceptor pulled him over just north of the Mendocino County line, about 50 miles north of Rohnert Park.Flatten, like Freeman, was also in a rental car and said he, too, was not speeding or violating any traffic laws. He pulled over and showed the officer his driver’s license and the rental agreement for his car.

The officers did not identify what agency they were with, Flatten said, and he noticed they were not wearing departmental police badges or identifying name tags.

“At that point I really felt something was wrong,” Flatten said.

Flatten said he had 3 pounds of marijuana in his car from a farm in Humboldt County and he was taking it to a laboratory in Santa Cruz for testing. He said he was working on developing a number of cannabis products he hoped to bring to market after California’s law allowing recreational use for adults kicked in. Flatten also offered to show the officers his doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis, but he said they weren’t interested.

The officers said they were working for the ATF — the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — according to Flatten. He said they took his marijuana and left him on the side of the road, all in just a few minutes. They did not issue him a citation or arrest him.

Flatten reported the Dec. 5 incident to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department, the Mendocino County district attorney, the Mendocino County grand jury and the FBI. Kemp spoke with an ATF spokesperson who said the agency wasn’t involved in Flatten’s traffic stop.“Mr. Flatten did contact the FBI and the information he provided, we were not able to corroborate it as reported,” FBI spokesperson Prentice Danner said.The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department said it wasn’t their case and pointed to a press release from Rohnert Park police written on Feb. 13, 2018, not long after Flatten’s stop. The statement, written by Tatum and Cmdr. Jeff Taylor, touted a large “black market” marijuana bust on Highway 101 during the month of December.

Rohnert Park produced an incident report of the Dec. 5 stop of Flatten, also written by Tatum, that diverges in many places from Flatten’s account.The redacted report doesn’t include any names. It describes a traffic stop involving a white Mercedes-Benz with no license plates. Yet Flatten said he drove a Kia rental car with California license plates. The report says that 30 pounds of marijuana and several hundred containers of hash were seized from the person driving the Mercedes. Flatten maintains he had 3 pounds of marijuana with him.

Records show that Officer Huffaker did book 30 pounds of seized marijuana into evidence, but not until Dec. 18, 2017, nearly two weeks later. The several hundred containers of hash are not mentioned in the evidence log.

Flatten doesn’t believe Tatum was among the two officers who stopped him, although he does think Rohnert Park Officer Huffaker was one of the officers who pulled him over.

The report says a CHP officer and trainee assisted on Flatten’s stop. But a CHP spokesman wrote in an email, “There is no dispatch record of us assisting with this incident and no one recalls it.”

Flatten said he thinks Tatum crafted this report after the fact to cover up an illegal stop and seizure by police officers.

“I felt very strongly that I was robbed by legitimate police officers,” Flatten said.

Finally, the report said the case was referred to the Sonoma County district attorney for prosecution. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office has no record that Rohnert Park ever referred a case against Flatten. There are no charges against him.

The city of Rohnert Park would not respond to questions about this incident, but it is investigating. Attorney Justin Buffington, who is representing Tatum and Huffaker, confirmed the officers are on leave pending an administrative investigation related to Flatten. He stressed that the city’s probe is not a criminal investigation.

Tatum and Huffaker did not wish to comment for this story, according to Buffington.

Hwy 101 near Cloverdale.

Hwy 101 near Cloverdale. [Photo by Adam Grossberg with KQED News]

Seizing CashThis is not the first time Rohnert Park police officers have faced allegations of unlawful seizure. A gambler from Las Vegas named Lucas Serafine alleges in a lawsuit against the City of Rohnert Park that Tatum and Rohnert Park police Officer Nick Miller unlawfully seized more than $120,000 from him on March 10, 2016.Serafine was also in a rental car traveling on Highway 101 near Cloverdale with a friend when he said the two officers pulled him over for allegedly driving too fast in the rain.Serafine said he was headed to a high-stakes poker game at the Bear River Casino in Humboldt County and that the large amount of cash in the car was cash from a lawsuit he settled with the California Department of Corrections, and a workers’ compensation claim.The officers suspected Serafine’s money was related to drug purchase or sales, according to court documents, and seized it.“He [Tatum] looks me in the eyes, pointing his finger pushing on my chest as he does it,” Serafine remembered Tatum saying before he and Officer Miller drove away, “‘I took $1.2 million off the road this year. Nobody shows up for it and neither will you’.”A review of incident reports provided by Rohnert Park in response to a public records request back up the statement. KQED reviewed 23 incident reports on traffic stops involving Tatum. The city continues to provide more reports on a rolling basis.

Between late 2013 and the end of 2016, Tatum was involved in stops that resulted in the confiscation of well over $1 million in cash, according to the incident reports released so far.

The department saw a 182 percent increase in funds from asset forfeitures between 2015 and 2016. According to data reported to the California Attorney General’s Office, Rohnert Park police netted $756,062 in 2016, an increase of nearly half a million dollars from the year before.

In Serafine’s case, $121,920 was logged into evidence and turned over to the district attorney for asset forfeiture proceedings.On June 28, 2016, Serafine’s lawyer sent a letter to Rohnert Park contesting the amount of money seized, but Serafine says he did not get a response. Serafine said he actually had $132,000.

The district attorney brought a civil action to seize Serafine’s cash — a process called asset forfeiture. Serafine provided the prosecutors with proof of income for most of the cash and eventually got $100,000 of his money returned to him.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Serafine’s asset forfeiture case or to say whether they investigated Serafine’s dispute about the amount of cash seized.The city is fighting Serafine’s lawsuit alleging police officers inappropriately confiscated his cash. A trial in that case is scheduled for November of this year.

Serafine has a criminal history, including a conviction in 2001 when he was 18, for unlawful sex with a minor. Serafine was forthcoming about his record.

And Zeke Flatten admits he didn’t have a legal license to transport marijuana, but he said that still doesn’t give law enforcement the right to essentially steal from people.

“I knew that what these officers were doing was so much of abuse of power and so just wrong for police officers to be doing that,” Flatten said.

Tatum’s attorney, Justin Buffington, said he is not under investigation for any additional matters.

“To my knowledge, none of the other matters [aside from the Flatten stop] that you referenced are, or have been, the subject of internal investigations undertaken by the department,” Buffington wrote in an email. “That is a very strong indication, based on the law, that the complaints, assuming there were such, were deemed frivolous by the department.”

An Unreliable Witness

At least a year before Flatten went public with his allegations against Rohnert Park police, Tatum was known by prosecutors to have written false information in police reports and to have testified dishonestly in court.

“He [Tatum] doesn’t have a problem lying, and he does so with some regularity,” said Izaak Schwaiger a civil rights and defense attorney who has had run-ins with Tatum.

Schwaiger, who was a Sonoma County prosecutor from 2010 to 2012, said then-officer Tatum already had a reputation.

“His testimony was not of the highest quality,” Schwaiger said. “And sometimes gave rise to people disbelieving it, even on the side of law enforcement.”

Later, when Schwaiger became a defense attorney, the stories about Tatum mounted.

KQED has spoken to five defense attorneys in Sonoma County who say their clients alleged that Sgt. Tatum and often his partners stopped them on a flimsy pretext, fabricated police reports, and unlawfully seized cash and marijuana.

In 2016 Tatum entered false information into an incident report. He and Huffaker pulled over a New Jersey man named Konstantine Charalidis, who the DA charged with having a concealed weapon. Charalidis’ attorney, Evan Zelig, provided KQED with Huffaker’s body-camera footage from the stop. It contradicts the police report written by Tatum.

The incident report says that a knife taken off Charalidis was “completely concealed” by his clothing. Huffaker’s body-camera footage shows Charalidis immediately pointed out both knives, neither of which were concealed.

“There’s a difference between incorrect police reports and police reports that are falsified,” Zelig said. “The one with Mr. Charalidis, this was not incorrect. It was just falsified. The facts in there were not true.”

In the body-camera footage, both Huffaker and Tatum ask repeatedly whether there is any cash in the car, which Charalidis and his friend deny. Then Tatum says on the body-camera video he found $10,000.

Zelig said the officers became angry at Charalidis because he wouldn’t admit that $10,000 was related to illegal activity, which would have allowed them to seize it.

“Give us fucking bullshit ass fucking answers, that’s what happens,” one of the officers says on the body-camera footage as Charalidis stands handcuffed. “We’re going to see a judge.”

The police report does not mention any money.

“It was absolutely an unlawful arrest,” said Zelig, “that they did solely because he would not give them the money.”

Prosecutors dismissed the charges against Charalidis because of the body-camera footage. Zelig says his client still had to pay attorneys fees, and deal with the hassle of a California court case while living in New Jersey.

In a separate 2016 case, Schwaiger suspected Tatum was lying about his justification for a traffic stop. He collected sworn statements from three other defense attorneys who said Tatum was dishonest and detailed specific instances of him lying.

Tatum’s dishonest testimony in that case led him to be placed on a list of officers with credibility issues maintained by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, Schwaiger and other defense attorneys said. Tatum gave shifting explanations in an attempt to justify the traffic stop and was caught lying on the witness stand. A judge dismissed the case.

Being on what’s called “the Brady list” meant, after that case, prosecutors had a duty to disclose evidence of Tatum’s past dishonest testimony to defense attorneys, who can use it to attack his credibility if he’s called as a witness.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Tatum’s credibility as a witness, but no perjury charges have been filed against him.

Schwaiger and another defense attorney say they were both interviewed by an investigator for the DA’s office regarding Tatum, but prosecutors would not say what the nature or the outcome of this investigation was.

“People want to believe police officers because we don’t want to live in a world where cops can’t be trusted,” Schwaiger said. “That’s a scary world. Those are the people that are here to protect us. They’re the people here to keep us safe. And if they can’t be trusted, who can be?”

Broken Trust

For years, unlawful seizures and asset forfeitures were often considered by people in the marijuana industry as the cost of doing business. But now, legalization is offering men like Huedell Freeman a path to legitimacy. He pays taxes and permit fees — those are the costs of doing business.

Freeman remembered the day in 2015 when a deputy from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office took his picture in front of his cannabis farm.“‘You don’t know how weird this is for me’,” Freeman recalled saying to the deputy. “And he laughed and he said, ‘I think I do,’ he said. ‘We used to call this evidence. Now we call it verification’.”

It was scary to go legal, Freeman said, but it felt good, too: no more lying, no more hiding, no more risk of going to prison for doing what he loves. Now he grows more than a dozen varieties of cannabis that are tailored to specific medical ailments.“I don’t care about the 22-year-olds that want to get stoned and park on the couch,” he said. “I have nothing against that, but that’s not why I do this.”

Freeman said he explained all this to Tatum and Huffaker. He had nothing to hide. He gave them the name and phone number of Colin Stewart, the owner partner and manager of The Higher Path dispensary in Sherman Oaks. Huffaker spoke to Stewart and to Freeman’s attorney, Hannah Nelson, who both confirmed what Freeman said: His cannabis was for medicine, not the black market. He was legit.

But the officers came back and told Freeman that they were seizing his property because he did not have a license issued by the state to transport marijuana.

The state Bureau of Cannabis Control declined to comment for this story and refused repeated requests to explain licensing and regulations for transporting marijuana legally in California.The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office initially said no case against Freeman was ever referred to them. However, on July 2, the district attorney’s office provided an undated referral from Tatum requesting Freeman be charged with unlawfully possessing marijuana. Prosecutors did not file charges in the case.*

Freeman said he called the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety the next day. Sgt. Eric Matzen assured him that his cannabis was safe and that if the department determined its legality, he would get it back, Freeman said.

Freeman’s attorney wrote to the city and asked for it to return her client’s property. But the city of Rohnert Park never returned Freeman’s cannabis.

On June 27, 2017, he filed a claim against the city of Rohnert Park for the value of his cannabis. The city has rejected his claim.

Assistant City Manager Don Schwartz would not respond to a series of detailed questions about traffic stops by its officers.

“Rohnert Park is committed to compliance with the law and the constitution and its mission to serve and protect the public,” Schwartz wrote in an emailed response. “If or when concerns are raised about police officer conduct, we take the concerns seriously and investigate as each situation may warrant. Once all of the facts are known, we take any and all appropriate measures.”

The statement continued: “Rohnert Park participated in these [interdiction] efforts to reduce the flow of illegal drugs to Sonoma County, including the City of Rohnert Park,” Schwartz wrote. “Recreational marijuana was illegal until January 1, 2018.”

Freeman said he has still not recovered from the financial loss of his property. But he said even harder to recover is the faith he lost in a system that promised to protect him if he came out of the shadows.

“They broke my trust,” Freeman said.

Julie Small of KQED News and Kym Kemp contributed to this report.

*Correction: KQED learned after publication that Rohnert Park police requested prosecutors file charges against Huedell Freeman. This post has been edited to reflect the new information.

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groba dude osnt trustafarian
Guest
groba dude osnt trustafarian
5 years ago

This story becomes more developed with each telling.

I do not believe a single thing Mr Flatten has to report.

The other accounts are interesting, however.

I would strongly advise anyone transporting Cannabis, in any amount, under any circumstance, to install cameras in their vehicle, and to carefully document all encounters with law enforcement.

Given the sheer amount of trafficking on 101 and on other highways leading out of Humboldt/Mendo/Lake and Trinity Counties, I am amazed that the amount of complaints is relatively small.

Pirates are pirates, and the Cannabis industry is known to attract piracy. Some of the pirates, could, I suppose, be wearing uniforms…

Transporters are advised to get a little bit smarter, loads should be smaller, and, gee, if that is your entire livelihood in the back, you should be wary, very wary…

john
Guest
john
5 years ago

You should also have a smart phone, and where possible, turn it on and stream to the internet for others to see and hear. Earlier this week I observed USFS law enforcement targeting anyone hauling a trailer, with one pulled over and having all their plants unloaded alongside the highway, in plain sight. The plants were about three to four feet tall, and appeared to be for a smaller garden, as there weren’t that many.

For those of you that believe this is a good thing, don’t ask for or expect respect or fair treatment when you get pulled over for some minor violation and get caught up in the LEO’s violation of the rule of law.

An old friend of mine told me once his estimate of crooked cops was 25%. He worked for internal affairs within the U.S. Justice Department, catching bad guys that were supposed to be good. When he had been shot once and stabbed another time, by cops, he came to work for me in a remote location where he could not be tracked down.

When the LEO’s break the law, the rule of law breaks down, as appears to be happening now.

Anon Forrest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  john

This didn’t just start yesterday. Throughout the early 80s, a renegade band of CAMP members, (including helicopter pilots,) terrorized small time (but profitable) growers in Mendocino County.
“Terrorized” is the right word. The crew of 4-10 thieves (from a variety of law enforcement agencies) would bust down every door of the house around 3 am, mid-week. After hog-tying the occupants, they would be dosed in lighter fluid and asked where the family stash was kept.
The neighborhood hired a PI, who found direct, evidence-based, proof of identities and their “cover” employment. But our Investigator said he would “fear for his business and his life” if he provided us with the printed material; it was documentation we would need to proceed without him, and for which he was paid in advance. No refund, no report.
The only option open to us was to file the story and complaint with every Sheriff since, which we have done. Every single one expressed shock and disbelief…and did nothing.
We told the story, over and over. No one, including the current Sheriff, believed us or followed up. Only Tony Craver took us seriously, and he felt as if he were facing Goliath, too.
I have no reason to think this sorry situation has changed. I applaud the guts it takes to experience this corruption and not have a nervous break-down; I surely wish all the push-backers well.
Do I think Justice will be served and the Truth ever come out? No. Never.
A cursory reading of the negative comments on this report will tell you why.

THC
Guest
THC
5 years ago
Reply to  Anon Forrest

My dad got camped in the mid-80s, stole his scuba gear any cash that was laying around the house and a 38 Special handgun. All while dressed in camouflage fatigues packing m-16 military grade rifles (true assault rifles) hanging out of helicopters like GI Joe. Crazy experience for a seven-year-old on the back of my dad’s Honda 250 hiding in the bushes with him. They also chopped our water line about every three feet from our main tanks to our house. All over about a dozen plants.

Anon Forrest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  THC

I’m hoping someone (like you) will write a children’s book about these years; something like “My Hidey Hole” or “Things to do while waiting for the Neighbors.” At least CAMP made it easier to teach US Government to the home-schoolers.

Veteran's friend
Guest
Veteran's friend
5 years ago
Reply to  john

The ACLU has an app (CA JUSTICE) that, with one click, records and sends to ACLU your encounter, so even if your phone is seized and your recording deleted it is safely in the hands of others. I have this app in my phone. GET IT

Nino brown
Guest
Nino brown
5 years ago
Reply to  john

I was parked and coming out the store saw a cop circling my truck,as I was coming up to Willits, he pulled me over FOR; being on the white line, which i did not, soon after a reg unmarked ford rolls up w two guys in plain clothes, they would not identify themselves, i pulled out my phone to record, they said I couldn’t n they took it, and hooked it up to a device. They took out every last peice of lumber and cement which they broke on the ground looking for a hidden compartment, all this as they verbally abused us and telling me to go home and stay out of their county( ethnic name) local address. I had nothing n they took off the cuffs and let me go. Never would they identify themselves, didn’t even look like cops, when I called the cheif, he said i was a grower cause i had a fluorescent light and if i filled a report he would in turn prosecute me for a false report. All this is true i swear…… I also know someone who in that area had some p’s taken and when he called to c what was up there was nothing, hes like; what am i gona do,demand to b prosecuted.

F
Guest
F
5 years ago
Reply to  Nino brown

This is why you need to not stop, call 911 say you are not sure that these are real police and drive to the nearest station; at the speed limit. It’s the same as if someone with road rage is tailgating you or you’re a single female. Drive to a police station. You will have a better chance.

concerned citizen
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Nino brown

The Ukiah D.A. stole about 7,000 dollars, confiscated 2 lbs and impounded my car years ago. Fortunately I had my medical prescript and I had to hire a lawyer. They attempted to prosecute me for distribution even though I was within the legal limit to carry 2lbs. I’ve never seen such NAZI’s in my life. I’ve been to court many times but the people in that UKIAH court are straight up NAZI’s. White guys with bald heads and malicious intentions across the board. The final outcome was I had a little over 3,000 dollars returned to me, I also retrieved by 2lbs property months later (I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED), the case was dismissed by the judge after a few very stressful court appearances. These NAZI’s would have locked me up for years if they could have and taken all my money and kept my property if they could have. One of the best days of my life was looking straight at the local Judge and D.A. smiling and lying my ass off just like they do and watching the judge reluctantly say “Case dismissed.” I looked up to see the D.A. was out the door like Darth Vader only the heels of his shoes were visible.. I felt like TUPAC strutting out the court room. The day I went to pick up my property I took a small recording device with me because I feared they would simply bust me again driving away with my 2 lbs of property. I left and drove straight to L.A. and continued my work and still grow today. I know for a fact JASON COX profiles rental cars, lone drivers, he uses his dog on every stop and he mostly does his dirty work during the daylight hours as to be able to profile people easily and of course he uses the 101 where it turns into 2 lanes. He sits and waits. Don’t travel that area during the daylight hours, don’t carry more than is allowed on your person which at that time was 2 lbs. I’m not sure of the current law. This is of course for the small grower and local distributors. I’m sure the large growers have something worked out to keep them off the radar.

Breezy
Guest
Breezy
5 years ago

What about Mr. Flatten’s original accusation about the Hopland Police chief being involved in the seizure? I don’t see that mentioned anymore. If he was mistaken about that then what else and a prosecution attorney will pick that apart. I have zero doubts about rampant corruption but if you play with fire you may get burned.

James Marmon MSW
Guest
James Marmon MSW
5 years ago
Reply to  Breezy

Former Hopland Police Chief Hobbs already admitted that the Rohnert Park Cops were working with him at the reservation at the time Flatten claims he was stopped. Putting Hobbs out in a car with one of them on 101 at Squaw Rock just 8 miles from the Reservation wouldn’t be that much of a reach would it?

James Marmon MSW
Guest
James Marmon MSW
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I’m sorry Kym, I just re-read a previous article, that statement was never confirmed. Zeke stated that the FBI agent told him that.

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
5 years ago

Of course you don’t believe Mr. flatten. Your solution is to get even trickier about transporting legal cannabis. Fail. Another example of marijuana driving people crazy who don’t use it. Fascinating. Thank you Kym for being part of this investigation. If it costs Rohnert Park a bundle in court action for violating the law, THEN we’ll see it end.

groba dude osnt trustafarian
Guest
groba dude osnt trustafarian
5 years ago

If Cannabis Farmers had ANY sense at all, they would form a large group, process centrally, and ship in huge amounts. This would require legal counsel 24/7, full documentation and compliance with existing law, and, probably, the backing of an economically large entity.

Until you have clout, you will be rooted out!

It also is amusing that an industry, absolutely crammed full of outlaws, druggies, crazy stupid people and total cowboys, would spend so much time complaining, well, about everything that is “unfairly stacked against them”.

Hello? Pirate!

I still have a hard time believing that sworn officers would steal drugs or money, but temptation, temptation. The lure of easy money, and all that…

One more thing:

Only outlaws would transport large amounts of cash. There is no reason to expose yourself to this much risk, The story about the poker game, pure garbage.

If you grow big, get smart! If you are still fucking around, expect to be jacked for your prize crops…

Real Farmers grow their crops on actual farmland. There is a lot to be said for growing close to your market, and growing legitimately.

If you want to hide in Humboldt/Trinity/Mendo/Lake and grow in an armed camp, then this shit is gonna just keep happening.

Be careful out there, and let the transporters do the driving!

Truth
Guest
Truth
5 years ago

This. Production is going to shift to the 5 and the Valley, or in previously abandoned urban manufacturing centers (hello, Oakland!). Anything moving from up north down the 101 will be competing with the lack of transportation cost and these types of “taxes”.

concerned citizen
Guest
3 years ago

The point is it’s ridiculous for a plant like marijuana to be illegal to begin with. I see large trucks with tomatoes on them all the time up and down the freeway and no cops are seizing their property. I suppose if tomato growers carried large amounts of cash then absolutely cops would pull them over and confiscate it. What country are you from if you find it hard to believe a sworn cop in America would break the law…. That’s laughable. You must have grown up with a white picket fence on grandpa’s land.. lol. The cops are much more criminals than a grower just trying to make a buck. There would be a much less criminal element if the cops did not conduct themselves in such a criminal manner. There is a cop in Mendocino county named JASON COX he had a dog named BEN. This cop is dirty and even murdered and unarmed citizen. It’s documented the person was NOT armed. JASON COX Ukiah deputy is a cop that steals money off of people traveling. He profiles people driving rent a cars that’s straight out of his mouth. JASON COX was also involved in a WIFE SWAPPING scandal with the Sheriff of Mendocino county.. https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2236973-181/mendocino-deputy-who-reported-wife

concerned citizen
Guest
3 years ago

The point is it’s ridiculous for a plant like marijuana to be illegal to begin with. I see large trucks with tomatoes on them all the time up and down the freeway and no cops are seizing their property. I suppose if tomato growers carried large amounts of cash then absolutely cops would pull them over and confiscate it. What country are you from if you find it hard to believe a sworn cop in America would break the law…. That’s laughable. You must have grown up with a white picket fence on grandpa’s land.. lol. The cops are much more criminals than a grower just trying to make a buck. There would be a much less criminal element if the cops did not conduct themselves in such a criminal manner. There is a cop in Mendocino county named JASON COX he had a dog named BEN. This cop is dirty and he has even murdered Shane Michael Hutchins whom he claimed pulled a gun on him, the person did NOT have a gun. JASON COX Ukiah deputy is a cop that steals money off of people traveling. He profiles people driving rent a cars that’s straight out of his mouth. JASON COX was also involved in a WIFE SWAPPING scandal with the Sheriff of Mendocino county.. https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2236973-181/mendocino-deputy-who-reported-wife

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
5 years ago

Well done Kym! This story wouldn’t have seen the light of day without you. Hope all involved get justice.

Proof
Guest
Proof
5 years ago

Excellent and comprehensive reporting. Something’s rotten in Rohnert Park.

Anon Forrest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Proof

The rot is much wider and deeper than Rohnert Park.

Zoltan
Guest
Zoltan
5 years ago

A lot of money.hundreds of dollars.enough to retire.anyone can make a citizens arrest.now the deck is stacked against the productive individual.usc 10:241 ten years for conspiring to take rights from an individual.20 years for interfering with interstate commerce.hobbs act.spread the word.just like child,a physical barrier needed ,maybe welded steel armor sheet ,airtight containers in panels of cars.and resin extraction.unfortunately.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

The bellowing of yesterday’s crooks claiming outrage at the criminality of police is deafening. “I don’t care about the 22-year-olds who want to get stoned and park on the couch. I’m not against this…” And there is the morality of pot in a nutshell. The cherry picking of facts so only the ones that support are accepted, the self involvement that demands belief of it’s own bullshit, the utter self indulgence shines through. They care only about themselves despite the self serving professing otherwise.

Well even the most pathetic have rights. But it’s hard to believe anything they say.

Brian
Guest
Brian
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

“The cherry picking of facts” you say…

An article detailing heavy police corruption for years and you focus on an unimportant comment by a victim – in order to dissuade readers from caring about the facts.

Comments like yours from people like you are always self-reflective.

Kym, I look forward to seeing Tatum on trial one day. Great work. I hate criminals in cop outfits more than most things…

shiney
Guest
shiney
5 years ago
Reply to  Brian

Criminals in cop outfits- could have been the headline

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Brian

Well, duh. Of course my comments are “self reflective”. That is always true for any honest remark.

I simply can not drum up your level of outrage because I find the self involved corruption of pot growers, merchants and advocates as offensive. It’s like when two thugs get in a fist fight. One is not better than the other. The only real goal is to contain the damage their ugliness does to the truly innocent . Too bad if that note of the irony doesn’t please the thugs. It never does.

Veteran's friend
Guest
Veteran's friend
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

One is so very muchworse than the other, contrary to your assertion. Corruption and abuse of power under color of law….is far more serious than simple crime. If you conflate the two, you are just an apologist for corrupt cops, if not one yourself.

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
5 years ago

Well said Veteran’s Friend.

Geococcyx californianus
Guest
Geococcyx californianus
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

If you can’t see the unconstitutionality of asset forfeiture then you deserve to lose your liberty. These cops are the purest form of traitors.

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

The thugs in uniform.

Richard
Guest
Richard
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

you sound like a shill for corrupt cops

concerned citizen
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

I agree cops are pathetic and it is very hard to believe anything they say. I wonder if you feel the same about the oil industry thugs who steal land from Natives or alcohol producers who kill many more people a year and spurn criminal activity across the board. You’re argument has no merit what so ever.

Sharpen your pencil
Guest
Sharpen your pencil
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

[edit]The guy is a legit medical grower, so yeah he doesn’t give a damn about the millenials and generations after that want to be couch statues…. You bring up cherry picking, you did the same thing [edit]! Have fun living in the Reagan era [edit]!

the misadventures of bunjee
Guest
the misadventures of bunjee
5 years ago

Millennials weren’t alive in the Regan days. But anyway, if he’s legit and permitted, why is he using a rental to move product? That’s against any contract I’ve ever read. Also afraid of losing his own property in a bust?

Connie Dobbs
Guest
Connie Dobbs
5 years ago

He might just have a beater and wanted to get to and from Sherman Oaks.

Mendo
Guest
Mendo
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

your just using hatred to discriminate against a legal, licensed citizen who was robbed of his legal property by Police thugs who were sworn to serve and protect us from such thugs….. the anti-cannabis crusaders like thieving police more than law abiding cannabis farmers….. can anyone say discrimination?…….!!

Dawn
Guest
Dawn
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Hard for me to believe anyone who’s unwilling to use any name.

Really cops are corrupt go figure
Guest
Really cops are corrupt go figure
5 years ago

Same As It ever was Fuck the police useless corrupt who then show up after the crime.They don’t prevent crime they perpetuate it

Fredm
Guest
Fredm
5 years ago

I’ve heard of many more story’s about these crooked cops in RP…

I think the next story should be on the crooked usfs rangers who are profiling, searching w/ out probable cause, disregarding permits or state laws etc and disrespecting citizens all over eastern humboldt and trinity county.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Fredm

State laws don’t override federal laws on federal property.

read
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

guest , you should relax

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  read

As another Guest- I always am around law enforcement. It comes of being pretty sure I’m a good boy.

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

All lands with right of ways are no longer in control/trust of the Feds. Right of ways belong to the entity who created the right of way. The Feds were responsible for holding land in a trust until an entity claimed the land. Once claimed, the deed/patent for that land was forked over. I believe either the county or the state are the owners of those roads that are in question. A short explanation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQDOU707tEg

A fuller slide show explanation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH_qglwcXRc

CoveTroll
Guest
CoveTroll
5 years ago

There’s no high stakes poker at bear river casino. Nice one buddy.

Debbie
Guest
Debbie
5 years ago
Reply to  CoveTroll

Yes, they do have high stakes at Bear River Casino. Just not advertised & not all are invited or welcomed.

Brian
Guest
Brian
5 years ago

“Between late 2013 and the end of 2016, Tatum was involved in stops that resulted in the confiscation of well over $1 million in cash, according to the incident reports released so far.”

If Tatum is found guilty on conspiracy, fraud, theft or the seizures are found to be unlawful, what does it mean for the city of RP regarding that “well over a million in cash”?

Chaka brah
Guest
Chaka brah
5 years ago

So a criminal carrying drugs gets busted by a crooked cop? Gotta love the RHBB agenda.

mendo
Guest
mendo
5 years ago
Reply to  Chaka brah

the Medicinal cannabis was legal -ok bigot

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Bravo, Kymmie, just remember that old Armenian or Turkish proverb: he who speaks the truth must keep one foot in the stirrup.

Rusty Cage
Guest
Rusty Cage
5 years ago

Outstanding reporting, Kym. Thank you for doggedly pursuing this. If not for you, there wouldn’t be any sunlight and accounting for this type of piracy. I believe from what I’ve read here and before in your column that, yes, they were crooked cops– and I hope they’re held accountable for their actions and just desserts are meted out.

For those following the law, being in compliance, and dutifully recording what happened, I appreciate your actions. It’s a bummer, sure, but your unbending sense of justice makes it better for all in the long run. Otherwise, it would still be happening now.

Druthers
Guest
Druthers
5 years ago

The big question is…how did officers know to pull these individuals over? Especially when traveling in opposite directions on the freeway. Patrol cars are outfitted with license plate scanners, that much is known. The rental car database tied to the laptop will flag a car rented by a flagged person. Also we should have every reason to suspect facial recognition software. Patrol cars are roving wireless computer centers nowadays. The whole “self driving car” race is as much to create drone patrol cars. Welcome to the future.

Perspective
Guest
Perspective
5 years ago
Reply to  Druthers

Most likely because it was a rental. Why in the hell do people drive rentals? Ive never understood that. Instantly you are having to explain yourself. I must ask, what good does a rental do? What, you don’t want your 2001 Subaru confiscated?

MENDO WISEMAN
Guest
MENDO WISEMAN
5 years ago
Reply to  Perspective

Transporters use rental carsfor the reason that if they do get pulled over and searched the car is impounded but not seized. The police always return rental cars to the companies who own them, the police also confiscate personal vehicles used for transporting cannabis, it just makes good sense to pay the small rental fee than to lose your vehicle to asset forfeiture (cops stealing your car). We know they will steal your money and claim it was for drugs if you are pulled over anywhere along 101 corridor. The police in Mendo And Sonoma lie, steal and kill, they are dangerous criminal thugs and are not to be trusted on any level.

Veteran's friend
Guest
Veteran's friend
5 years ago
Reply to  MENDO WISEMAN

I was once stopped at the CA/AZ border, held in 110° heat for over an hour while my rental car was searched. My flashlight was confiscated.

F
Guest
F
5 years ago
Reply to  MENDO WISEMAN

Rental insurance and/or your own car insurance won’t cover an impounded car so you be out even more than the cost of your own vehicle, as most rentals are pretty new.

Life is Good
Guest
Life is Good
5 years ago

For a while all the mules knew to take 20 because 101 through Sonoma County was known as the “gauntlet “

10 toes
Guest
10 toes
5 years ago
Reply to  Life is Good

Exactly , and this has been going on since the 90s

zookeeper
Guest
zookeeper
5 years ago

Was gonna say. The CAMP raids used to include rapes, theft and underreporting of the amount of weed taken. Then they seized and sold property (including real estate) to divide profits among themselves for that as well. Had a friend who worked with a woman whose husband was a CAMP paid goon. He used to come into the shop showing big colas of weed in his pocket and bragging about how much his cut of the haul was.

The guy in this story should feel lucky he got away easy.

Dawn
Guest
Dawn
5 years ago
Reply to  zookeeper

Musta had really big pockets!

Gypsy Rose
Guest
Gypsy Rose
5 years ago

Guest you need to get off your high horse.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Gypsy Rose

No. I like the view. And you keep out of the dirt that way.

Corruption Hurts Us All
Guest
Corruption Hurts Us All
5 years ago

waiting for a similar expose on Sheriff Allmans bunch of thieving, rogue Mexico steroid smuggling deputies who all have so many brand new trucks and brand new toys. it is a known fact that MMendocino County Sheriff’s have been involved for over 40 years in similar theft and highway-home robberies…. including masked home invasions and murders in Covelo and Laytonville, it is a well known fact that the man in Laytonville who was beaten to death and robbed, “Les Crane killers remain at large more than 7 years after murder – Willits News
Willits News › article › NEWS
Jan 3, 2013 · Les Crane was gunned down in his Laytonville home just after 2 a.m. on November 18, 2005, and his murder remains an open case today. Crane was 39 when he was killed; he arrived in the Mendocino County area only a few years before his death. Family friends told media at the time…..” remember led had spoke out against MCSO and the County powers that be……… They murdered him and robbed him, word is that it was MCSO deputies who did this……. Mendocino Sheriff Dept Culture is so corrupt that deputies are afraid to run against Sheriff Allman for fear of retribution….. so we have a lifetime Sheriff with no election…. just default election results….. Then there are the suspicious deputy suicides where in both instances, deputies had made reports and allegations against their Superiors ALLMAN AND Barney………. do the research……. someone needs to look into those Deputy suicides where deputies were present in both cases……..justice has been covered up by MCSO thugs

Patriot in Willits
Guest
Patriot in Willits
5 years ago

I take it you’re not a big fan of Tom Allman, which definitely puts you in the minorty in Mendocino County. The reason, I would say, that Allman ran unopposed is that nobody wants to waste their time and money on a race that they know they’ll lose.
As for Les Crane, I remember his murder. Looked just like all the other home invasion robberies, because it was. The hearsay you are “quoting” is just that, hearsay. I’m not saying there is no corrupt law enforcement, because there’s always some, but the “culture of corruption” you allege exists under Tom Allman is likely the result a grievance festering in your head.

SEXUAL Ritual abUSE CULT
Guest
SEXUAL Ritual abUSE CULT
5 years ago

Nobody in Mendo except the anti pot crusaders are big fans of Tom Allman,or his rogue deputies who will lie, steal and kill, people are just afraid for their lives and scared to death of the Sheriff Department and their criminal cartel enterprise. A group of CRIMINAL thugs with badges and a vendetta who take bribe money and protect enormous black market cannabis grows in Covelo and Eden Valley owned by the cartel, and their redneck buddies like Mr HURT. Just google the Barney Marijuana covelo scandel, deputy suicide (murder) of White And Gore, read the Cox Lawsuit alledging systematic sexual abuse and about the Sheriff Department “wife swapping and sex cult” which practiced orgy rituals etc……. All public information available at the Mendo Courthouse is a …. there is a culture of corruption in the MCSOand the coverups by the Senior Deputies go back to the 1970’s and the Peoples Temple years when Mendo Courts signed all those children over to JIM JONES by the signitures of Judge Luther and DA Assistant Timothy Stoen

WATCHER
Guest
WATCHER
5 years ago

Nobody is a big fan of Allman, but deputies dont want to end up as another “deputy suicide”…. so they follows orders and keep their mouths shut and go along with the culture of corrution at the MCSO and COUNTY Jail “death chamber”……. where numerous inmates have been murdered by Sheriff Department personell and their negligence and lack of training, how many lawsuits filed since Allman becamw lifetime sheriff with opponets afraid to run against him…….

Moviedad
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

We’re almost a screenplay. Just a little more ?

Let Get Down to Business
Guest
Let Get Down to Business
5 years ago

THE ONE TRUE GREEN, Richard Johnson, occasional publisher out of Ukiah, appeared before the supervisors the other day where he made the folloing statement: “It is my sad duty to tell you this morning that the man who has been selected by your Sheriff, Shannon Barney, to be Chief Deputy Coroner and to be coordinator of the Emergency Services Office is a habitual alcoholic and a sex predator. All this information is contained in a sworn and a verified lawsuit which is lodged in the Mendocino County courthouse by Jason Cox a couple years ago and recently settled by your County Counsel. County Counsel is also sitting on an investigative report which was commissioned a few years ago by acting Sheriff Kevin Broin and she has refused to release it to anyone. I’m suggesting you go into closed session with the Sheriff and County Counsel to review that report. The suit alleges that Shannon Barney as chief, as deputy Sergeant in Covelo, over a period of a decade has required his deputies to have sex with his wife, Deanna, and urged their wives to have sex with him. It’s not just that he had a voracious appetite, but rather he used the relationships thus developed to control his deputies and to keep them from reporting on his abuses of power, which included customary inebriation on and off the job as well as unequal enforcement of the law and association with known marijuana growers. Reviewing state criminal codes I, not being a lawyer, but having the curse of being well educated, have formed an opinion that in this behavior Sgt. Barney may have committed violations of statutes including rape, prostitution, extortion, and pandering. The investigative report which you should review will probably, or may, provide evidence of those violations. So I urge you to do that. Consider the possibility that in a flood or fire or terrorist attack, the man in charge of the Sheriff’s situation room might be inebriated. Think about that. I urge you to take action on this. Two deputies committed suicide a year apart.”

Let Get Down to Business
Guest
Let Get Down to Business
5 years ago

HAVING PERFORMED his “sad duty,” and solemnly tucking his “curse of being well-educated” into his pocket, Johnson referred board members and the public to his randomly published newspaper, the Mendocino Country Independent, copies of which he offered to the supervisors, all of whom were indifferent to the gift. The Board had no reaction to Johnson’s indictment. Johnson has dug through the thick case file containing deputy Jason Cox’s allegations, most of which has already been made public here. But Johnson’s report did reveal some new facts:

In the two-year course of Cox’s suit (before it was quietly settled by Cox and County Counsel Jeanine Nadel), Mendocino County judge John Behnke ruled that only the county could be sued for job discrimination and dismissed the complaints against Barney and Allman, saying their actions in disciplining and not promoting Cox were within their discretion and they were immune from liability for their official actions.
Cox told various officers that Barney was intoxicated while on duty and was engaged in other illegal behavior. In return, Barney allegedly retaliated against Cox by filing false negative performance evaluations and refusing to back him up on calls involving armed suspects.
On July 9, 2006, Deputy Gore (who subsequently committed suicide after being assigned to the County Jail in Ukiah) went missing in the middle of his shift. Cox found Gore at home passed out with a shotgun at his side, apparently a trial run at premature oblivion.
Cox charged that Barney was so favored by former sheriff Craver, his political ally former DA Norm Vroman, and by Sheriff Allman, that he could stop investigations, get charges dropped and spring people from jail.
Covelo’s resident deputies had been aware fully five years ago that recently convicted meth dealer, grandmother Nancie Henthorne, aka Grandma Crank, was Round Valley’s largest volume meth dealer. Deputies had resolved to investigate her and seek a warrant. But according to Cox’s declarations, Barney thwarted the effort by warning her granddaughter, Round Valley tribal employee Yvonne Galardo that Nancie would be busted if she did not stop dealing. At the time, the apparently perpetually priapic Barney was allegedly involved in a sexual relationship with Galardo.
Cox also cited as an example Barney’s social and alleged business association with a known marijuana grower named Tim Hurt who was arrested in Covelo in 2005 for possession of firearms in violation of probation and driving on an expired or suspended license. Within days, DA Vroman withdrew all charges and Hurt was released from jail, apparently through Barney’s pull.

Let Get Down to Business
Guest
Let Get Down to Business
5 years ago

In a 2009 deposition in the Cox matter, (Sheriff) Allman acknowledged the severity of the Covelo situation, and admitted he moved Barney to Ukiah in order to defuse it. “We had to get Shannon out of Covelo right now because we have to figure out how to rebuild Covelo. We have a deputy who’s drunk on duty. We have a deputy who’s sleeping with a lot of women, including another deputy’s wife. We have that deputy with the other deputy’s wife. We have a sergeant’s wife who has slept with several people and we have an internal affairs investigation supposedly against a sergeant that was never opened. And we have a lieutenant, me, that is not being told of a major investigation, investigations that are occurring in my sector…” Allman declares he was “out of the loop” on the complaints about and investigations of Sergeant Barney’s activities in Covelo, during which time he was not yet Sheriff, but north sector commander. Kevin Broin, now about to retire, who ran against Allman, has said he was denied access to the report on the independent investigation of Barney and other deputies. But he is certain it exists in county counsel Jeanine Nadel’s office.
BOARD CHAIR CARRE BROWN, adhering more strictly to the public’s allotted three minutes than she does the free form meanderings of her colleagues, and perhaps because Johnson’s reputation for lunacy precedes his public appearances, broke in to announce, “Mr. Johnson, your time is up,” as Johnson concluded with, “Two dead deputies are trying to tell us something.”

MAYBE. But their messages from the other side might say to Johnson that if the chronology of these sordid series of events is carefully considered what we find is two troubled young men who seemed bedeviled by a variety of demons over a long period of time that might have driven them to suicide without Sgt. Barney “requiring” one of them to wife-swap. Both had also developed a dependence on alcohol. One despaired over his alcoholism and his wife’s abandoment of him for another cop. The other’s life had gone to hell in multiples of personal disasters. The prospect of sexual relations with Mrs. Barney, grisly as it may have been, was just one more added bit of pressure. Obviously, if deputies didn’t care for off-duty boff-a-thons with their supervisor’s wife there’s no way that supervisor could have compelled them to enjoy her company. The whole sad series of events was in fact investigated by the Justice Department. Since the Justice Department didn’t indict anyone they probably concluded that “Yeah, it’s all weird as hell, but Mendocino County is weird as hell, and so it goes behind The Green Curtain.” Deputy Cox’s suit was, basically, pegged to sexual harassment, that of Barney’s lust for Cox’s former wife. He settled for reimbursement of his legal fees, relative peanuts.

mendo
Guest
mendo
5 years ago

people already bribe Mendo Sheriffs, look at Barneys Covelo Grow Ops…..

Mendoman
Guest
Mendoman
5 years ago

@kym kemp you should have a section of red headed black belt dedicated to the reporting of officers who seize cash and marijuana illegally. See how many names pop up more than once. I’ve heard multiple stories while living in mendo about the corruption and know a couple people first hand. How many people would like to see that?

Mendo
Guest
Mendo
5 years ago
Reply to  Mendoman

I would love to see that. Expose the corruption!

Alt Right For Life
Guest
Alt Right For Life
5 years ago

Keeping drugs out of schools, and wrecking the lives of drug dealers is fine by me.

A drug dealer destroys lives and complains about Karma?

Funny stuff right there!

Druggies can just get out, move back to your slums.

rudolph's mom
Guest
rudolph's mom
5 years ago

You think the cops are stealing these drugs so they can burn them? They resell them, OK?

Hummm
Guest
Hummm
5 years ago

What about when the dealer is a cop who stole the drugs he is selling to the kids from a legal medical cannabis farmer? Is it ok because it is a cop?
maybe u just dont like pot farmers?

Alt Right For Life
Guest
Alt Right For Life
5 years ago
Reply to  Hummm

I don’t like pot growing, they aren’t farmers.

The cops should be making life hell for weed growers legal or not. Marijuana is a moral issue, not a legal one.

God will be sending pot growers into the fires of hell and no reason not to makes their lives miserable until then.

Dick DeSpencer
Guest
Dick DeSpencer
5 years ago

Follow me to ze bunker brother! A more perfect world awaits. Watch out for kool aid stains on ze khakis. We must be vigilante and prevent such things. Never stare ze mustard tiger in ze eyez or else big time sheize sheize.

God is Fake
Guest
God is Fake
5 years ago

Sorry but your mythic god does not exist in reality, only in your head……

Moviedad
Guest
5 years ago

“…legal or not.” ? That’s fascism there.

gunther
Guest
gunther
5 years ago
Life is Good
Guest
Life is Good
5 years ago

The police carry firearms to protect themselves, not you.

Mendo
Guest
Mendo
5 years ago

The Face of a criminal.
JACY TATUM

Jason Statham
Guest
Jason Statham
5 years ago

Hire a qualified Transporter and you’ll never have a problem with your package delivery.

10 toes
Guest
10 toes
5 years ago

Kym is there a email I can contact you at ?

Life time local
Guest
Life time local
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I want to mention Kim this is a common occurance dig and you will find more people to talk too. I have heard rumor of more than one stop like this.
To the community stand up don’t let the cops act like this is the Wild West or it will continue. Legalization has given a boost to curuption.

F
Guest
F
5 years ago

What people need to do is continue driving, at the speed limit and call the local police or 911 and say they question whether this is a legitimate police officer that is pulling them over. Just like anyone should if they do not know it is a real police car. Then drive to the nearest police station and work it out. Remember OJ? How many miles did he drive (at the speed limit or slower) before he stopped.

Peter
Guest
Peter
5 years ago
Reply to  F

brilliant…you do that for road rage, right?

F
Guest
F
5 years ago
Reply to  Peter

Yes. It works well. When the person realizes you’re headed to the police station they disappear. Although I might be inclined to drive over the speed limit in that case.

Lone ranger
Guest
Lone ranger
5 years ago

Worker comp claims, disability insurance and growing seem to go hand and hand, I guess when your a lying criminal , everyone is your enemy, but look at the bright side you can always sue again.

Dawn
Guest
Dawn
5 years ago
Reply to  Lone ranger

What a ridiculous idea.

F
Guest
F
5 years ago
Reply to  Lone ranger

Your reply makes no sense. Unless you’re saying that this person filed a false workers comp claim and and false disability insurance claim and didn’t grow this legally And didn’t really have his weed confiscated

barn owl
Guest
barn owl
5 years ago

My takeaway from this is some simple lessons. When transporting weed and/or cash:
1) Stay off Hwy 101 and use surface roads
2) Buy an old beater pick-up, register it in your auntie’s name, and put a bunch of hay bales in the bed.
3) If you are carrying cash, stuff it in the hay bales.
4) Wear a ball cap and shades to thwart facial recognition.
5) No weapons of any kind, not even a Swiss Army knife.
6) Make sure all your head and tail-lights are working.
7) Drive slow.

There you go!

Look deeper
Guest
Look deeper
5 years ago

From this ARTICLE, Tatum has been Robbing More people than just on the road…….. https://m.bohemian.com/northbay/back-door-men/Content?oid=2746987
Back Door Men
Viral-video Rohnert Park police officer named in federal lawsuit against Friendly City
by Tom Gogola

September 23, 2015
HOME INVASION Elva and Raul Barajas say a Rohnert Park police officer entered their home with his gun drawn but without a warrant or just cause. Police defend the actions as routine.
HOME INVASION Elva and Raul Barajas say a Rohnert Park police officer entered their home with his gun drawn but without a warrant or just cause. Police defend the actions as routine.
Rohnert Park police officer David Rodriguez was already involved in a Fourth Amendment federal lawsuit when he pulled out his service revolver and asked Don McComas if he was “some kind of a constitutionalist crazy guy or something like that” during a tense encounter in McComas’ front yard in July. The video McComas took of the incident has since been viewed more than 400,000 times on Youtube.

Rodriguez is one of three Rohnert Park officers named in a lawsuit filed with the U.S. Fourth District Court in San Francisco that alleges he and two other officers, Jacy Tatum and Matthew Snodgrass, unlawfully and without a warrant entered the Rohnert Park home of Elva and Raul Barajas in November 2014 while executing a probation check on their son, Edgar Perez.

The complaint alleges that two of the officers questioned the parents at the front door while the third officer, Tatum, entered the home through a side door with his weapon drawn.

The Barajas’ attorney, the San Francisco–based Morrison & Foerster, have asked for a summary judgment from the court, and argue that the officers’ training is a key factor in the unconstitutional policing practices going on in the Friendly City.

The suit, in effect, puts Rohnert Park’s training guidelines for probationers on trial. “Summary judgment should be granted to ensure that the City of Rohnert Park refrains from searching probationers unless there is reasonable suspicion for believing that the probationer has committed a crime,” reads the latest court documents filed Sept. 10.

The complaint charges that as the two officers at the door told the Barajas family why they were there, Tatum entered the home through a rear sliding door, “without consent, startling Plaintiffs and their children, who were now essentially surrounded, with two officers at the front door and one officer standing behind them in their home. Thereafter, the two officers at the front of the home also entered.”

Ernestine
Guest
Ernestine
5 years ago
Reply to  Look deeper

WOW

Deeper still
Guest
Deeper still
5 years ago
Reply to  Ernestine

Casino opened in Rhonert Park in 2013. Corruption not far behind…

Deeper still
Guest
Deeper still
5 years ago
Reply to  Look deeper

Interesting that the mega Graton Resort and Casino opened in Khlonert Park back in 2013. Think bringing in casino corruption spills out into the police force?

farce
Guest
farce
5 years ago

I hope lots of cops stop lots of cars and take lots of cash and weed from lots of growers and dealers. I believe growers and dealers with their sob stories about as much as I believe cops. If y’all can’t handle the game then step away. Wimpy growers and dealers with their whiny complaints have ruined the business for everybody. You were too obvious ie.- you acted like a rookie and you got made and ripped. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!

Johnny chimpo
Guest
Johnny chimpo
5 years ago

Your tire touched the white line so i get to steal from you whatever i please as i have a badge and rob you in the name of the law.
Explain to me how it is not the same thats being done right now to the grower by the county supervisors!
Its all a joke!

Triniboldticino
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Triniboldticino
5 years ago

Good reporting Kid. Keep it up, keep it as straight as you can. Neither side has control of the “truth” here, but when government corruption is involved, all bets are off.

In my 1911 I trust
Guest
In my 1911 I trust
5 years ago

Alright Alt Right for Life, I have to chime in since you brought God into this. God created everything, so why is He going to send pot growers to hell for growing something He created? You have a lot of hatred in your heart for people growing a plant. Christians are supposed to be tolerant. Do you drink beer? Cause God most certainly did not create that, humans did. Me thinks God won’t send you to hell for either, but I believe you have a better chance of going to hell for brewing alcohol than growing something God put on this earth. Hey Alt Right for Life is your house in perfect order? Maybe you shouldn’t criticize others or the world for its order until your house is perfect.

A different view
Guest
A different view
5 years ago

Evil will have free rein if good never speaks out. If perfect is required before anyone speaks, then no one will.

Besides fermentation is as natural as any modern cannabis product.

Robert
Guest
Robert
5 years ago

My Pappy, tells a story how about once he saw a hippy through a huge duffle bag over a ditch when his van broke down. My pappy retrieved it when over a half million, in cash, gold coins, and gems. He bought are farm and is still cognito rich. We never grow drugs, just goat, chicken , and rodeo stock, we rich cause of hippy and now we throw coins at them and tell treated.

itchy Peter
Guest
itchy Peter
5 years ago

The city of rohnert park statement is a fucking joke
Those clowns have no clue their cops are crooked and do their own drug task work on the side while still in uniform!
This has happened thousands of times and the uniformed [edit] was motivated by greed and self profit.

Itsabouttime
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Itsabouttime
5 years ago
Reply to  itchy Peter

100% spot on.

TQM
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TQM
5 years ago

Corrupt cops…it’s nothing new. No wonder so many people hate the US government. But US government is necessary and helpful in many ways that go unreported. I wish the media would equally publish US government successes. There must be some fodder in that regard!

Central HumCo
Guest
5 years ago

~A different view. We all need to find our voice and share our experiences.

“A fiction is a rule of law that assumes something that is or may be false is true.”
Hibbert v Smith, 67 Cal. 547,

Begging for permission to exercise your rights is no way to go through life.

The error is to apply mathematical plus-and-minus values to nature, resulting in the separation of mind and body or spirit and matter, into unrelated oppositional domains.

“It is not to the moderation and justice of others we are to trust for fair and equal access to market with our products, or for our due share in the transportation of them; but to our own means of independence and the firm will to use them.” Report of Secretary of State on Trade and Tariff December 12, 1793.

Using the higher laws is upheld by the establishment of government under a constitution with few and defined powers.

This Great Principle of higher law is recognized and witnessed in
Billing v. Hall, 7 Cal. 1, 6 (1857). “Section first of Article 1, of the
Constitution of California, declares that ‘all men are by nature
free and independent, and have certain inalienable rights,
amongst which are those of enjoying and defending life and
liberty, acquiring possession, protecting property, and pursuing
and obtaining safety and happiness.’ This principle is as old as
the Magna Charta. It lies at the foundation of every
constitutional government.”

The constitutional terms “life, liberty, and property” do not
derive their meaning solely from the provisions of positive law.
They have a normative dimension as well, establishing a sphere of
private autonomy which government is bound to respect. 2 Quite
serious constitutional questions might be raised if a legislature
attempted to abolish certain categories of common-law rights in
some general way. Indeed, our cases demonstrate that there are
limits on governmental authority to abolish “core” common-law
rights… Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U.S. 74, 93-4 (1980)

The American Founding was the last act of civic humanism.22 The Founders
confronted what Pocock termed a “Machiavellian moment,” in which
consciousness of the mortality of a political order emerges and either choices
are made to address the order’s instability or the problem is ignored with
deleterious consequences.
22 J.G.A. POCOCK, THE MACHIAVELLIAN MOMENT: FLORENTINE POLITICAL THOUGHT AND THE ATLANTIC REPUBLIC TRADITION 462–67 (1975).

Blackstone wrote, to apply the law of nature “to the particular exigencies of
each individual, it is still necessary to have recourse to reason,” yet “every man
now finds . . . that his reason is corrupt, and his understanding full of ignorance
and error.” William Blackstone Commentaries 41.

Common Law: Body of law based on custom and general principles and that, embodied in case law, serves as precedent or is applied to situations not covered by statute. Under the common-law system, when a court decides and reports its decision concerning a particular case, the case becomes part of the body of law and can be used in later cases involving similar matters. This use of precedents is known as stare decisis. Common law has been administered in the courts of England since the Middle Ages; it is also found in America and in most of the British Commonwealth. It is distinguished from civil law.

“Emergency does not create power. Emergency does not increase granted power or remove or diminish the restrictions imposed upon power granted or reserved. The Constitution was adopted in a period of grave emergency. Its grants of power to the Federal Government and its limitations of the power of the States were determined in the light of emergency, and they are not altered by emergency.” Home Building and Loan Association v Blaisdel, US (1934).

“Counties” do not make laws. One of the things they do not have delegated power for, is to self-declare our national Organic Laws void in Humboldt just because the people are too ignorant or too scared to stand up for them. The real agenda is not about what is labeled “Medical Marijuana,” but political control over people.

Why does the media seem to only highlight stories that promote division amongst groups of people rather than work to expose the corrupt powers complicit in the fleecing of its people, of both natural and financial resources?

“The (FEDERAL) government of the United States is a foreign corporation with respect to a state.” In re Merriam, 36 N.E. 505, 141 N.Y. 479, affirmed 16 S. Ct. 1073, 163 U.S. 625, 411 L. Ed. 287.

“Free market” means the farmers/growers/producers set the market price. The law of the land is the motor that runs the free market.

“Democracy” -majority does not decide what is right or wrong. Your conscience does. We must
never, e v e r, bow down to the tyranny of a majority. Democracy is suicidal.

Private contracts supersede judicial review.

“There is only one cause of unhappiness: the false beliefs you have in your head, beliefs so widespread, so commonly held, that it never occurs to you to question them.” Anthony deMello

“The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on one part, and degrading submission on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it.” -Thomas Jefferson

Guestly Gillis
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Guestly Gillis
5 years ago

“I command you to rise up and overthrow your minds”
-cannibal ox

10 toes
Guest
10 toes
5 years ago

Amen to that

J K
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J K
5 years ago

The moral of this story…EVERYONE driving ANYWHERE should have a dash cam. Many police officers are required to wear body cams to protect themselves and the public should do the same. It’s high time (pun intended) to use the tools available to defend ourselves from the corruption of government that runs rampant in this country. A well positioned dash cam would do wonders to prove that there ARE rogue cops AND other drivers that refuse to obey the law. Record the incidents and blast them on social media! It’s time to hold ALL public employees accountable for their actions!

Not laying down
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Not laying down
5 years ago

I bet every cop at least knows 1 cop that is a vulture ! That makes them all the same !—-dirty little piggys !

Ullr Rover
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Ullr Rover
5 years ago

Jeez folks, know you rights and assert them. Film your encounter. If it’s a rogue cop the camera may scare him away or SOL. If you assert you rights the camera will force the others to respect those rights.

“No you may not search my car. Am I being detained? Am I free to go?”

Nothing else. Anything you say can and will be used against you, regardless of Miranda rights; which only apply after being arrested.