David J. Pyles of Medford, Oregon was awakened early Monday morning by a call from a hostage negotiator asking him to come outside and speak to police. At first, Pyles thought it was a practical joke, but after looking through a window, he realized the seriousness of the matter. Approximately twelve SWAT officers had closed off portions of his street and were awaiting his surrender.
Mr. Pyle, you see, was put on administrative leave by a supervisor at the Oregon Department of Transportation. According to Mr. Pyle, the dispute was being handled through his union, but his supervisor at ODOT alerted police that Mr. Pyle may be a disgruntled worker.
After police investigated, they found that Mr. Pyle had purchased several handguns, a shotgun and an AK-47 after being put on leave, prompting them to act “preemptively” instead of “reactively.”
According to the Mail Tribune, Mr. Pyle was then detained by police outside of his home:
“They asked him to come out and said they wouldn’t handcuff him, arrest him or take him off the property,” Starrett recounted.
However, Pyles said, he then was handcuffed and taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center for evaluation.
“Because we had information that he could be a danger to others, we wanted a medical professional to evaluate him,” Medford police chief Randy Schoen said.
Police have maintained that Pyles’ surrender was voluntary, but Starrett noted that an intimidating presence of officers with rifles and SWAT gear can force people to agree to things they wouldn’t normally do.
“The thing that is really troubling to us is that this was not an arrest,” he said. “People in protective custody don’t even have the rights a person who has been arrested does.”
When undergoing a mental health screening, a person doesn’t have a guaranteed right to an attorney, for example, he said.
The evaluation took several hours and Pyles was released before noon on Monday.
No charges were filed in the case, Mr. Pyle was cleared of any mental health deficiencies and his weapons have since been returned.
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Both ridiculous and frightening – who among the unemployed could not be described as ‘disgruntled’. I’m disgruntled as hell…
I don’t blame the police for responding to a call. But to have taken him in for a psyche eval suggests anyone is subject to such treatment and that is another matter altogether.
We don’t know what prompted the Admin Leave but I’d like to see the Supervisor’s rationale for reporting the employee as a threat. Could be he’ll get a payday for his troubles. Would serve them right…
Wow! I think this is a pretty good way to spell “Constitutional Violation”. Basically, somebody pulled some strings and this guy caught hell. The whole country is lit up over this too. I think its another test case like the North Carolina city that banned the carrying of weapons during the snow emergency.
They are testing the reaction of the people to see how far they can go.
This is pretty f-ed up.
Although I understand why they cops did what they did, they could have/should have handled it differently.
Had they just talked to him to get a feel for his state of mind (heck, isn’t that what a negotiator does?), it would have been one thing. It still wouldn’t have been that bad if they had ASKED Pyle to go to the mental health screening…
However, they crossed the line when they essentially arrested him…and “forced” him to the screening.  Even though, technically, the cuffs may be required – they were not necessary – I’m sure they searched him for weapons…
Anyone want to put up some odds that the ACLU will offer to help him take some legal action?Â
I feel like we’re only getting part of the story here. Â They wouldn’t get a swat team out there for some guy buying a couple of guns. Â There has to be some history we’re not being told.
I just now read the actual story that Mac linked…
“David Fidanque, executive director of the Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said his organization wasn’t likely to get involved in an incident of this type, but said Pyles could have a case against police if he were taken into custody improperly.”
Oh, what a surprise! In fact, I wouldn’t be more surprised if I woke up tomorrow morning with my head stapled to the carpet.
(sarcasm off)
Jonny makes a good point though – I wonder if there is more to this story…
This also reminds me of something else – didn’t the police confiscate some guns from people WHO WERE SAFELY IN THEIR HOMES – and NOT on the streets (not that it matters) – during the L.A. riots after the Rodney King trial and/or in New Orleans after Katrina????
On a COMPLETELY unrelated tangent, don’t some states allow private guns sales (i.e., private citizen to private citizen) WITHOUT registration? Hmmm…
What else would you expect from Oregon? There must be an ambulance chaser out there somewhere willingly to sue the state and the city for a cut.
This situation is so ridiculous that it borders on sheer lunacy. The point I am getting from this however is related to the story about the McCain-Lieberman internal terrorist bill introduced in the Senate by that pair of idiots. Under that bill which we ALL shoul OPPOSE vigorously, if you are SUSPECTED of doing something you can be arrested without a Miranda warning, without the right to an attorney, without the right of habeous corpus, and be held indefinitely by the military and ‘interrogated’ probably by waterboarding or chemicals. This situation in Oregon sounds like a test of this procedure. And it’s frightening that the presumption of innocence in this country is dissapearing without any kind of questioning by the citizenry. This is our freedom going down the drain folks.
Puh-leeeeze! Â No way the ACLU will offer help to a gun owner in Oregon. Â They’re too busy offering free help to NAMBLA and all other manner of monsters, freaks, degenerates and Constitution-tramplers.
Yeah, ForceRecon is right I bet. Â Back when that dumb-ass bush was in office and asshole cheney was in charge, they got that patriot act through that legalized doing this to people. Â You no longer have any right to privacy, or from unreasonable search and seizure, or the rights to an attourney or a speedy trial. Â They can give you a colonoscopy EVERY DAY for the rest of your life and you can’t do a damn thing about it. Â It’s the NEW American way.
Typical Big Brother format. The way to handle this would be to have ONE cop and a psyche evaluator knock on the door, let him know the situation. Cop waits as protective servant while psyche evaluator and gun-owner talk. PE gives the all clear and they both leave. An intrusion yes but handled without undo aggressiveness and without embarrassing the guy excessively.
Can’t do that though – gotta show up with an army, LIE and then take him away, along with his personal property!
When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail! If you have a swat team, your are going to find a use for them. This is virtually an every day event now somewhere in America, and it is only going to get a lot worse.
Questiona: 1.) Who informed the supervisor the guy had purchased the alleged guns? 2.) What provocation did the supervisor have for thinking this guy was a ‘disgruntled employee?” 3.) why did the cops arrest this guy after telling him they just wanted to talk? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?
I would sue like crazy.
I do not see how surrender to groups of armed men can be called “voluntary”.
And violating someone’s rights – effectively kidnapping some – under color of law is a serious crime.
sounds like a push on the HR-45 bill.
For those of you that are not sure what Hr_45 bill is ,This is a bill that was pushed through treasury channels rather than the proper methods,to regulate weapons. they havn’t made it much public knowledge, it was to appear on tax statements for 2009, we are suposed to claim our weapons and pay taxes on them,if you read the whole bill,they can come into your home un announced and check if you have your weapons properly stored,they can demand at any time to have you submitt to psycological evaluation,and if you take any kind of anti depressant pills ,you can be labled a loonie and arrested for possession of fire arms,However at the bottom of the bill it states that This bill does not pertain to any local,city county ,state or federal ,employee .I have worked Government jobs And there are a whole bunch of loonies roaming around those government facilities, As employees,With out going too far out on a limb i would venture to say Well over 50% percent of them are mad hatters,I’D Trust a Wino with a gun before i’d trust most gov. employees, Most of them are sneaky weasels…But thats just my opinion …..,Go to the Congressional bills and bring up HR-45,If you can’t find it Contact your local NRA And ask them about HR-45….. Happy hunting
Wow!!! I just happened to turn this on You tube (seen it before but needed some background noise while working) Watch the video, Fall of the Republic by Jones, and pay close attention around the 2:25 minute mark, obama signed a law regarding this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All I can say is holy sh–.
ForceRecon, you ask too many questions. Prepare to be shuttled to the Re-education camps so that you’ll pass your announced, intrusive psych evaluations in the near future. Remember, be happy, or you might be considered a downer and thus a terrorist.
On a serious note, when does the MSM ever report those little important details in a story? When does it ever report the WHY? Why did this happen in the first place? Why did those cave dwellers with box cutters fly our planes into the WTC? Oh that’s right, they hate us for our freedom.
Forgot to make one last comment from before.
This reminds me of a story I heard on NPR the other day. In today’s world of medicine, while in a hospital if you ask to have some form of euthanasia performed because you know the expensive medical procedure you need will end your life as you know it by throwing you and your family into bankruptcy, you will immediately be sent for psych counselling, thus prolonging your stay and increasing the cost that you couldn’t pay in the first place.
This is a travesty…..INNOCENT UNTILL PROVEN GUILTY….Why is this not on the national news…..Would we if this was a black man…