June 09, 2005

Do you remember the great Chicken Caper, pulled off by deputies of Oregon's Josephine County Sheriff, Dave Daniels? That's where a guy named Nick Gombos found a stray chicken huddled in a box outside a closed market in Williams, Oregon, took it home and cared for it. Nick even got a couple more chickens to keep it company in a pen he built specially for them.

Sheriff Daniel's boys raided Gombos' home late at night and stole the chicken, returned it to the market where sometime afterward some juvenile monstrosity stomped it to death. They also arrested Nick Gombos in his bright red briefs, and hauled him off to jail for the night. So much for "Speckles", but the Josephine County DA pressed charges against Gombos, and put his family through Hell for months before a new DA dropped the charges.

Unfortunately, Nick and his wife, Kathy did not carry through with a federal civil rights lawsuit, meaning Sheriff Daniels and his constitutionally impaired deputies didn't learn a thing from it.

Well, I think they're going to regret this latest boo-boo. More importantly, the taxpayers of Josephine County, Oregon could be facing a multi-million dollar federal court judgment as a direct result of this sheriff's arrogance. Sheriff Daniels is a dinosaur who apparently thinks he's running a 1930's style sheriff's department in Alabama - and he looks the part too: Great big fat gut and all. I'm looking forward to seeing him in mirrored sunglasses holding a donut. That would complete the picture.

Sheriff Daniels heard a motorcycle group called the "Vagos Motorcycle Club", was coming to Josephine County to hang out and play a "Poker Run". Reportedly, police regard the Vagos members as an "outlaw gang", so based upon that, and not based upon any serious wrongdoing committed by a member of the club while visiting Josephine County, Sheriff Daniels and his merry band deliberately set out to harass any member they could.

The deputies followed the bikers around in patrol cars , unmarked cars and a helicopter, and gave the group something like 40 traffic citations, mostly for any specious excuse whatsoever.

But it gets worse.

Here's a quote in the Medford Mail Tribune, 6/8/05 from Sheriff Daniels regarding his little adventure:

"I hope it was the kind of reception they don't ever want again, and don't return to Josephine County," Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel told the Daily Courier.

Here's a slightly less incriminating quote from a police officer with the Grants Pass Police Department:

"This was a cooperative effort to keep our community safe," said Grants Pass police Lt. Laura Zeliff. "We don't know what their intent is. There's a reputation there. We don't know what may come up, so we prepare ourselves."

Prepare yourselves? What transpired was not making sure you have enough cops and deputies to handle criminal behavior Club members might commit. No this was pure, unadulterated police harassment carried out on an offensive basis, rather than a reactive one, on CITIZENS of the United States who were singled out and profiled!

Can you believe this kind of thing can occur in the United States of America in 2005? Can you believe Sheriff Daniels was so irresponsible and arrogant as to be quoted that the harassment was deliberate and intended to discourage the group from returning to Josephine County in the future?

If this group does have members who represent a criminal element, and if it really is an "outlaw gang", did it happen to occur to this moron of a sheriff that such gangs are awash with money, usually drug-related, and that they can afford to bring in the nastiest attorneys in the rat hole and empty the coffers of Josephine County with one federal civil rights lawsuit?

I'll never forget the faces of the Jackson County Commissioners and Jackson County Sheriff Kennedy, when a settlement of 1.8 million dollars was to be paid to the family of Jeffery Stuart Anderson. Anderson had been beaten to death in the Jackson County Jail, and I have the photographs to prove it. I believe the beating was carried out by one or more of four deputies on duty that night, because there were severe handcuff marks on Anderson's wrists and ankles. In fact, it was the Southern Oregon Militia that arranged to pair the family with Attorney Foster Glass of Bend, Oregon.

Up to that time, lawsuits had been brought against local police and the sheriff for various instances of excessive force, but with very poor results for the victims. I have long suspected that jurors are carefully hand-picked in Southern Oregon, particularly those citizens chosen to sit on the Grand Jury, but the Anderson case was handled as a federal lawsuit, and those jurors knew a wrongful death when they saw one, so they originally voted to give the family of Jeffery Anderson 3.5 million dollars.

Unfortunately, the jurors did something wrong that allowed the defense to win a mistrial, but the Sheriff and Commissioners weren't about to face another federal jury that might award the family even more, so they settled on the $1.8 million on the spot. It was wise of them.

Anyway, you taxpayers in Josephine County, Oregon have a huge liability in Sheriff Dave Daniels. You barely dodged a federal lawsuit over that chicken caper, and now this same sheriff has placed you right in the path of another one. Get rid of him before he does it again, and it would be a real good idea to flush his deputies in the same process. Today's taxpayers cannot afford public officials who flaunt and violate the most basic civil rights of the citizens. If you keep them, they will cost you dearly.

The Medford Mail Tribune article follows.

Carl F. Worden

Cops lean on visiting Vagos
An 'outlaw' motorcycle club's weekend poker run was disrupted by Josephine County deputies, who issued numerous traffic citations
Staff and wire reports

GRANTS PASS - Members of a motorcycle club, which police labeled an "outlaw gang," spent the weekend holed up at a local campground after a series of confrontations with police.

Members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club had been playing a round of "motorcycle poker," in which riders draw poker cards at different locations in the hopes of collecting a winning hand.

But by early Saturday afternoon, Vagos members said the game had become impossible to play, after police handed them dozens of traffic citations. They say the infractions were minor and that police were unfairly singling them out.

By Sunday, roughly 100 members of Vagos had hunkered down at Schroeder Park, two miles west of Grants Pass. "They're holding us hostage," said Vagos member William Stratton.

"I hope it was the kind of reception they don't ever want again, and don't return to Josephine County," Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel told the Daily Courier.

Just outside the park, police had set up an observation post in a travel trailer. Lt. Lee Harman said 63 officers and a helicopter were on duty Friday night alone. Police described Vagos as "an outlaw motorcycle gang" and said their vigilance was justified.

"This was a cooperative effort to keep our community safe," said Grants Pass police Lt. Laura Zeliff. "We don't know what their intent is. There's a reputation there. We don't know what may come up, so we
prepare ourselves."

Vagos riders complained they were pulled over for minor infractions, including having too-thin tread on tires, no mud flaps or inadequate turn signals.

Some of the citations listed charges of failure to signal turns, speeding, no insurance and operator's license problems.

Biker Chris Meyer of Victorville, Calif., said police cited him for an alleged stop-sign violation.

"He said my front tire touched the white line," said Meyer, who disputes the allegation.

The officer also cited Meyer for having no proof of insurance. After the incident, Meyer rode back to the park in the back of a pickup truck, his bike towed on a trailer.

Total fines for his two citations, according to the paperwork: $514.

On Sunday morning, Sacramento, Calif.-based Vagos member Nick Vales said bikers had received about 40 citations.

"The profiling is what ticks me off," he said. "The things they're pulling us over for are unnecessary. It's a civil rights issue."

Grants Pass police Lt. Bill Landis said that his staff filed for around 340 hours of overtime over the weekend. On Saturday, he had roughly 30 officers at the campground after receiving reports of a fight.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters said he and 15 deputies worked in Josephine County during the weekend, filling in patrol gaps while Josephine County deputies worked the Vagos event.

Carl F. Worden

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