Arrested For Wearing a Helmet in Public - $250,000 Settlement Rejected

[Music] welcome to audit the audit where we sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions this episode covers investigatory detainment unreliable witnesses and officer conduct and is brought to us by green valley news's channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve at approximately 6 30 a.m on august 6 2019 22 year old freedom fendler stopped at a walmart in saurita arizona while on his way to work at a nearby car dealership mr fendler parked his bike near the entrance and went into the store without removing any of his riding gear including his helmet it should also be noted that mr fendler was listening to music through bluetooth headphones inside his helmet shortly after entering the store mr fendler was briefly approached by one of the managers but mr fendler fails to acknowledge their presence and continues walking the manager stalls for a moment and approximately one minute later he approaches mr fendler from behind but he is ignored again mr fendler continued shopping for another 10 minutes and after checking out and stopping at a bench inside the store to organize his backpack he was confronted by several officers of the saurita police [Music] a little department what's up you have some ideas a little problem yeah mannequins can ask you when it takes a helmet off while you're walking around in the store and you're just ignoring them where are you do you think i'm talking just do my favorite take your helmet off you're not going to speak with us with your helmet at this point the officers have initiated an investigatory detainment mr fendler surrenders his identification without question or protest the legality of wearing a helmet inside walmart is irrelevant the real issue at hand is whether the officers have reasonable suspicion to believe that mr fendler is trespassing and given that the manager who called said that they had asked mr fendler to leave several times it is likely that the officers would be within their authority to detain and investigate him as with many states citizens in arizona are required to state their name if a police officer suspects them of committing a crime under arizona revise statute 13-24-12 and mr fendler would have been required to state his name if he hadn't peacefully surrendered his id it is important to note that mr fendler is detained because this is when his fourth amendment protections come into play the supreme court has dedicated many rulings to developing a legal framework that distinguishes between lawful and unlawful arrests and over the years the precedent has become more formalized and developed in the 1968 case of terry versus ohio the supreme court noted that quote not all personal intercourse between policemen and citizens involves seizures of persons and that quote only when the officer by means of physical force or show of authority has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen may we conclude that a seizure has occurred in the decades between the terry ruling and the 1991 case of florida versus bostic the reasonable suspicion standard underwent many changes and eventually evolved into a reasonable perception approach in the bostic case the court held that the appropriate inquiry to determine whether a citizen has been seized is quote whether a reasonable person would feel free to decline the officer's requests or otherwise terminate the encounter given that mr fendler was surrounded by officers and was ordered to present his identification and remove his helmet it is likely that a court would consider him detained and entitled to constitutional protection [Applause] uh [Applause] so he said that he had music playing in his helmet i walked right up to before i go okay right now stood [Music] so you see the manager basically walk up right to your face and ask you to take off your helmet how'd you not see that i i saw him talking but he's got a headset on him right next to you right next to you i came up and i said sir i thought you were going this way i didn't hear i said stop my apology halfway throughout the story i have discussed the efficacy of eyewitness testimony in a previous episode which i will link in the info card above so i won't spend too much time on it in this episode but it should be noted that witnesses can be extremely unreliable and the manager's recollection of events is a testament to that first the manager claims that he walked right up to mr fendler and implied that mr fendler intentionally ignored him as you can see from the surveillance footage the manager makes a subtle gesture at mr fendler but remains outside of his field of view for the majority of the encounter it is easy to see how mr fendler may have been unaware that the manager was trying to speak to him considering that he was wearing headphones and his view was restricted by the helmet next the manager claims that he followed mr fendler halfway through the store telling him to stop but once again the camera showed that this statement is inaccurate although the manager did follow mr fendler across the store he approached mr fender from behind the second time and gave up after being ignored again the manager implied that there was no way mr fendler could have missed him even with the headphones on but the camera footage shows that it is entirely possible that mr fendler was unaware of the manager's presence without questioning any other witnesses reviewing any security footage or getting mr fendler's side of the story the officers began their questioning by assuming the manager was being truthful the officers also allowed the manager to interrogate mr fendler in the midst of their investigation which only added to the escalation of the interaction mr fendler continues to answer questions and for a moment it seems as though he may get the opportunity to explain himself let me ask you something what's the what's the purpose of keeping that helmet on it's just faster to get to work man like i said i'm on my way to work where do you work at work at jim click okay so you walk through the store what'd you buy i bought a sandwich a gatorade two peaches a scrubber i think four pans that toothbrush okay that's it so you just kept everything on here let's see keep the [Applause] i mean he knows i know because i i right he he rides yeah it's not it doesn't take much effort to take it off put it back on i mean it takes maybe like five seconds ten seconds if it doesn't man but i've never had any issues where i was like take it off or or a sign saying that you need to have it off and like i said that's why the manager asked you to take it off like i said i didn't hear him i had music playing through it you didn't see him standing right in front of me i saw you there and then i saw you talk but like again you have a headset on so i can't put my hands on you to get your attention right next to you right just like i'm standing with the come next to me right in front of you just like i'm standing here i said i need you to stop and listen to me i got associates that were upset and concerned because you're walking around with a backpack with a helmet nobody knows who you are but i made a person i'm concerned about the safety of myself okay you're an argument of person and i am not the person you want to argue with you need to take your head and you need to go like this and pull your head out of here because you're walking around in a store hiding your face there's shooters that go on and all over the place this man comes up to you and you want to play you've got a little senate head piece going on that you can't stop you need to listen to learn not listen to reply you need to turn that little switch off in your brain that you want to run your mouth and argue every time somebody tells you something because this is disturbing to peace you can go to jail and not go to work so what's the choice you're going to make hardhead you're going to quit walking around businesses with a helmet on scaring a lot of people to where you've got massive cops all over the place rifles outside waiting for a shooter to come out laugh but that's where we're at so pull your head out of your ass and quit arguing every time somebody tells you something i'm telling you look at what you're doing you keep wanting to argue with me i'm not the guy you want to argue with wasn't trying to argue that's why you keep talking stop talking okay fine fine this is officer john george and his emotional outburst did nothing to progress the investigative intent in mr fendler's detainment in fact it hindered the officer's ability to build a complete contextual narrative around the accusations being put forth by the manager not only was officer george's reprimand unprofessional and uncalled for but it also violated mr fendler's first amendment right to free speech in the 1987 case of houston vs hill the supreme court held that citizens have a right to voice their opinions to or near police officers whether or not they are in the performance of their duties mr fendler was detained when officer george ordered him to stop talking which essentially amounts to a government official depriving a citizen of free speech there are also implications of fourth amendment violations associated with officer george's conduct as well in the 1983 supreme court case of florida versus royer the court recognized that quote the scope of the detention must be carefully tailored to its underlying justification and that quote the investigative methods employed should be the least intrusive means reasonably available to verify or dispel the officer's suspicion in a short period of time officer george's behavior served no investigative interest and mr fendler was forced to listen to and obey the officer because he was being detained although unlikely it is possible that a court could find that officer george violated mr fendler's fourth amendment rights by extending the length of the stop to lecture him and force him to be quiet many episodes of ata have featured interactions where officers extend the duration of a detention to lecture the suspect and although the supreme court has not directly ruled on the constitutionality of this conduct prior cases indicate that it could arguably be viewed as a fourth amendment violation whether or not it was a violation of rights officer george's tantrum was completely unprofessional and uncalled for once officer george calmsdown the manager and the officers continue to question mr fendler but he decides to remain silent okay so officially being trespassed from the store don't come back to walmart come back to walmart manager anyone sees you you get arrested for that we don't have a picture taken with help he walks out it'll be on the camera walk through thank you what's your total uh do i have to provide that yes you do all right i gotta look at it from my phone and what else is in my pocket with your phone all right keep in mind if you come in here again you'll be arrested in your book your book the trespasser understands what he's telling you your trespass from walmart it's a national system you're not just trespassing this walmart trespassing something happens and you get pulled over or stopped at one of them other ones for wearing your helmet for stupid stunts like that you'll find yourself sitting in didn't have to be like that but how many other people you see going to business walking around with a motorcycle hung up especially with the shootings in daytona and freaking um el paso just happening your goals people are going to be on edge they're going to be scared they're going to be worried okay you got someone that walks in wearing a motorcycle helmet and has a backpack with military camouflage you're gonna think otherwise they're not gonna think it's just some law vices you can see how that looks it's like common kind of like common sense i mean like i said he rides i ride i always take my helmet off i mean what's does it really save you that much time today it didn't are you on medications tell me how old you are tell me how old you are okay you're acting like a little child how many times did you ask him to leave at least five six times just like like he's ignoring you i walked i walked half the store with him following him right to his side to ask me after i told many times that officers were coming out [Applause] current behavior [Applause] mr fendler was arrested charged with disorderly conduct and taken to the pima county adult detention center where he was detained for 17 hours following the encounter mr fendler's charges were dismissed and he went on to file a lawsuit claiming that he was illegally searched falsely arrested maliciously prosecuted and publicly defamed by the department according to the green valley news as of september 1st 2020 both the town of saurita and the sauerita police department deny any wrongdoing and a move to dismiss the lawsuit a judge has yet to rule on the dismissal and mr fendler's lawsuit is still ongoing overall the sauerita officers get an f for neglecting to conduct a thorough and legitimate investigation remaining hostile and condescending throughout the interaction and escalating what could have been a trespass warning into an arrest for disorderly conduct the officers utterly failed to conduct an investigation into what actually took place and essentially arrested mr fendler for being quiet after being told to do so that being said the societal context of mr fendler's actions cannot be ignored and although the walmart managers may have overreacted their fears were somewhat justified this interaction took place just days after the el paso walmart shooting that claimed the lives of 23 individuals and injured 23 more so it is somewhat understandable why they would feel uneasy however that does not excuse the manager's lying or the conduct of the officers condescending lectures are not part of the mission of a police stop and there is a legitimate argument to be made that officers who extend the length of stops to scold or conversate with suspects are violating their fourth amendment rights at the end of the day this entire happenstance was the result of a miscommunication and no one's livelihood was threatened by mr fendler's actions but instead of acting as neutral arbitrators on behalf of the public the sauerito officers chose to exaggerate the gravity of wearing a helmet inside a store and effectuate a baseless arrest nothing that the officers did made their community a safer place and the fact that the charges were dropped demonstrate that their actions were unfounded mr fendler gets a b-plus because although he could have exercised his right to remain silent more tactfully he remained calm and compliant throughout the interaction made a legitimate attempt to establish a productive dialogue and followed up this encounter with the proper legal action mr fendler was outnumbered from the start and there likely wasn't much that he could say or do to avoid being arrested especially considering that he wasn't saying anything when the officers decided to arrest him mr fendler made a genuine effort to dispel the officer's suspicions but once officer george finished his condescending tirade mr fendler shut down and rightfully so while mr fendler did eventually decide to remain silent he neglected to verbally acknowledge that he was invoking his fifth amendment right and the moment he chose to begin his silence could have been more calculated i commend mr fendler for his ability to maintain his composure throughout this encounter and for following up with the proper legal action it will be interesting to see the outcome of mr fendler's lawsuit but it may be some time before a conclusion to this encounter is reached let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to like and subscribe for more police interaction content you

Channel: Audit the Audit

Views: 4,572,698

Rating: 4.8753152 out of 5

Keywords: amagansett press, first amendment audit, 1st amendment audit, auditing america, news now california, sgv news first, high desert community watch, anselmo morales, photography is not a crime, san joaquin valley transparency, first amendment audit fail, walk of shame, news now houston, police fail, 1st amendment audit fail, public photography, auditor arrested, police brutality, highdesert community watch, pinac news, cops triggered, news now patrick, east hampton

Id: HUbKxVlA_0M

Length: 16min 29sec (989 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 19 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/viennery]

Once the receipt was shown, the man reason and purpose for being in that store was 100% certain.

Why bother pursuing him any further? Ignoring someone isn’t a crime, and if I were the cops I would assume the manager is wasting my time.

If I were the manager I would have been embarrassed the moment I saw that receipt.

Americans allow their egos to make their country a worse place to live.

[u/nagumi]

The cop was later fired for an unrelated incident.

George was fired later that month for his actions in an unrelated case involving a traffic stop where a driver was Tasered. That driver received a $15,000 settlement from the town. George, who was still in a 12-month probationary period as an officer, later landed a job with DPS.

https://www.gvnews.com/news/suit-dismissed-over-walmart-arrest-but-attorney-says-its-not-over/article_a56cd16a-418d-11eb-a1c6-1b3b25f69485.html

[u/bigbwag44]

That cop that freaked out needs to be re-evaluated. He's gonna kill someone

[u/happydoodles420]

They called the cops because he might be a mass shooter but had no concerns for the one employee at the register.

[u/dungadewballz]

Cops suck.

[u/SerStrongSight]

This made me so mad, what dipshit cops. “Argumentative person”. Just wow. Those cops should be charged for such billshit.

[u/Th3BookSniff3r]

This makes me so angry. Videos like this show just how bad cops are at their jobs

[u/Sleezroy]

Damn: if guns are such a problem in the USA and you can’t wear a helmet around that’s fucked. Maybe time to address that issue?

So free! So fearless!

[u/Rescuemedic47]

ACAB