Special Treatment for City Employees
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An off-duty fireman spotted a fire and gave chase to a vehicle he saw leaving the scene. He probably followed my neighbor who has a black Ford Ranger and parks across the street from the site of the fire. In a distance of a block and a half that included one corner, he managed to lose sight of the vehicle and decided that my son’s slow moving black Ford Ranger was driven by an arsonist also. The fireman did not accomplish this incredible feat alone. He was accompanied by his sleuthy wife who was driving their red pick-up truck. My son’s pulling in the alley and backing into his normal spot next to the back door was reported as, “He’s doing a one 180, he knows he’s been spotted, he’s coming back out”. (This may not be exact, but it was 3rd hand by the time it went through dispatch, and the officer.)
My son did not come back out, unaware of the fire in the neighborhood that was reported as “someone set the trees in the park on fire.” and that he was now the prime suspect due to his driving a very common vehicle. He was in a good mood having just returned from visiting friends which required him to pass within a block of the fire to get home.
The hysterical nature of this event continued after the police arrived, but things got worse. Because they gave a fellow city employee more credibility than my son who belonged in the neighborhood and could account for his exact path home, the police subjected him to an abusive and coercive interrogation on the front porch.
When he could not be coerced into confessing, one of the officers went in our backyard and took the gas can for our weedeater we store in the garage and placed it in the back of my son’s truck. This officer believed that an accelerant would be necessary to set the park on fire and a gas can in the truck would provide probable cause to search the vehicle, and would make my son confess.
By then a third officer had been to the site of the fire which was a pile of Christmas trees waiting for the City to remove. He hadn’t conveyed this information to the other officers as the third officer was too busy on the phone with the witness. After all, they had two witnesses claiming arson, although by then, the fire call had been aborted, no one had been seen standing, walking, or running away from the fire. There was no damage.
When they couldn’t coerce a confession, the police arrested my son and issued my son a citation for open container that had been legally stored behind the seat of his truck. They confiscated the liquor and left the gas can. (An arrest is necessary to issue a citation. They didn’t take him to jail.)
This swift justice took place from 7:30 until 8:30 at night.
We spent the following days documenting what had happened and how. We knew the can was planted and were able to document this. We were able to eliminate the fireman and his wife as having planted the gas can. With the police report, we were able to identify which of the officers was in the backyard alone.
Through a strange set of events earlier the day of the incident, we were able to have photographic evidence that the gas can was not in the truck prior to my son’s leaving for his friend’s house.
The same circumstances allowed for recognizable footprints left next to the truck which the officer had reported as being “in the alley behind the house”. He also reported that the liquor was openly visible. It was visible after he searched the truck and uncovered it from under the clothing behind the seat. He reported a gas can in the truck, but failed to report that he had just put it there. He did all this knowing that my son and I were occupied in the front of the house as were the other two officers. He had to open the truck door to have enough light to see anything.
In trying to incriminate my son, the officer incriminated himself. It has been almost three weeks since we reported this and I don’t know if the officer has been suspended or if the investigation continues. My phonecalls have not been returned. If he is not prosecuted, his superiors are guilty of obstruction.
The officers were laughing boisterously as they left the house. If the officer told the other officers what he had done, they are guilty of obstruction. Filing a false report is a misdemeanor. Planting false evidence is a felony like perjury. These are fairly serious crimes when they cause harm to other people.
My son was cited for open container under Title 23-505 which any one of the three officers should have recognized as unsupportable because of the City Ordinance 4-2-22.
TITLE 23 ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES CHAPTER 5 PERMITS AND LICENSES 23-505. TRANSPORTATION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. (1) Alcoholic liquor lawfully purchased may be transported, but no person shall break open, or allow to be broken or opened any container of alcoholic liquor, or drink, or use, or allow to be drunk, or used any alcoholic liquor therein while the same is being transported. Provided however, that an unsealed alcoholic beverage container may be transported in an enclosed trunk compartment or behind the last upright seat of a vehicle which has no trunk compartment.
4-2-22: POSSESSION OF OPEN CONTAINERS PROHIBITED:
(B) Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing herein shall prohibit the possession of an open container of liquor within the following areas:
(2) Within any private residence or upon the yard thereabout, or within any apartment, duplex, condominium, boarding house or other structure lawfully used as a permanent residence, or within any common area or area designated exclusively for and appurtenant to such residential occupancy.
Also, the truck was parked. My son was not in the vehicle. He’d been home for awhile when the police arrived. The hot pursuit was not by the police, although one of them claimed this to be the case. I had seen my son drive in and followed shortly thereafter by a red truck. The red truck spent a lot of time in the street with the witnesses trying to catch a glimpse of the would be arsonist , who was already in the house in the bathroom. They couldn’t have made a mistake… they never lost sight of the truck. Well, a little math and a little common sense tells you that the witness was behind the first truck as it made the corner, which was accelerating and overtook the second vehicle as he was slowing and had pulled over to make the turn into the alley. The witness wouldn’t have been able to see this switch until they came past the house on the corner. They never saw the two vehicles together or ignored the faster vehicle. They saw only a slow moving black Ford Ranger with it’s rear license plate obliterated making the corner and thought that the slow moving black Ford Ranger pulling into the alley were the same. But both witness were certain they had never lost sight of the vehicle.
The officer lying about the location of the vehicle and the location of the liquor is very relevant here. This is perjury. The officer took the liquor and in doing so, he destroyed my son’s defense for the location of the bottle. He took the bottle, later the bottle was photographed and the contents “disposed of”. But he couldn’t take the truck off our property. By saying that the truck was in the alley, he caused the other officer to write a bad citation.
For your own protection from police abuse, keep your garage and your cars locked. Park in your driveway or in your yard. Make it a habit. Do not park in the public right-of-way. Buy a digital camera, preferably a video camera. Never let a member of your family be interrogated without a witness and you have the right to tell the police to get off your property. You do not have to speak to them without an attorney. You don’t have to let them in your house without a warrant. Never let them separate you from your family members. I was standing inside the house and could hear the abuse. That is not good enough. With two people, there won’t be abuse. Verbal harassment is damaging. Don’t let it happen.
Clean out your vehicles…
Most of us are polite and will do what we are asked. The police have all the time in the world. They are on the clock and we are paying them. Don’t let them force a sense of urgency on you. They wouldn’t be concerned this much about a pile of trash if they actually had a real crime to investigate. Idaho Falls must be pretty boring if they had to make a Federal case out of this.. Which ironically, they did.
This incident proved to me that when there is no trouble, they will make trouble. And we will be the recipients. The City is not going to pay your attorney to defend these unwarranted intrusions. The City will not pay your doctor bill when you have PTSD from one of these incidents.
Separating people is a police tactic and it is very hard to not be intimidated when a large man in uniform, skilled in doing this, tries it. A way to avoid this is to simply grab the other person’s hand and don’t let go for any reason. Don’t think about being embarrassed. Just do it. Stand with your back to a wall or your vehicle. Don’t let an officer get behind you. Make them face you. Don’t believe everything they say because they lie to confuse you.
Don’t let them traumatize you. As you see how they came here, half-cocked, they will gaslight you because they don’t know what is going on. My son and I were honest in every detail, except his comment about the bottle of whiskey. (Described later.) Two of the officers lied about the circumstances in trying to undermine my son. Just tell them to arrest you and let them know that you will follow up on a wrongful arrest. That was the only thing that got rid of them that evening.
We had to do our own investigating to find out what really happened. No one returned calls except Mr. Tenner of the IFFD. And he was grand. He assured me that the fireman was honorable and helped eliminate his as the one who planted the gas can.
Taking these precautions might make them presume you have something to hide, but if you are innocent, you have nothing to fear. Not taking these precautions can result in abuse of authority and serious psychological harm… to you.
Had we been wiser, we would have just told the police to come back with a video camera or talk to our attorney and asked them to leave. As you can see that the burning of the Xmas trees was not a reason to subject us to any of this. The arson investigation was dropped about the time the fire call was aborted, but my son was made to believe it was ongoing and he was the prime suspect. He didn’t know until five days later that this was not the case. By then, we had most of the evidence to protect him from these charges. You can get a lot done if you can’t sleep from the stress and don’t need to eat because you are too upset.
After the officer came back with the bottle and announced the presence of the gas can, my son told the officers he was cold and asked them to come inside. This officer jumped up on the porch, raised his empty hand and yelled, “You take one step toward that door and I will mess you up.” He really wanted a confession and thought my son’s invitation was a sign he was “breaking.” My son was being very co-operative and truthful, but he had already been held outside for 15 minutes without a coat and was wearing slippers.
A word to the wise.. We were completely surprised by this. We never expected this sort of behavior from the police. This officer is a rogue cop. It is a tragedy that his behavior is allowed, but the other officers witnessed this and did nothing.
The police report emphasized only those things that might support my son being drunk as he had told the police that he had consumed a half bottle of whiskey on the way to the door. They knew that wasn’t true as he had no bottle of whiskey when they first saw him in the house and he had to put on his slippers to go outside. It did reflect his asking the 3rd officer when he arrived “Are you here to violate my civil rights also?”
The officer in charge wrote the report. He intelligently reported what he was told and by whom. In doing so, he was protected from the behaviors of the other policemen. Because of the confusion I wanted to know what was going on. After all, there was an arsonist on the loose in our neighborhood. He never got back to me when I left a message for him to call me.
After this, we were afraid of the police, but there is little you can do. The Sheriff won’t look at it. The Idaho Attorney General won’t look at it. You have to go through the IFPD, the Mayor and the City Council. The new Chief of Police responded appropriately to this, and I am following up, but it takes time. Of course, I have concerns that it won’t be handled at all because of the culture in place that has allowed this incident to happen. Our Mayor’s background is in law enforcement.
We saw how Kimball Mason behaved. Who was the whistle-blower? Kudos! It takes a really strong constitution to stand up to corruption of authority and I appreciate those who will not tolerate it.
I am 60 years old and have lived in large cities and small towns from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast, the Philippines and Singapore. I’ve never personally seen this kind of malfeasance before and I didn’t expect it in the place I was born. I retired here because I expected Idaho Falls to be safe and sane.
I did not expect my son to be treated like a criminal by a criminal who has the position to make my life miserable if he so chooses. Do I expect retaliation? Of course! That is why I am going public. A sociopath who would try to incriminate another person just to take an already open bottle of liquor must feel the risk is worth the reward. Either he wanted the liquor for himself or he wanted to make a case, any case..
I can’t imagine this being the first time he lied or planted evidence. It might be the first time he got caught. He was practiced at lying. His planting of evidence still needs work. Because he planted it behind the cab on the driver’s side and the truck was so close to the back door and backed in so far from the alley, the can was not visible unless he was trespassing in our yard, standing next to the truck. The gas can would have been more incriminating in the garage as an arsonist would have likely hidden it. The can would have had to have been on the hood or the cab to be visible. If my son had made the footprints to the garage, where the can was stored, the can would have been in the garage.
We had NEVER had the can in the truck. Why would you have 2-cycle gas in the truck in January? Maybe you would be using a chainsaw to cut trees? If your heart was set on maliciously destroying public property, a chainsaw would be louder, but more efficient. Maybe you would want it to be stolen? Maybe you would take your wanton ways a bit further from your own back yard? The fire was 250 feet from out back yard..
So many of the employees of the City are like Mr. Tenner, responsible, kind and would never do anything untoward. Most of my experiences with the City have been delightful. The police have some grand people working there. One rogue cop can destroy the trust of a community and require someone like myself to take a stand. As long as there is the threat of this person on the force, you have to be careful. I will never trust the police as I did before.
My son has asked for a jury trial so that the malfeasance can be brought out. The charges will probably be dropped before then because it isn’t worth the taxpayer’s money to prosecute something like this. He has a pre-trial hearing on February 21 for an incident that took place on January 10. We have a meeting scheduled with a prosecutor on February 13. The prosecutor has promised to read the Motion to Dismiss that my son filed before that meeting. He filed a motion so that all of the above would be on record, in case it were dismissed.
I don’t think it is appropriate to name the officer here, but it is also not fair to paint the whole police force with the same broad brush. Two of the officers were quite competent and mostly acted appropriately. If one of the officers hadn’t taken the announcement of the gas responsibly and told me, I wouldn’t have smelled the fish in all this when they took the bottle and not the can. Of course, my son immediately recognized what had been done and realized that the garage door was open. Since the officer I’m accusing is entitled to know his accuser and the evidence against him, I want him to know that I’ve done a far better job of police work and developing a case than he ever has. He didn’t know how seriously we took his threats and how we would feel about my son being accused of arson and the distress it caused us.
The other officers used smaller degrees of coercion, one almost as if he were pained to do so. These two officers were as much victims of the third as we were, although they all left laughing and we weren’t laughing at all. This would never have happened except for the false report …. and if that City Sanitation had picked up those trees! Maybe the real crime is the folks who dumped the trees…
I was unaware until this week that the police have audio recorders on their person. In one case where the defendant got a copy, the original had been lost before the trial. Since these are public record, one should be able to secure the 911 calls and the recordings the police make through the Freedom of Information Act. When going to trial, if these are used as evidence, you will get a copy if the prosecutor collects them to use against you. If they are supportive of your claims, I wouldn’t expect them to automatically provide them. You can request that the prosecutor get them.
If you want to see how the misidentification was made, use Google maps. My neighbor parks his vehicle in front of 265 S. Placer… and it is a lot nicer looking that my son’s… we live at 438 Maple which is on the alley between Corner and Placer. The fire was on the east end of the trianglular piece of land on the corner of Pine and Placer. (Not Poitivin Park) My son was coming down Maple from Yellowstone Highway. There are other black Ford Rangers in the neighborhood, and there are probably several in your neighborhood. Heaven forbid you own one!
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=265+S+Placer+Ave,+Idaho+Falls,+ID+83402&geocode=&dirflg=&daddr=438+Maple+St,+Idaho+Falls,+ID+83402+(Hawthorne+Elementary+School)&f=d&sll=43.490027,-112.035849&sspn=0.006959,0.014462&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17&om=0
(Copy this from the top down and paste it in your browser for a birdseye view.
The satellite picture shows the houses and it is daylight. Imagine this at dark with other traffic on the street. We average about 2 cars a minute. The distance from one house to the other is about 354 feet. It takes 1.8 seconds (I have a stopwatch) for the average car to pass from visibility from midway on S. Placer. The distance between the intersection of Maple and Placer and our alley is 164 feet.
The distance from the fire to the front edge of the house on the corner is 308 feet.
It takes a vehicle about 4 seconds to turn from the stopsign and be out of vision from any spot on Placer behind the front edge of the corner house. From there accelerating from 12 to 25, it take 5 seconds to pass the alley.
Decelerating from 25 to 0 to make a tight turn into the alley from the earliest line of sight on Maple requires 12.7 seconds.
Traveling from the fire on Placer to the edge of the house requires18 seconds, decelerating from 25 to zero at the stopsign. Of course, the witness didn’t stop at the fire or need any reaction time. It is pretty hard to imagine any way that the witness didn’t lose sight of the vehicle except in their minds. By the time they decided to give chase, the truck was probably at the intersection and all they saw was the direction it went. Unfortunately, either my son came in before or after this truck made the turn. They could have missed his coming through the intersection in the time it took them to call 911. The driver should have been watching her driving and decelerating to the stop sign. They wouldn’t have paid any attention to a vehicle passing ahead or behind the first truck. They just had to get up to the corner…
The witness had no idea what would ensue.
All of this happened in a few seconds and in a length of a football stadium. Be very , very careful when giving chase.. At night following black Ford Rangers.
If you are a City Employee and recognize yourself and feel embarassed, or feel good because you know you are doing a good job, remember you reap what you sow. City employees are no different than the next human being. They deserve our thanks and recognition for the many who are out making our lives easier in sometimes less than pleasant conditions. They need our support, our smiles and polite gratitude. I love my garbage men who are as regular as clock work and our dedicated City Employees who are kind and effective and pleasant. Anyone who treats me with less respect than I deserve will get a call to his or her supervisor. When somebody is exceptionally good, I make the effort to have a letter put in his or her file. I introduce myself and ask his or her name.
After two police vehicles stopped on my street today , I was apprehensive. I didn’t feel like this the last time the streets were plowed and they had to remove vehicles. Before all I thought about was how cold it was for them. Give these guys a wave and a smile. Let our city workers know the taxpayers appreciate a job well-done.
You get the service and the people you tolerate. Ultimately, the responsibility of our city and how it functions depends on the voter. Know your candidates and hold their feet to the fire. They are responsible for the work environment, and the ethics our workers are subjected to.
Pay your taxes and vote.. And speak up.. This officer should have known that I believe in protecting our rights and wouldn’t put up with malfeasance. Right there in my front window for all to see is my Ron Paul sign. He was warned!
Mary Helburn
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Comments
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0 1. I agree with anonymous that both sides should be represented on this, so those of us reading can get the full picture (as much as possible). Is it possible to publish a copy of the report made by the officers in this situation?
2. And the fire itself, was there an arson investigation that determined that gasoline was the accelerant? And where WAS the son, can someone vouch for where he was, if it wasn’t him that set the fire?
3. It’s scary damn business when this kind of allegation is made. I don’t know either of the parties but it’s just scary. I don’t know why it makes me scared, because I’m old enough to know that police officers aren’t any less human than the rest of us and can do bad things on occasion, but it still bothers me greatly to find these kinds of accusations.
4. Is it true, what she said, about the liquor legality? And if so, why would an officer write up a ticket for something that is not illegal? I have a small problem with the concept of having the liquor there and the statement that it was okay because it was on private property…to me, if the liquor was in a vehicle, the assumption is made that it was there while the vehicle was on a public roadway. Is that still legal? Or does the officer have to catch them on a public roadway in order for it to be illegal? Splitting hairs, it sounds like.
4. This can’t end here. Obviously there will be more to this story, so please do not leave us hanging, if anything new happens or is known. We have to assume that the officer is innocent, or that Mary’s son is, but we’ll never know which is true unless someone keeps us posted.
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0 0 I think this story seems rather shady. And I also believe there should be a police report downloaded to this post.
I don’t see how anybody could light some trees on fire (even with gasoline) when every tree in SE Idaho is covered in snow and/or is soaking wet from a month of snowfall.
Where did the kid dissapear to all of a sudden after parking his truck?
It’s agaisn’t the law to have your license plate covered by snow, mud or what have you. (I can’t believe all the vehicles driving around town like this as it is!)
What was your son doing with an open container in his vehicle?
What would you be doing with gasoline for a weedeater in your garage, when you haven’t been able to trim for weeds for at least 5 months! You just leave gasoline sitting in your garage like that? (not very safe!)
Why would he be MELTING the snow out of the back of his truck to reduce the weight? When everyone knows that it’s best to have MORE weight in the back of a pickup to improve traction in icy/snowy driving conditions.
That’s just common knowledge!
There are just way too many holes in this story and I think a copy of the Police report would definately help get the other side of the story. I don’t see you getting too much sympathy and/or public support from this one.
but that’s just MY opinion.
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0 0 Idaho Code 23-505 addresses Open Container Law. Based on the circumstances at work here, the young man would have to have placed the liquor bottle either in the trunk (which is not applicable here as this is a truck) or behind the last upright seat in the vehicle (so long as it was not opened). As for being on private property, as this is a misdemeanor, the police would have to have viewed the young man driving to ascertain him being in physical control of the vehicle. If not, the witness would have to agree to sign the ticket as the “arresting officer/party” here. Otherwise, the police would have to write it up and send it to the prosecutor’s office for action to get an arrest warrant for the offense as it did not occur in their presence. I think the officer committed a major error there by issuing the ticket (if indeed the witness did not sign it).
Additionally, if the bottle was not in plain view, this would also be an interesting point….did anyone give consent to look in the truck? If so, the police do not need probable cause. Whatever they find there can be admissable in Court.
This is a troubling post. I too will be interested to hear what happens. Please keep us posted.
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0 0 The officer does not need consent to search a vehicle if he has reason to believe said vehicle was used in committing a crime. C’mon Mike, you should know this!
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0 0 On things they didn’t see police do not have to submit things to the prosecutor for a warrant although that is one way to handle it. Police can issue a summons, aka ticket, on any misdemeanor they did not personally see which they feel there is probable cause to believe was committed. Where there is confusion is that police may only arrest, aka take to someone to jail, on misdemeanors that occur in their presence. There are certain exceptions to this in the cases of violent misdemeanors and in those cases police may take someone to jail even if they didn’t see the offense.
So in this case the police were well within their legal rights to issue a summons / ticket for open container even if they didn’t see the guy driving. They only need probable cause to believe the crime occurred.
Now there could be an issue as to whether it was a valid ticket because you can have an open container in your car so long as its in the trunk or behind the last upright seat in the cases of trucks / SUV’s.
But these are two different issues. In one the officer did nothing wrong and in the other we simply don’t know because there isn’t enough credible information at this time to fully evaluate the whole incident.
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0 0 Good Post Anonymous. Here is the statute when officers can arrest:
19-603. WHEN PEACE OFFICER MAY ARREST. A peace officer may make an arrest
in obedience to a warrant delivered to him, or may, without a warrant, arrest
a person:
1. For a public offense committed or attempted in his presence.
2. When a person arrested has committed a felony, although not in his
presence.
3. When a felony has in fact been committed and he has reasonable cause
for believing the person arrested to have committed it.
4. On a charge made, upon a reasonable cause, of the commission of a
felony by the party arrested.
5. At night, when there is reasonable cause to believe that he has
committed a felony.
6. When upon immediate response to a report of a commission of a crime
there is probable cause to believe, that the person arrested has committed a
violation of section 18-902 (assault), 18-903 (battery), 18-918 (domestic
assault or battery), 18-7905 (first degree stalking), 18-7906 (second degree
stalking), 39-6312 (violation of a protection order), or 18-920 (violation of
a no contact order).
7. When there is reasonable cause to believe, based upon physical
evidence observed by the officer or statements made in the presence of the
officer upon immediate response to a report of a commission of a crime aboard
an aircraft, that the person arrested has committed such a crime.
Now, since the police officer was not present for the arson or the open container violation…..and because the officer was investigating arson…..unless consent was given to enter the vehicle the open container ticket should not hold up. This is bolstered by the fact that the officer didn’t even bother to take the gas can and took the liquor instead. A motion to suppress the open container should succeed in Court as this was obviously a case of misuse of authority to supposedly investigate arson and write up an alcohol violation.
If the police had not used the exigent circumstances argument that the evidence could be carted away immediately and applied for a warrant, I doubt that a liquor bottle would have been mentioned on the warrant. Same issue would have been present had a firearm or kiddie porn been found in the truck….it is not related to the reason for the search (i.e. arson) and the evidence seized would be excluded as improperly obtained-absent consent or a warrant authorizing seizure of items related to the crime of arson.
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0 0 Unless of course the bottle was in plain view as the officer claimed. Was the Ranger or pickup and extended cab? “he had placed behind the passenger seat under some clothes” Or was the bottle visable? I too would like to see the report. As far as footprints to the garage, I would be disappointed if an officer did not check the surroundings, i.e. an open garage door, of a possible arson suspect. That would not be very safe. Maybe I missed it in the complaint, but I did not read where someone watched an officer plant the gas can.
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0 0 I have a short comment. I am very impressed with the dialog going on here. Thank each and every one of you who have posted for being “on topic” and so focused. The information you have posted is so pertinent. I feel like I am attending a post-graduate seminar in the Idaho Code and its implementation “in the field.” I hope that this thread continues along these lines of civil discourse–this is “Citizen Journalism” at its best. Very inspiring! THANK YOU! Monte
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0 0 Yeah, absolutely. I used to say I was not a journalist, but now I think I am more of a horribly lousy journalist. The only fact verification I did was that the officer works for IFPD. Unlike mainstream media where the last thing you hear are the accusations, at IFz you hear the followups. Citizen journalism can perform well if it is crowdsourced. So let’s crowdsource.
The police report would be perfect to post here or or post a link to it. Where does the IFPD post these reports online?
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0 0 “The officer does not need consent to search a vehicle if he has reason to believe said vehicle was used in committing a crime.” This is not exactly true. There are several “exemptions” to the search warrant requirement, but just having a reason to believe a vehicle was used in a crime is not one of them. Since this seems to be a learning post, I’ll give you the first exemption: Plain view. That may apply here, depending on who’s telling the truth. Since there are several PD related people posting here, let’s see if several of you can add to the search warrant exemption list. I’ll give you another: Officer safety. Who wants to add another? Come on guys, you get this every year in block training, and should know it by heart. Oh, by the way, an officer who believes a vehicle was involved in a crime but can’t use one of the search warrant exceptions, can always have the vehicle held until a warrant can be obtained. Oops, gave away exception #3, exigent circumstances. Quick guys, get your exception in before they all get mentioned.
taking the booze and leaving the gas can on an arson investigation? That’s just dumb, if it really happened.
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0 0 I appreciate all the comments. Believe me I’ve had to get educated about things in the last few weeks.
The story is not quite in the format I want it and I will have Joe post one with more details so that you can be up close and personal.
I had to learn where to find the State Statutes and City Ordinances..
I’m just trying to share what I’ve been forced to learn…
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0 0 I pulled the text content and replaced it with “waiting for writer revision”.
… later … updated text content
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0 0 For those who want to see the report, I didn’t find it online. It is number 200800629.1
I think just traffic stuff is posted online.
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0 0 One more thing….if an officer asks for consent and you decline, he will most likely think you have something to hide and will either hold you and wait for a search warrant stating that he has probable cause, or more often than not, he’ll call a K9 unit out to sniff for any narcotics, illegal substances, bomb materials, etc. etc.
There have been times (in a larger city/different state) where exactly that had happened to me. (on more than one occasion) Just because I was young, owned an expensive sports car and had long hair they thought they could intimidate me. Profiling happens every day in every city in this country and it’s not just “racial profiling” that goes on either. To make a long story short, I refused to a search of my vehicle and they called out the K9 unit. Some may ask “why wouldn’t you just let them search if you didn’t have anything to hide”? To which I would respond, because it’s my right not to consent to a search of my property, especially when I knew for a fact the officer/s where merely wanting to shake me down and where overstepping their boundaries. I had all the time in the world, what do I care if they hold me up for 45 minutes? It’s their own time they wasted not mine, as well as all that paperwork they have to fill out at the end of the day. Plus it gave me a chance to get their badge numbers and report them for harrassment. I even received an apology letter once from the Chief of Police!
But the fact of the matter is, I’ve come across my share of cops over the years that abuse their power. They think they can scare people with their threats and rude treatment, but that doesn’t work on me because I know my rights. I think more people should study up on their rights as well and incidents like what happened above, wouldn’t happen as much. Too many people feel like they HAVE to “suck up” to police officers to keep from getting a ticket or worse. but if you have nothing to hide and you didn’t do anything wrong, then stick to your guns (so to speak) and stand up for yourself & your rights. The statement “knowledge is power” couldn’t be more true in this case and knowing your rights before an incident arises is always helpful. I have nothing but respect for an officer of the law as long as he respects me and doesn’t throw his weight around by trying to intimidate me.
I’ve lived in IF for about 7 years and in that time I’ve only been pulled over once for speeding in town. The officer was very nice and courteous and I was very respectful to him. (yes sir, no sir, etc) And he sent me on my way with a warning.
The moral of the story is “Know your Rights”!
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0 0 I agree with Johnny, nice that everyone stayed on topic, and no ranting or raving (either pro or anti police) was done. No name calling, just concerned comments and curious questions.
The text content change was disconcerting, I wish the original post was there to link to, as some of the first comments were specific to the info as noted in the original post.
Interesting situation, all of this. More information is needed, as there are still many unanswered questions. It seems so fantastic and slightly absurd as currently detailed, that it seems logical that there must be more to the story, to piece in the gaps.
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0 0 Since Helburn is making statements she can’t back-up lets get some facts on her son…THis is public info and I got it online, as anyone could.
BONNEVILLE
3 Cases Found.
State of Idaho vs. Nathan Helburn
No hearings scheduled
Case: CR-2007-0012908 Magistrate Judge: Earl Blower Amount due: $0.00 Closed
Charges: Violation Date Charge Citation Disposition
07/13/2007 I18-7001 {F} Property-malicious Injury To Property
Arresting Officer: Burnell, Mark A, IFPD Finding: Dismissed By Court
Disposition date: 08/07/2007
Fines/fees: $0.00
Register of actions: Date
07/16/2007 New Case Filed-Felony
07/16/2007 Prosecutor Assigned Randolph B. Neal
07/16/2007 Criminal Complaint
07/16/2007 Hearing Scheduled (Arraignment 07/17/2007 01:00 PM)
07/16/2007 Hearing Scheduled (Preliminary Hearing 08/07/2007 01:30 PM)
07/16/2007 Bond Set: $15,000.00
07/16/2007 Bond Posted - Surety (Amount 15000.00 )
07/16/2007 Affidavit Probable Cause-warrantless Arrest
07/17/2007 Hearing result for Arraignment held on 07/17/2007 01:00 PM: Arraignment / First Appearance
07/17/2007 Application For Public Defender
07/17/2007 Defendant: Helburn, Nathan Notice Of Appearance Bonneville County P.D. Office
07/17/2007 Order Appointing Public Defender
07/17/2007 Judge Change
07/26/2007 Subpoena Returned - Mary Halburn
08/02/2007 Substitution Of Counsel - Ronald Swafford
08/02/2007 Request For Discovery
08/02/2007 Notice of Hearing
08/02/2007 State’s Response To Request For Discovery
08/02/2007 Request For Discovery and Demand for Notice of Intent to Rely Upon Defense of Alibi
08/06/2007 Defendant: Helburn, Nathan Notice Of Appearance Jim (James) Archibald
08/07/2007 Judge Change
08/07/2007 Assigned District Judge: Richard St.Clair
08/07/2007 Hearing result for Preliminary Hearing held on 08/07/2007 01:30 PM: Hearing Held
08/07/2007 Motion to Dismiss
08/07/2007 Order to Dismiss
08/07/2007 Dismissed by Court (I18-7001 {F} Property-malicious Injury To Property)
08/07/2007 Case Status Changed: closed pending clerk action
08/07/2007 Surety Bond Exonerated (Amount 15,000.00)
08/07/2007 Case Status Changed: closed
——————————————————————————–
State of Idaho vs. Nathan Helburn
No hearings scheduled
Case: CR-2007-0012907 Magistrate Judge: Stephen J. Clark Amount due: $0.00 Closed pending clerk action
Charges: Violation Date Charge Citation Disposition
07/13/2007 Original: I37-2732(C)(3) Controlled Substance-possession Of
Amended: I37-2732(D) Controlled Substance-frequenting Place Used,etc
Arresting Officer: 38, Burnell, Mark, IFPD 92619 Finding: Guilty
Disposition date: 12/06/2007
Fines/fees: $323.50
Jail: 90 days
Suspended Jail: 90 days
Register of actions: Date
07/16/2007 New Case Filed Misdemeanor
07/16/2007 Judge Change
07/16/2007 Prosecutor Assigned Mackay Hanks
07/16/2007 Hearing Scheduled (Arraignment 07/17/2007 01:00 PM)
07/16/2007 Bond Posted - Surety (Amount 300.00 )
07/17/2007 Hearing result for Arraignment held on 07/17/2007 01:00 PM: Arraignment / First Appearance
07/17/2007 Application For Public Defender
07/17/2007 Appear & Plead Not Guilty
07/17/2007 Hearing Scheduled (Pretrial Conference 08/16/2007 08:00 AM)
07/17/2007 Notice of Pretrial Conference
07/17/2007 Plea Agreement - NG (I37-2732(C)(3) Controlled Substance-possession Of)
07/17/2007 Defendant: Helburn, Nathan Notice Of Appearance Bonneville County P.D. Office
07/17/2007 Order Appointing Public Defender
07/17/2007 Notice of Pretrial Conference
07/17/2007 Judge Change
08/07/2007 State’s Initial Discovery Disclosure and Request for Discovery and Alibi Defense
08/15/2007 Defendant: Helburn, Nathan Notice Of Appearance John P. Osai
08/15/2007 Not Guilty Plea
08/15/2007 Request For Discovery
08/16/2007 Hearing result for Pretrial Conference held on 08/16/2007 08:00 AM: Hearing Held
08/16/2007 .Hearing Scheduled (Pretrial Conference 10/04/2007 09:00 AM)
08/16/2007 Prosecutor Assigned Matt Hamilton
08/16/2007 Notice of Pretrial Conference
08/30/2007 State’s Initial Discovery Disclosure and Request for Discovery and Alibi Defense
09/27/2007 Substitution Of Counsel
09/27/2007 Defendant: Helburn, Nathan Notice Of Appearance James H Barrett Jr
10/01/2007 Prosecutor Assigned City Prosecutor
10/04/2007 Hearing result for Pretrial Conference held on 10/04/2007 08:00 AM: Failure To Appear For Hearing Or Trial
10/04/2007 Warrant Issued - Bench Bond amount: .00 Fail to Appear for Hearing Pre-Trial Conference 10/04/07 at 8:00 am Defendant: Helburn, Nathan
10/04/2007 Case Status Changed: Inactive
10/13/2007 Warrant Returned Fail to Appear for Hearing Pre-Trial Conference 10/04/07 at 8:00 am Defendant: Helburn, Nathan
10/13/2007 Case Status Changed: Activate (previously inactive)
10/15/2007 Judge Change
10/15/2007 Hearing Scheduled (Hearing 10/15/2007 01:00 PM) FTA PRETRIAL CONFERENCE
10/15/2007 Hearing result for Hearing held on 10/15/2007 01:00 PM: Hearing Held FTA PRETRIAL CONFERENCE
10/15/2007 Hearing Scheduled (Pretrial Conference 11/08/2007 01:00 PM)
10/15/2007 Order For O.R. Release
10/15/2007 Notice of Pretrial Conference
10/15/2007 Judge Change
10/16/2007 Hearing result for Pretrial Conference held on 11/08/2007 01:00 PM: Continued
10/16/2007 Hearing Scheduled (Pretrial Conference 12/06/2007 09:00 AM)
10/16/2007 Notice of Hearing
10/19/2007 Substitution Of Counsel - James Archibald
10/19/2007 Notice of Pretrial Conference
12/06/2007 Found Guilty (I37-2732(D) Controlled Substance-frequenting Place Used,etc)
12/06/2007 Case Status Changed: closed pending clerk action
12/06/2007 Judge Change
12/06/2007 Hearing result for Pretrial Conference held on 12/06/2007 09:00 AM: Hearing Held
12/06/2007 Probation Ordered (I37-2732(D) Controlled Substance-frequenting Place Used,etc) Probation term: 1 year. (Unsupervised)
12/06/2007 Sentenced To Incarceration (I37-2732(D) Controlled Substance-frequenting Place Used,etc) Confinement terms: Jail: 90 days. Suspended jail: 90 days.
12/06/2007 Surety Bond Exonerated (Amount 300.00)
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0 0 Everyone wants to believe their kid is innocent.
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0 0 That’s true cityploy….
I sure hope their kid is innocent….It doesn’t look good though.
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0 0 Burned up,
If you had ever known someone who is bi-polar, you would have a better understanding of the situation. Sometimes the only resource people have is the police and when they take someone to BHC or jail, it saves a life.
This incident triggered another episode, and I had nowhere to turn. He had been taken in on a bad warrant not that long ago. He had appeared and got a continuance, but the paperwork or something didn’t work right. System error. This happened on a weekend and he wasn’t given his regular dosages of medication. On Monday, I had to go get copies of his appearance and put that on the front of his file so that the judge would know that it was an error. In the process of jail, arraignment, and talking to the prosecutor, he ended up with 3 court dates for the same continuance. The judge put one in, there was one from the original and the prosecutor put one in. This kind of thing happens, but I can’t risk his not getting his medication. It is either BHC or Jail and you don’t know when you make a call how it will be handled.
I filed the felony charges so that he would be confined and couldn’t hurt himself. This was a decision I came to with the help of one of the officers. They had to have something to take him in on. You do what you have to do. And you can’t imagine how grateful I’ve been to the police. They have been my salvation.
One of the problems with jail is that people can be deprived of their medications. But that is a choice you have to make. Knowing that, if the person is suicidal, you put them in place where they can’t do harm to themselves and that isn’t foolproof if a person is have a psychotic or depressive episode.
This is reality. I don’t have anything to hide.
I also have a friend who suffers from it. She is a teacher and taught some of the most deperate children. You can’t help but love her. Bright, energetic, sweet, got praise for her work in the local papers (not here). She had an episode and became a ward of the State. Her parents couldn’t do it any more. Almost two years in a State facility and got regulated. She was out for a year, with the total support of her school district. Down cycle hits. The last I heard was this. Her mother is ready for her to die because she knows she will never get better and she can’t bear seeing her suffer. These self-destructive episodes have gone on for 20 years.
These people are intelligent. They know they have a chronic condition and even on good days, they know that the next episode is around the corner.
We’ve been through the same thing for about the same time, starting very young. There have been quiet periods, but never completely normal. There is always the worry of the next time. It is cyclical. Medication helps lengthen the time between episodes.
Doctors, medication, incarceration. You do what you have to do. We feel blessed for a few good days, or weeks, or months. This was the first holiday season in years that didn’t have an traumatic event.
This is a chronic condition. I hope that the community and especially our police officers who have to deal with this every day can learn something here. Dealing with these people with kindness and compassion works better than harshness. Roughness and threats only make it worse. They are already suicidal.
Stress triggers events.
I’ve only talked about the down cycle. Then you have the manic cycle. This, too can be destructive because, they are feeling overly high and make bad decisions.. What they do in a manic cycle has consequences and that feeds into depression of the down cycle.
When someone already has severe emotional problems, it doesn’t help to be accused of something else.
I can’t help but blame myself because I let the police separate us. My son asked me to stay there.
I am not going to defend anyone here. I am sharing my experience and am being open because there are other vulnerable people in our community who would be better served with respect and compassion than harshness.
You never know when what you have learned is going to help someone else.
Eg: I lived on main thoroughfare in Houston. One Saturday, this little old lady dressed perfectly showed up at my door. Nails done, hair done, nice dress.. and she didn’t know her name or where she lived. She could remember her address in Chicago from years before. She was scared. She gotten away from her family as she got out of the car. I figured she had Alzheimer’s because my sister’s mother-in-law was afflicted and my sister told me about Angela getting away from them. I called the police and two darling young fellows came. They didn’t know what to do. We just sat and visited until a missing person report came in. I think she had just been to Temple, dressed up on a Saturday.. and I called one of my Jewish friends on the off chance he would know her. We just had to be patient and have the family make a missing person report.
She was so cute. She insisted I come with her in the police car to take her home. I made her feel safe.
We all need to feel safe.
If you have some advice, I would love to hear how you handled similar circumstances.
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0 0 City employee,
Here’s hoping you have regular hours… if not, double thanks for what you do. And I hope you don’t have to work in the cold.. and if you do, quadruple thanks.
This goes for all of you city employees..For those of you who have to work outside and drive on our icy streets, be extra careful.
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0 0 Okay, so help me with this, burned up…you copied a long series of actions for two citations given at the same time…apparently one (CR-2007-0012908) was dismissed. This was for malicious injury to property, but there are no details as to what this was actually about.
The other (CR-2007-0012907, same day) was not dismissed, and he was eventually found guilty of frequenting a place where a controlled substance was used.
The most recent one is (CR-2008-0000470), in January…regarding the alcohol, I’m presuming, from the story on this posting.
So although it sounds like he had a bad day on July 13,2007…it does not sound like he is a career criminal, at least in Idaho.
I do not know these people, but one previous run-in with the law does not mean he is guilty this time. Actually, LOTS of previous run-ins with the law do not mean he is automatically guilty this time, either. They just point to a character issue that means we rush to judgment, and tend to believe the worst of them in any situation.
And, it’s true, parents tend to want to believe, even in the face of much evidence to the contrary, that their children are innocent.
More telling to me in all of this, is, why is this man who is in his 30s still living with his mother? In all my life, I’ve not seen a section of this country where this happens with more frequency than right here in SE Idaho.
In all the situations I’ve seen, the mother wants the company, safety and security of having a man in the house. The son typically isn’t a productive member of society, usually unemployed and unable to support himself. When the son is employed he keeps his money for himself, he does not split the bills. Frequently the son uses illegal drugs or alcohol. Mom is often complicit in these actions. I’m betting you law enforcement types out there can name many of these fellows in this community.
Now I understand the 6 or 7 instances I can think of probably do not make an indictment of this area in particular, and I also understand that the Mary/Nathan situation may be entirely different…but on the face of it, it seems similar.
I’m just curious. It certainly seems that there is more to this story than we may ever know about, on both ends. I’m curious about the gas can incident, myself.
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0 0 Funny how there’s ALWAYS an excuse as to why someones kid is always in trouble with the law. Sorry, but after looking at his past criminal record, I don’t see you getting too much sympathy from this crowd. You put a posting online talking about Police corruption and then when you find out that the public can actually look into his background, suddenly the title AND the story changes! He’s not quite as innocent as you would have us to believe. Everything from possession of a controlled substance to malicious injury to property.
Everybody has “emotional” problems, but that doesn’t give you an excuse or a “free pass” to break the law.
I would suggest you get the kid the help he needs before he continues down this destructive path towards becoming a career criminal.
(but thats just my 2cents for what its worth)
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0 0 What did the police internal investigation find that is most relevant right now. If they did not return her calls they probably found no basis to her claims.
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0 0 I too, wondered about the changes in the above story and the title change. I noticed it happened after the story wasn’t receiving much sympathy.
Are the police suppose to know by osmosis that they are dealing with a “bipolar” individual? Police have to make instantaneous decisions as to how to conduct themselves in each and every situation. If the policeman feels threatened, then he must take action to protect himself and others.
The story raises many questions in my mind, such as 1) what were you doing with gasoline for a weedeater in the middle of the winter, 2) what was a bipolar individual on meds doing with liquor, and 3) how come the story changed from the first writing? I would like to see the original version of the story printed alongside the latest version. Is that possible?
I agree with 007, get your kid help before his next encounter results in more dire circumstances.
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0 0 Wow…that’s a completely different post than was up there yesterday! Strange indeed. Two things that caught my attention (aside from the complete change of story) was this woman noted that we should “clean out our cars”. How about this…..don’t leave open containers of whiskey in your vehicle?
And “perhaps it was the Sanitation Dept’s fault for not picking up the trees”??? (that was a good one!) The sanitation department does not pick up Christmas trees. Unless you stuff them in the bottom of a dumpster somewhere, you’re required to take your Christmas tree to the sanitation depository yourself to dispose of them.
It’s ashame that all this happened and whether or not it happened exactly how this woman stated, none of us will truly know and perhaps it was just a case of mistaken identity. The fact is, as the previous poster pointed out, this kid does have a prior criminal record. Sure we all make mistakes, nobody is perfect. But we all don’t have criminal records either. Is this just a case of mistaken identity and police harrassment? Reviewing all the facts presented here, its hard to say for sure.
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0 0 Eeks! Mary’s comment posted while I was still writing mine, and I didn’t refresh before publishing. She says her son is bipolar, I guess that’s a good reason for him living at home, as she is helping him out.
I also agree, a bipolar person should not be involved with illegal drugs and alcohol, it’s even more so for them than for folks who don’t have these issues to deal with already.
And, illness does not excuse behavior, especially once the illness has been diagnosed. Now the responsible thing to do is seek help and make sure to follow the guidance given.
If Nathan can’t be responsible for himself, and Mary has taken it upon herself to do this for him, then she needs to step up a little and put him back on the right track.
I have a daughter his age who is bipolar, and her husband takes pretty good care of her when she is having a hard time doing it herself. It can be done, but it is not easy.
Always more to the story, always.
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0 0 The kid definately needs to be taught a lesson and more importantly needs proper guideance. Bipolar or not, that doesn’t excuse his actions. He still knows right from wrong and he choose to do wrong. His Bipolar condition does not affect his decision making and for his mother to sit here and make excuses for him, shows a real lack of leadership and discipline on her part. Perhaps the real blame should be put on this woman for not dealing with these issues when they started to come up over a year ago with the drug possesion charges. Obviously nothing was done if he’s still drinking and driving a year later. You can’t tell me he just happened to have a half a bottle of whiskey in his car. It didn’t drink itself!
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0 0 I have no way of knowing whether this person was guilty or innocent. However I do think that “burned up” made a blatant attempt to make what were 2 or 3 misdemeanors look like a lengthy criminal record. By showing every court proceeding related to the same offenses, they were obviously trying to make this accused arsonist’s record look worse than it really is. And anyway those other charges have nothing to do with the incident that was being discussed before “burned up” tried to assassinate this person’s character.
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0 0 Lithium worked great for mood. Except it was toxic (requires test to see how much damage it does) and the side-effects were unbelieveable. 30 pounds in 30 days.. itching..
The police were advised of his condition when they took him outside. I told one officer that he is bi-polar and has a shoulder injury. He got a torn rotor cuff doing construction. Until this happened, he was productive and self-supporting. The medical bills and the legal expenses have wiped him out. He enjoyed work. He didn’t miss work when he was arrested. He was out so that he could be at work on Monday. Two weeks later he was injured.
Although it created a mess in the driveway when he was melting snow, I was delighted to seem him doing something physical with his arms as he has had to be so protective of his shoulder. Workman’s comp is denying his claim and the paperwork there is way longer than the court records.
He was doing very physical work before this. He could shovel all day. Now he can’t even sweep the walk. I paid for his MRI and he needs surgery. It has been six months. Even a person without his psychological problems would find it a bit overwhelming.
I hear what you all are saying. Am I an enabler? I try to set a good example. He does what he can. He does the shopping and most of the cooking.
I spent 5 years with my sister in California before coming here permanently. Her son suffered a TBI in a car accident 9 years ago and is completely dependent and he keeps improving although he will never be independent. It is little things. Like going to the bathroom without being told. Or getting up in the morning by himself and putting on his clothes. Nate has a lot to be grateful for when you make the comparison. One day he is ok and the next day he is down. Two good days is rare.
There have been periods where my son was independent. He’s gone to school, had his own business doing as-built drawings. He never needed an allowance as a kid because he had his own lawn service and worked as a entertainer for parties doing tae kwondo moves as the “White Ranger”. He did Roger Clemens’ son’s birthday party.. He worked in SE Asia in offshore construction for 3 years. He had many successes, but all of this was done while coping with the hand he was dealt emotionally.
Of all those things, I most admire him for the entertaining because I could never do that and enjoy it. and putting our lives out here for full examination is a stretch.
In so many ways, we are better able to deal with what happened than someone else might be because we’ve had adversity and had to learn.
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0 0 Regarding the changes, please don’t read too much into it. I misunderstood what she wanted published, so we got it republished ASAP.
What are the penalties for first offense arson, especially given that only some garbage trees were burned (no life or property damage)? I suspect this will boil down to a small plea agreement or dismissal if Mary immediately documented the area with photos or video. Did this fire even get reported in local media? I don’t recall…
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0 0 Like JoseC stated earlier in the post…the fact that all the trees in SE Idaho are soaked to the roots and/or covered in snow, they couldn’t have burned THAT much or for THAT long. Unless somebody threw a couple of gallons of gas on them. And even then, it wouldn’t have burned for very long.
I agree with Joe: i think the case will end up getting dismissed.
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0 0
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If you wish to be fair you should put up the police report as well. I’ve personally no reason to believe or disbelieve what was written here but having both sides up there would be good. Perhaps this person is telling the truth but perhaps they are one of many who have lied by accusing police of misconduct to cover their own tracks or those of a loved one.