Sergeant Michael Manfredi, and Officers Paul Van Dalen, Christopher Coleman and Sean Plymale of Fresno California are currently in danger of serving a sentence for a crime that they did not commit.
They face a nine count federal indictment for violating the “civil rights” of a man they were called to arrest. (An illegal alien who was later convicted of violent felony charges for his actions.)
If convicted of these unjust charges, these four fine men could be sentenced to ten long years in federal prison.
Together, these men have served and protected their community of Fresno, California with exceptional service.
Here are the facts for your thoughtful consideration:
Five years ago, on October 15, 2005, the four policemen responded separately to a desperate call from a young single mother. She reported that her former boyfriend was attempting to break into her home through her window. It was his second hostile visit of the day.
This man’s name was Rolando Celdon, an illegal alien.
He announced that he was there to kill them.
When Celdon realized he would not be able to enter the home and that police were on their way, he fled the scene. In response to the young mother’s desperate plea, the dispatcher issued a high priority call for help.
The first to see Celdon was Officer Sean Plymale. He released his K-9 companion, Tymo, in order to chase him down and apprehend the suspect. However, the strong, drug-induced suspect was hardly slowed by the K-9. Though Tymo had a firm grip on the suspect, he was still able to climb a fence to escape; while the dog was unrelenting in its grip.
Once across the fence, Officer Coleman, who had now arrived on the scene, noticed that Celdon had injured Tymo and was now free again.
Celdon then refused orders from Officer Coleman to surrender, and appeared ready to draw a weapon. The Officer then applied a taser to the suspect, but even this did not seem to work.
By this time, Officer Van Dalen had arrived and at the request of his fellow officers, drew from his squad cars non-lethal “bean bag” shotgun. ( A “bean bag” gun inflicts temporary pain to subdue a suspect but generally leaves no permanent injury.)
Officer Coleman then retrieved the “bean bag” gun and repeatedly ordered Celdon to raise his hands. Speaking in English and Spanish, the Officer attempted to communicate with the suspect.
Celdon refused to comply with Officer Coleman’s orders and positioned his hands as if ready to retrieve a knife or a gun. Given that only minutes earlier the suspect had threatened to kill his former girlfriend and her children, Coleman discharged the non-lethal weapon striking Celdon and driving him to the ground where the arrest was finally made.
Sergant Manfredi was the last Officer on the scene. He inspected the scene and observed that in addition to the dog being injured, Officer Plymale had injured his hand and the suspect had minimal dog bite wounds and bruises.
A standard departmental review of the incident revealed that in the rush to complete paperwork, Sergeant Manfredi had not completed all of the documentation accurately, but that in general, the men had used the proper level of force for dealing with a presumably drug-crazed and violent suspect.
Although Coleman, Plymale and Manfredi were originally fired for their actions, a subsequent full examination of the concrete facts resulted in reinstatement and collection of back pay.
Remember, this event took place in October, 2005.
It took federal authorities over four years before they took action against the Officers.
In October 2010, the Obama Justice Department brought Federal Charges against these men for the violation of civil rights of a convicted drug offender and illegal alien.
Once again, politically motivated prosecutors saw a chance to score a victory. Victory at the cost of four officers, that now, each faces a decade in prison.
Truthfully, there is no other reason for this prosecution to take place.
Were these actions just? Were these Officers right to use a non-lethal weapon in an effort to arrest a suspect who was high on drugs and threatening to harm a young mother and her children?
Celdon, an illegal alien, was refusing to obey any orders given by the Officers to surrender. He also showed an extreme amount of strength by pulling the dog, Tymo, over the fence with him and injuring Tymo in the process.
The events that took place on this day occurred in only a matter of minutes. Officers Plymale, Coleman, and Van Dalen and Sergeant Manfredi were forced to make split- second decisions based on their training as police officers.
Celdon had threatened to kill a young mother and her terrified children.
Celdon had fled the scene and repeatedly refused to surrender.
Celdon’s injuries were minimal and not permanent.
The four Officers main concern was the safety of the young mother and her children. They put their own lives at risk in order to protect them and did so by restricting their own use of force to non-lethal means.
Though we do not fully understand the motivation of the prosecution, we do know that the California-based review of this case cleared the good names of the officers.
Yet, these brave officers now face a ten year sentence in federal prison.
Is this what we call justice?
They do love their KJ in the San Joaquin valley aka "Killer Joint: pot laced with PCP and sometimes a little crack for good measure"
It also appears that Obama, Holder and the rest of the Dhimmi administration are going to drop prosecution of the Islamist (Obama donor groups) organizations that have provided financial aid to Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
The revolution will be televised.
BMB
Not giving O'bama the green light here....I hate this guy...just the facts.
I have always thought that the Bush people were wolves in sheeps clothing anyway.
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