MORE ON THE HARTLAND PARKING LOT ARRAIGNMENT

Last week we linked to a Lockport Union Sun & Journal story about an arraignment that occurred in the Hartland town hall parking lot because the individual who was arrested (19 year old Zach Dunn) was so belligerent and unruly they couldn't get him out of the police car. So, they brought the court to him. 

The editor -- Mr. John Hopkins -- featured this event in his weekly Sunday column which you can read here:

http://lockportjournal.com/opinion/x121544576/HOPKINS-Theres-a-right-way-and-a-wrong-way

Among his comments in his column....

On Facebook, a reader challenged some of the story. We asked for proof and the reader responded with a link to a shaky video of the incident on You Tube. The footage lasts less than two minutes. Most of the comments on You Tube are too explicit to repeat here, but it’s obvious that some at the party felt the deputies went too far.

After viewing the video, I disagree.

Although most of the video is dark, it seems fairly obvious that the man is acting belligerent toward the deputies. They ask him if he wants to go to jail and he responds by asking the deputy, “do you want to take your badge off?” The rest is difficult to make out.

However, it’s fairly clear that the man pushes a deputy. That’s when several deputies tried to arrest him.

Had he simply complied with a simple request, he’d probably have been released on an appearance ticket. Instead, he’s facing a felony charge for assaulting a police officer.

Here is the YouTube video that Hopkins mentioned. As he alludes to above, the content and the comments aren't very family friendly...

From my perspective watching this grainy video, the police did nothing out of the ordinary...and nothing wrong. The kid was obviously belligerent and it certainly appears that he takes the first swing at the officer.

I agree with Hopkins' assessment of the event.

Seems to me that those who might find the arrest controversial are those who count themselves as friends of the arrested individual.