Arkansas cop shoots fire chief…over a ticket…in a courtroom…

posted at 10:30 am on September 4, 2009 by

I know, I know, everyone’s going to want to hear full details of the situation. It’s going to have to be a real gem to explain why he was shot in the back by one of seven police officers.

It was anger over traffic tickets that brought Payne to city hall last week, said his lawyer, Randy Fishman. After failing to get a traffic ticket dismissed on Aug. 27, police gave Payne or his son another ticket that day. Payne, 39, returned to court to vent his anger to Judge Tonya Alexander, Fishman said.

It’s unclear exactly what happened next, but Martin said an argument between Payne and the seven police officers who attended the hearing apparently escalated to a scuffle, ending when an officer shot Payne from behind.

Doctors in Memphis, Tenn., removed a .40-caliber bullet from Payne’s hip bone, Martin said. Another officer suffered a grazing wound to his finger from the bullet.

Seven police officers for a town of 174? Is it Dodge City?

Makes me think of the Battle of Athens. Either that or they need another Buford Pusser.

Blowback

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They’re probably all related… it IS Arkansas, afterall.

lionheart on September 4, 2009 at 10:36 AM

Saw this one when the Reason guys ran with it. Just so damned wrong on so many different levels. I can just see David Letterman or Jon Stewart making a crack about Sarah Palin’s “real America.” It sounds like something Mark Twain might’ve written, right down to the reaction of the mayor.
.

“Mayor Helen Adams declined to speak about the shooting when approached outside her home, saying she had just returned from a doctor’s appointment and couldn’t talk.”
.
RWG (the judge has already left town, I suppose the mayor’s next)

RWG on September 4, 2009 at 1:25 PM

He was most likely a bad emeffer and the lawyer inadequate. That is the story – isn’t it?

ericdijon on September 4, 2009 at 8:25 PM

Small-town politics can get really dirty. I still remember the police chief in my small hometown arresting the mayor for DUI- driving his riding mower downtown.

Let’s just say there was another police chief within weeks of this event.

Good times.

cs89 on September 4, 2009 at 11:28 PM

I hope you got a new mayor after the next election.

Mrs. Mori on September 5, 2009 at 9:34 PM