Officer faces gun charges in I-81 incident

[Ric in Richmond]

Just how wrong could this have gone????

What would you have done?

I wouldn't have brake checked him...or if I did I would have tried to disabled his car.

Probably just pulled over and let him go, gotten plate info and tailed from a distance.

I definitely would have not STOPPED for the crazy man with the gun!!!

I don't see the cop being a cop for long....

Ric




Officer faces gun charges in I-81 incident

BY REX BOWMAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Feb 14, 2007

RELATED: Police Beat

SALEM -- A South Carolina police officer used a gun to threaten a female motorist on Interstate 81, Virginia State Police allege.

Officer Eric Cmeyla, 41, of the Greenville, S.C., Police Department must appear in a Roanoke County court tomorrow on two counts of brandishing a firearm, said state police Sgt. Bob Carpentieri.

Destinee Puckett, 18, of Vinton said yesterday that the incident took place Sunday as she was driving south on I-81 at 60 mph -- the speed limit along that stretch -- in the left lane.

The male driver behind her pulled up close to her bumper and grew frustrated that he couldn't get around her, Puckett said, but traffic was too thick for her to move into the right lane.

She said she looked behind her and saw the man holding a gun above his steering wheel as he tailgated her. She said she was so rattled by the sight that she hit her brakes, which led the driver's Volkswagen Jetta to slam into her Nissan Maxima.

When they pulled over at Exit 140, Puckett said, the man tapped on her window with the barrel of the gun, striking the window so hard the glass chipped.

"I called 911," she said. "He said, 'I'm a cop; can I see your license and registration?' He seemed to be mad that I was paying more attention to 911 than to him, and he was getting frustrated.

"He was like, 'I can shoot you right now if I wanted to.' I told 911, 'He's threatening to shoot me.' And he said, 'No, no, no.' So 911 told me to roll up my windows. But he put his hand over my window so I couldn't roll it up.

"My boyfriend was sitting beside me. He was in shock."

Police arrived and arrested Cmeyla. He was released from custody on a recognizance bond.

The Greenville Police Department released a statement saying Cmeyla has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of his arrest. The statement noted that Cmeyla has been with the department for five months and is still in the department's training program.





http://www.timesdispatch.com/servle...&cid=1149193189558&path=!news&s=1045855934842

 

[griz]

Wow!
I guess it's good he will be weeded out of the job before he can screw up in uniform. As for the left lane bandit* and her "tactics", why would you just sit there on the phone while a man with a gun walked up to you car?

*I am not saying she deserved any punishment, just that the left lane on I81 is not the place to stick to the speed limit.

 

[ZeSpectre]

I await further details and confirmation of facts with great interest. Hopefully they are forthcoming and this whole thing doesn't just quietly vanish.

 

[rhubarb]

Annoying drivers are just cause for drawing your sidearm?

No. The bad guy did not make a mistake; did not "goof up." He committed a criminal assault. This criminal should do hard time.

 

[Ric in Richmond]

81 can be a HUGE mess so I can understand her comment about not being able to move over.

There are sooo many trucks on that road that it is like a huge 60-65 mph rolling traffic jam. Throw in the hills around Roanoke and Salem and you have massive speed differential.

I also HATE left lane bandits. But not much you can do about it...certainly not threaten with a gun.

I think the cop is toast....and we are all lucky if that happens. Watch for him coming to a mall near you soon!

I have a huge amount of respect for the majority of LE, but types like this give the PD a bad name.

Ric

 

[El Tejon]

The minute you put on a pistol you give up your ability to be frustrated.

I don't think I would have stopped when a pyscho with a pistol rear ended me, but I would have had 911 on the line the entire time.

Good thing her boyfriend was with her. No way the cops or prosecutor would believe just one person's testimony against a cop.

 

[JohnBT]

Okay, I admit I drive too fast and hate left lane hogs.

But driving the speed limit in the left lane on I-81??? (or the right lane for that matter.) What was she doing in the left lane in the first place? She's clueless I tell ya, clueless. And possibly has a death wish of some kind.

John

"Regularly listed as one of the top eight trucking routes in the U.S., I-81 carries out-of-state tourists, through travelers, a growing number of intra-valley commuters, and more than a third of all college and university students in Virginia.

Traffic through this crucial corridor has tripled in the last 20 years. On some sections of I-81, the number of trucks nearly equals the number of passenger cars." - VDOT

 

[MarinePride]

This happened very close to where I'm at. The 81 is only a 2 lane and sometimes people stay in the passing lane and don't pass, but maintain speed of the other traffic. This can drive anyone nuts, but brandishing a handgun is not how to deal with it. Another thing that irritates me is that this guy apparently thought that just because he was a cop he could do this. I hate cops who abuse their authority, as it gives them a bad name in the back of peoples mind. When the trust of the people is gone, who would want to be a cop? I hope he is convicted of the charges because if it were a civilian I'm sure they would be. Justice has got to be equal under the law. I'll be watching this to see if they just slap him on wrist and let him off just because he's a man of the shield.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Traffic through this crucial corridor has tripled in the last 20 years. On some sections of I-81, the number of trucks nearly equals the number of passenger cars." - VDOT

Briefly off topic... so why can't they build some damned HEAVY RAIL to handle some of that shipping????

Back on topic. Assuming the story is accurate we're going to get to see how high that cop bounces.

 

[mbt2001]

Not that I haven't had perverse fantasies of zapping people off the freeway with my correlian death ray...

don't be to quick to judge. Our system has proven to have news filters in place so that we lynch people BEFORE we have any real facts, much less the true story.

 

[ozarkhillbilly]

What mbt2001 said +++

 

[Eyesac]

The cop demonstrated why he shouldn't be a cop... Chick is a dumb chick, but at least she never swore an oath to not be dumb, and she's not paid to be smart.

 

[Robert Hairless]

It took me a few moments to realize that the man wasn't even in his own state when he did that foolish thing. It took place in Virginia and he is a Greenville, South Carolina, cop.

Another report of the incident says that he worked for the Washington, D.C., police department for almost six years before taking the job with the Greenville police. I wonder if his D.C. training and experiences gave him a special attitude towards police work. I don't mean that in a nasty way or as a potential excuse for his inexcusible behavior.

The suspect, Eric Cmeyla, a 41-year-old Greenville, South Carolina police officer in training was released. He's charged with two counts of brandishing a firearm. He joined the department less than six months ago and spent just under six years with DC police before then. He's on 5-days paid suspension.

It's worth noting that the Roanoke County police did what they should have done: they arrested him.

 

[geronimotwo]

i still don't get the PAID suspension deals that cops always seem to get.

 

[ilbob]

i still don't get the PAID suspension deals that cops always seem to get.

I get it.

The guys with the guns and badges are the ones that ultimately back up the tax collectors. If you don't back them to the hilt, no matter how offensive their conduct, the taxes might stop rolling in.

You have to understand just what matters to the politicians.

 

[ZeSpectre]

I still don't get the PAID suspension deals that cops always seem to get.

It's supposed to be an example of "innocent until proven guilty".

 

[BullfrogKen]

This is the Strategy and Tactics forum, folks. This is not Legal and Political. This had the potential of going either way. But being that it went political in S&T, its closed.