Police Taser Ex-Mayor After Breaking Into Home
Oak Creek is a small town outside Steamboat Springs. Late Friday night, the police followed former Mayor Kathy "Cargo" Rodeman, apparently believing she may have been driving under the influence of alcohol. Rather than stopping her vehicle when the officer activated his flashing lights, Rodeman drove to a nearby residence and went inside with her companions. When she refused to answer the door, the police, including Sgt. Erik Foster, broke it down. Then, they tasered her twice and arrested her. Kris Hammond is the attorney representing Rodeman. From the Steamboat Pilot & Today:
Hammond said Foster burst into the home without a warrant and "terrorized" the women inside. He said the women called 911 out of fear and that Rodeman was stunned twice with a Taser while "cowering on the floor begging for mercy." Hammond also was critical of Foster, who has had numerous complaints filed against him.
The police chief defends the officer's actions with this curious comment:
"I have no reason to believe the actions that were taken were not appropriate. The use of the Taser is the most humanitarian tool we have. It has a low probability of injury both to the suspect and the officer."
Tasers are humanitarian with a low probability of injury? Guess he hasn't seen these reports from Amnesty International. Or their latest press release. Since June, 2001, 290 people have died after being tasered. An updated version of Amnesty's 2004 report is expected this year.
More problematic to me is the officer's breaking into the home without a warrant. What were the exigent circumstances? Hot pursuit of a fleeing suspect? (Does suspicion of d.u.i. even qualify as a serious enough offense to invoke this exception?) Fear of the imminent destruction of evidence? An emergency threatening the life or safety of another? Locals have been wary of the Oak Creek Police in recent years:
Some residents have complained about over-aggressive enforcement that borders on harassment; others say it's simply a case of law enforcement officers doing what's needed to protect residents and enforce the law.
It sounds to me like the officers didn't want to lose their window of opportunity to make Rodeman submit to a Breathalyzer test. Rodeman, who resigned as mayor in 2006, has had her share of run-ins with police. But can suspecting she had resorted to past activity justify breaking into her home and tasering her? Stay tuned.
Comments
Submitted by No One in Particular (not verified) on Fri, 2008-07-25 14:28.
I am dissappointed to see that a publication that I USED to enjoy and respect has become a platform for a CRIMINAL to play the part of a victim. What do you mean, "It sounds to me like the officers didn’t want to lose their window of opportunity to make Rodeman submit to a Breathalyzer test."? Did you bother to check it out? Apparently not, especially considering that you have many other facts about this incident WRONG. Try doing a little more research before you form such a definte opinion... much less publish an article about it. I would hope you would offer Sgt. Foster an apology for this abuse of your power as a journalist.
And by the way, maybe 290 people have died from the use of tasers since 2001, but there were 101,516 deaths as a result of drunk driving from 2001 to 2006. I'd say that drunk driving does require the actions taken by law enforcement officers all over the country. Let's remember that the people committing the crimes are the ones responsible for incidents like these.
Submitted by One Fly (not verified) on Tue, 2008-07-22 19:18.
Do not believe for a second that this woman in any way is a victim. From someone who knows and you can take it to the bank!
Submitted by InDisbelief (not verified) on Tue, 2008-07-22 17:09.
Don't believe everything you see in the papers. I know Sgt. Foster personally and that is NOT how things happened. No "breaking in" was involved...only an officer doing what is allowed during a fresh pursuit.
Submitted by Smarter than that (not verified) on Mon, 2008-08-18 17:11.
If there is a person driving under the influence and a trained and responsible representative of our citizen paid law enforcement agency attempts to enforce the law; why would this become a personal attack against an officer who followed procedure and actually caught the guilty individual? Why would the "alleged victims" be fearful of stopping to speak with Foster if they were not guilty?
What would ensure that the criminal Ms. Rodeman was not going into her residence to find a personal gun to use in an inebriated state? She will get over the taser influence but slandering a person who does his job effectively to keep a community safer is another unenforceable crime if you ask me. Oak Creek is not using intelligence when they attack this respected Police Officer and these Oak Creek accusers are showing no respect to the keepers of the peace in their town.
Submitted by mjsinger (not verified) on Thu, 2008-10-02 09:23.
I guess this case is updated now, and the truth has finally surfaced, seeing as all charges against Cargo have been dismissed. The problem with people (much like those who have commented above) is that it is easier to judge someone than it is to take a step back and form a rational, unbiased opinion of the situation based on facts and not personal opinions. Cargo admits to having exactly 3 drinks at bar. She did not think that she was uncapable to drive the two blocks home. In fact, according to her and her two witnesses, she followed EVERY law and reached her driveway safely before he turned on his lights with no real reason other than to harrass her. The fact that this officer had acted unprofessionaly and aggressively on many other accounts had her fearful of her life and those two young women who accompanied her. She did not "Flea" from police, she fled from him personally and called 911 immediately in an attempt to have an officer with some professional morale arrive on the scene. He lied to dispatch, put his fellow officers in great danger (as they raced to arrive) put anyone else on the road in danger, and then broke into a house unwarranted (oops, there goes our civil liberties) and used a lethal (YES TASERS ARE LETHAL WHEN USED IMPROPERLY,) force on three unarmed woman who posed NO threat and where simply begging for a credible officer to be there. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! you have placed yourselves in a "holyier than thou" cage in which you have forgotten that police more than anyone NEED to uphold and more importantly OBEY the laws that are put in place to protect the average citizen from danger. HIS UNLAWFUL ACTIONS GREATLY OUTWEIGHED THAT OF CARGO'S, AND HIS CORRUPT, UNETHICAL BAHAVIOR ENDANGERED EVERYONE IN SOUTH ROUTT COUNTY. Step off of your pedistals and seek truth, seek justice, and try to keep your childish envy and judgemental small-mindedness to a minimum. Give peace a chance.
