Kyle Carbiener shared this post via CopBlock.org’s submit page.
Early Evening, February 7th, 2012:
At this time I had only just recently became a resident of Greencastle, Indiana, Home to Depauw University, among other things, including the Greencastle City Police, Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, Depauw Police Department, Indiana State Police Department, not to mention the occasional Federal Units, all operating within a 10 square-mile radius. The town of Greencastle itself is only 5.29 square miles, while being home to 10,000 residents.
I was 20 years old at the time, had recently enlisted in the National Guard, completed MEPS and gotten out of Basic Training. At this time, my mother was a resident of Greencastle, living with her boyfriend, Mike, on a local cattle farm. I really didn’t have a life plan at this point and my mother, whom I hadn’t seen in 7 years due to a custody dispute between her and my late father, suggested that I finally come and see her and stay for a while. I agreed and was told by Mike’s mother and brother (who owned the entire farm and residence Mike and my Mother lived in) that I could stay free of charge, as long as needed. In return, I voluntarily helped around the farm, maintaining things, helping feed and care for cattle, chickens and rabbits.
To the point, Mike was a severe alcoholic. I’m talking about consuming at the very least an entire half-gallon of cheap vodka a night. As far as I was concerned, it was none of my business how much Mike drank, as long as it didn’t affect either my mother or I in a negative manner. Well, one night it did affect both my mother and I in a very negative manner.
My mother and I had been in a friendly enough argument about past events, during the course of which Mike had made it a point to exclaim in a drunken slur, a half-gallon down at this point, that he really didn’t like the tone I was using toward my mother. Recently Mike had been becoming increasingly aggressive toward me. I thought nothing of it. He was “the man of the house,” which he neither paid for, nor owned, of which he was only a resident of because he was on parole for felony smuggling and his family, out of the kindness of their hearts, obliged him with a place to stay. Mike was actually on a zero tolerance policy. No drugs, no alcohol, nothing. If any alcoholic bottles/cans or paraphernalia were noted by the Parole Officer, Mike would’ve immediately gone back to prison for a violation of parole.
So, Mike let me know verbally how he didn’t like my tone. I calmly replied, “Mike, while I respect your opinion, this conversation is between my mother and I. I don’t believe I was using a derogatory tone with my mother and neither does she.” Mike didn’t like that response at all. He stood up, stuck out his chest and started yelling/spraying/slurring something about disrespect mixed with how I was a punk among hateful terms, followed by taunts toward violence. What aggravated Mike even more was the fact that I calmly stood there and said nothing while he lost his nerve in its drunken entirety.
When Mike sat finally sat back down, I calmly asked him, “Are you done disrespecting me now?”
Ding ding ding – Round Two: More red-faced angry ranting
This time Mike made comments about him calling his “buddy the Sheriff” and how “my ass was grass” and how he was “getting my punk ass out of his house whether I liked it or not.”
And he did. Mike picked up his cell phone, drunk as all hell, and dialed the Putnam County Sheriff himself, on his personal mobile phone. Mike had mentioned prior to this confrontation how him and the Sheriff had been friends since they were children and how the Sheriff always had his back, mentioning a DUI he should have gotten the previous winter when he lost control of his vehicle while drinking and driving and destroyed private property. In that event he again called the Sheriff, got pulled out of the ditch, and let go, not even having to pay for the person’s fence he had destroyed. He had a chuckle over that.
I was standing directly in front of Mike when he made the call to his “buddy the Sheriff.” I listened to him exclaim he had “an unruly and disrespectful punk in his house and didn’t want him in his presence anymore,” and how, if the Sheriff could, he’d, “really appreciate it if the Sheriff could send a deputy over to remove this punk from his house.” What I don’t understand is that Mike was clearly intoxicated, clearly slurring his words, yet the Sheriff still agreed to send not one, but two deputies to the farm.
I didn’t say a word to Mike in the 10 minutes it took for the County Deputies to roll up in two brand new 2011 Dodge Chargers, equipped with every bell and whistle available, including the V-8 Hemi, which I’ll elaborate on here shortly.
Upon noticing them coming up the driveway, Mike attempted to make his way outside. He tripped down the stairs leading from the house to the driveway, in front of both Deputies, which they must have missed.
The Deputies also must have missed the next five minutes of Mike’s aggravated and drunken stupor while he explained the “situation” and pointed toward me in wobbly drunken circles. So, I came outside. I walked over to where Mike and the two Deputies had gathered, directly in front of the Deputy’s shiny new Dodge Charger. In an effort to introduce myself and break the ice, I was cut off with an interjecting, “Shut up!” from the larger and older of the two Deputies. So, upon immediate contact with these Deputies, they both began displaying hostile and prejudice behavior toward me.
It’s not that my feelings are hurt over this, they’re not. I’m an intelligent and reasonable adult. If what transpired was due to me intentionally breaking the law then I would gladly accept punishment as a consequence for my actions. However, I will not accept the consequence for another’s actions, be it a police officer or “civilian.” I believe in the right, the fair and the just. I don’t believe in a system that intentionally uses loopholes, “plea-bargains,” or bully-tactics for an entirely for-profit monopoly over citizen’s rights.
Upon telling me to shut up, both Deputies stepped toward me within a meter. The Deputies were very loud and very confrontational. They began explaining how, “I was to leave the property at the request of Mike and if I didn’t voluntarily leave, they were going to make me .” I replied that Mike did not own the property, therefore couldn’t legally ask me to leave; I was here on his Family’s behalf, had absolutely nowhere else to go at the time, and I asked if there was some other way we could work this out. The Deputies neglected mention of who owned the property and any other means of rectifying the situation and kept reiterating that I had to leave or they would make me. After a few minutes, the younger and smaller Deputy, Phillip Troyer, asked, Do you understand that you are going to leave this property or that we are going to make you?” I replied a simple, “No.”
Deputy Troyer then grabbed my shirt, pulled me towards him, and proceeded to hip-toss me onto the gravel driveway. Upon landing on my knees and maintaining situational awareness, Deputy Troyer then placed himself to my back, wrapped his right arm around my neck and proclaimed, “You’re going to sleep!” several times. At this point I felt I was being attacked. I was not told that I was under arrest before this Deputy starting using force. I was not given any indication whatsoever that the conversation had escalated to the point of physical confrontation at any time. I stood up, with the Deputy on my back, arm around my throat, and shook him off of me. Deputy Troyer then ran toward me, dropped his shoulder into my back and pinned me against my mother’s vehicle. At this point there was still no mention that I was under arrest by either Deputy, one of which remained idle the entire time Deputy Troyer assulted me.
It wasn’t until Deputy Troyer had a cuff on my right arm and was struggling to restrain it behind my back and the other Deputy had control over my left that the words, “You’re under arrest,” were uttered, along with, “If you don’t stop resisting arrest, you will be maced and tasered,” which had been mentioned by the older Deputy while reaching for his taser. I submitted. After all, at this point I was actually aware I was “under arrest” and any further resisting would result in multiple felonies. The Deputies then finished bounding my wrists and proceeded to slam me into my mother’s vehicle, followed promptly by slamming me to the ground.
The Deputies advised me that I was under arrest for Disorderly Conduct and Resisting Arrest. They then led me to Deputy Troyer’s cruiser and started going through my pockets. They came across a marijuana pipe in my coat pocket. It didn’t belong to me, but to someone else in the household and I had picked it up straightening up the living room earlier that day. I was as clean as clean gets after going through MEPS, taking my Oath of Enlistment, and Basic Training – I was required to be. Nonetheless, they tacked a Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charge on.
On the way to the jail, I noticed that Deputy Troyer’s dash cam appeared to be on and made mention of it. He replied, “They’re on most of the time. It’s one of the most effective ways for us cops to collect evidence against civilians.” I mentioned, “What about ‘civilians’ against you cops?” Deputy Troyer then changed the subject and began telling me how proud of his new vehicle he was. How he, “washed it every couple of days”, and, “it was the V-8 Hemi, not the pussy V-6 the City Police had.” He pointed out various technological features of the navigation system, cranked up the stereo, and rambled on about the Police equipment on, in and around the vehicle all the way to the jail.
Is this justice? Is this fair? Is this right?
As far as I’m concerned, it is not! I kept my cool in the face of hostility and confrontation and was still violently accosted by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department. I will not be just another victim of their abuse of power!
I asked for the footage from the dash cam of the police vehicles. I was denied and told it didn’t exist! So, upon the deputies arriving to the residence on a private phone call that involved a domestic disturbance in which at least one known individual was highly intoxicated, neither one of the deputies trained to use their dash cam, made an effort to do so.
I asked for the transcripts of the call made through dispatch before I was arrested, and I still haven’t received them! It’s now days from approaching the two-year mark since this incident occurred. There have been numerous motions for continuance, and I’ve had to motion for a jury trial several times because the Court kept repeatedly assigning me a bench trial. I’m told by my public defender (who has mentioned he is friends with the prosecutor numerous times) that the prosecutor is not going to drop the charges and my chances of winning this are not good.
The prosecutor has offered a single plea-bargain in two years’ time; If I plead guilty to Disorderly Conduct and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, they would drop the Resisting Arrest. I couldn’t help but laugh and promptly deny pleading guilty to ANY of these charges. The only reason they found paraphernalia is from an improper arrest and the disorderly and resisting arrest is after the fact, because of the fact, due to a situation that Deputy Troyer created. This is entrapment, to a “T.” Those Deputies came to the farm that night with every intention of removing me from the property no matter what, due to Mike’s personal affiliation with the Putnam County Sheriff. I had no intention or notion of committing any crime.
I need help, please. I refuse to lie down and be taken advantage of by a flawed system. Are there people out there that care enough to help a responsible, good-hearted daddy of two make his voice heard enough to the tyrannical local government of Putnam County that they realize this as well? I just want this to go away. I want to be able to get a job with a clean background check, as it should be. Instead, I have open violent and drug-related misdemeanor charges that I had no logical intention of committing.
Thank you for reading, and if you can, thank you for helping.
-K. Carbiener
Putnam County Sheriffs Department
13 Keightly Road
Greencastle, Indiana 46135
Non-emergency line: 765-653-3211
You’re Going to Sleep! is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights