from CNN.com….
TENAHA, Texas (CNN) — Roderick Daniels was traveling through East Texas in October 2007 when, he says, he was the victim of a highway robbery.
Police in the small East Texas town of Tenaha are accused of unjustly taking valuables from motorists.
1 of 2 The Tennessee man says he was ordered to pull his car over and surrender his jewelry and $8,500 in cash that he had with him to buy a new car.
But Daniels couldn’t go to the police to report the incident.
The men who stopped him were the police.
Daniels was stopped on U.S. Highway 59 outside Tenaha, near the Louisiana state line. Police said he was driving 37 mph in a 35 mph zone. They hauled him off to jail and threatened him with money-laundering charges — but offered to release him if he signed papers forfeiting his property.
“I actually thought this was a joke,” Daniels told CNN.
But he signed.
“To be honest, I was five, six hundred miles from home,” he said. “I was petrified.” Watch CNN’s Gary Tuchman try to question officials »
Now Daniels and other motorists who have been stopped by Tenaha police are part of a lawsuit seeking to end what plaintiff’s lawyer David Guillory calls a systematic fleecing of drivers passing through the town of about 1,000.
“I believe it is a shakedown. I believe it’s a piracy operation,” Guillory said.
George Bowers, Tenaha’s longtime mayor, says his police follow the law. And through her lawyers, Shelby County District Attorney Lynda Russell denied any impropriety.
Texas law allows police to confiscate drug money and other personal property they believe are used in the commission of a crime. If no charges are filed or the person is acquitted, the property has to be returned. But Guillory’s lawsuit states that Tenaha and surrounding Shelby County don’t bother to return much of what they confiscate.
Jennifer Boatright and Ron Henderson said they agreed to forfeit their property after Russell threatened to have their children taken away.
Like Daniels, the couple says they were carrying a large amount of cash — about $6,000 — to buy a car. When they were stopped in Tenaha in 2007, Boatright said, Russell came to the Tenaha police station to berate her and threaten to separate the family.
“I said, ‘If it’s the money you want, you can take it, if that’s what it takes to keep my children with me and not separate them from us. Take the money,’ ” she said.
The document Henderson signed, which bears Russell’s signature, states that in exchange for forfeiting the cash, “no criminal charges shall be filed … and our children shall not be turned over” to the state’s child protective services agency.
.
SPAY/NEUTER YOUR PETS…and weird friends and relatives please!!!!
This type of activity in Tenaha TX should be prosecuted promptly and the guilty persons in the police dept. should do time in prison. I thought this type of illegal activity went out in the 50′s and 60′s. The entire state of TX should come down on this “podunk” town of theirs.
This is why I do not live or visit Texas. Its sad to see a Law Enforcement agency do this to innocent people, who did nothing wrong but drive thru this tiny town. I hope CNN stays on this story until justice gets served.
If these people do not face criminal prosecution, The next time they will simply train their Cops” to “Plant” Contraband!
Though those Laws do Pervert, corrupt the justice system and the constitution, these people Never came close to compliance!
They have no Fear, Respect or concern for the “Law” in America!
If Criminals have no fear of prosecution and all You have to worry about is Returning the “LOOT”.
Then “What’s to dissuade Them from Becoming Criminals?
Whay a bunch of worthless loosers! These cops should be locked up or bring back publick flogging! What a wast of tax payers $.
This should be taken to the limit and every cent ever stolen should be returned with interest.
Does anybody have the email address for the place??
Thanks
Dan
Nothing will happen, nothing ever happens to Law enforcement that have gone wrong, attorney, politicians, or the rich, the normal people white black hispanic, latino, oriental, green purple black, always get screwed . And it will never stop cause they make the laws.
Give them a call and let them know what you think. But please be polite even though they don’t deserve it.
936 248-5942
tenaha texas police dept website is hiding just like the ‘alleged’
thieves they are. They should be sent to prison to live with the
thieves, if they are found guilty, from the mayor down to the
last dirty cop, oh & don’t forget the so called singing DA
& crooked officials they are and become some prisoners ‘bitch’. I
hate criminals that hide behind the
law like this slimey bunch of criminals complicated by the fact
they are badge wearing & gun carrying thugs
tenaha texas police dept phone # is 936 248-5942,,,,,936 248-5942.
They all should go to hell & jail ……………………….
Police Station Address: PO BOX 70. Tenaha, TX
Send them all to Mexico & let them fend for themselves against some real deal thugs
Just called number left by Dan.. politely let person answering phone know that my hope is that the Justice Department gets involved and sends all of the crooks (police, DA and Mayor) to Federal Prison. Also, forwarded story to my e-mail list and asked that they call to express their disgust with Tenaha’s public officials. We can’t allow this kind of behavior to take place in OUR country, regardless of where it is happening. Get involved, call and let your feelings be known.
The feds should get involved in this. Looks like some “Good’ol Texas Justice” may be in order. Let the D.A., Mayor, and Policeman, take a long drop with a short rope around the neck. Heck, maybe we ought to build a fence along the northern border of Texas, as opposed to the southern border.
We should do this with illeagles!
Okay – so now what is happening – why no followup..?..why no further investigation into other matters in the county specifically what is going on in Center, TX….
I want to get across my affection for your kind-heartedness giving support to folks who have the need for guidance on that concern. Your real dedication to getting the solution up and down turned out to be wonderfully functional and has truly made professionals just like me to arrive at their endeavors. Your personal warm and helpful help entails a lot to me and substantially more to my peers. Thanks a lot; from all of us.