Sheriffs Office Blows It

Sorry, have a nice day, not sufficient
Magdala Jean Louis, an African-American, at 5′ 11” and weighing a mere 125 pounds, is as nonthreatening a young lady as you could find. Yet, as she re-lives her ordeal of 23 May 2008, it is obvious that she is still very traumatized and emotional– and justifiably so.

According to Magdala, early last Friday morning, she was heading to a friend’s house when she noticed that she was being followed by a cop car. After pulling into a 711, she continued on her way with the police car still following her. Upon reaching what Magdala thought was the correct location of her friend’s house, she was confronted initially by two Orange County Sheriff deputies, one of whom asked her to put her hands up as she sat in her car.
Magdala recalls that she heard a gun shot, following which she was requested to get out of her vehicle, and to put her hands on the car. She was questioned as to whether or not she owned the car, as according to the deputies, the tag number suggested that the vehicle was stolen. In confirming the car did belong to her, Magdala says she tried explaining to the deputies that, she had been previously stopped by another law enforcement agency, who mistakenly thought that her vehicle was stolen. Although not resisting throughout this exchange with the deputies, Magdala says that she was put in hand cuffs and placed in the back of one of the police cars.
Bewildered and scared, Magdala, who suffers from anxiety attacks says that, while sitting in the police vehicle she could hardly breath. Her ‘nightmare’ ended when the police opened the door and told her sorry, you can leave now and have a nice day.
We do not presume to tell the deputies how to enforce the law. We fully appreciate that, at times, they do face difficult circumstances in view of the high crime levels in Orange County. However, this said, we are greatly concerned about the statement of events in the Incident Report of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, or more accurately, what has not been reported.
Firstly, there is no disputing that a shot was fired. The Report states that, “As I was in the process of running towards the suspect vehicle, I reached to grab my assigned weapon (Glock 40). Before running past the front of my vehicle, as I pulled my weapon out of the holster, my weapon discharged one round into the ground. The round struck the ground approximately ten feet in front my patrol vehicle and 20 feet behind the suspect vehicle. The suspect was still in the vehicle and was not in any proximity of where the round had gone. There were no injuries or property damage in the incident.”
We beg to differ. This Newspaper has confirmed that the bullet that went off did strike the rear of Magdala’s vehicle. (see photo).
We question too, the ease with which the deputy’s gun went off, and the seemingly pressured environment that the deputy thought he might be in, particularly when there was a back up unit present.
Magdala says that before her ordeal was over she counted eight police vehicles on the scene! This appears to us to be over kill and we are thankful that she was not physically harmed.
Secondly, no where in the Incident Report is there any indication that Magdala was asked to produce her drivers license or motor vehicle insurance. A quick background check of her drivers license, we believe, would have demonstrated that she has no criminal record. Such a check would have also showed too, that she has a safe driving record.
As the deputies discovered much later, a mistake had been made. Initially, when Magdala’s Florida tag number was run through the DHSMV database, it came up as a stolen vehicle. Subsequently when checked in the OCSO teletype, it turned out not to be the case—the exact tag number is listed stolen out of Washington State, however, the VIN number is different.
We appreciate that mistakes can be made, but we do not believe that law abiding citizens should be treated unfairly. In particular, such persons must be treated equally before the law and not be subject to abuse by the police. This Newspaper understands from Magdala that, as she was being placed in hand cuffs she was told nothing by the police, except to keep her mouth shut. She was also subjected to profanity from at least one of the deputies. We are appalled by this treatment.
We call on the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to investigate this incident thoroughly. We believe that, this apparent error with a tag number which suggested a stolen vehicle, but which turned out to be incorrect and a slender 25-year old African-American cosmetologist, who is studying to become a minister, does not justify eight cop cars.
We go further. Mr. Beary, we do not believe that, sorry, have a nice day is sufficient, in view of the treatment and trauma that Magdala suffered at the hands of Orange County Sheriff deputies.