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Brickbats: April 2022

Video shows staff from Harrison County, Indiana jail didn’t immediately see Jerod Draper, who was suffering from a meth addiction. They put him in a recliner chair with a hood and placed their Tasers over his head. Harrison County officials offered to settle the lawsuit filed by Draper’s relatives for $1 million. But, nobody at the jail was charged criminally in this incident.

Two former editors from the pro-democracy newspaper were arrested by police in Hong Kong Stand News with sedition. Chung Puikuen, Patrick Lam and a fine up to 5,000 Hong Kong dollar ($640) each face imprisonment of two years. The police also arrested four others Stand News board members for questioning. According to the newspaper, it had announced in December that it would stop publishing and will lay off its entire staff.

After pleading guilty, Richard Charles Barrios III, a former Ventura County Sheriff’s deputy, was sentenced to one-year imprisonment followed by two-years probation. Barrios retracted the findings of the drug test that showed that the woman Barrios had arrested for DUI driving was not impaired. Barrios then informed a supervisor that the woman had refused to provide a urine sample. A second deputy was able to find the test. A second sample was provided by the woman, which proved negative.

As omicron cases soared in the winter, Quebec Premier François Legault imposed a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew to battle the spread of COVID-19. Legault banned private gatherings as well as indoor dining in restaurants and at homes.

Redmond, Washington police shot Andrea Thomas Churna six time, killing her. This was on September 20, 2020. According to the King County Sheriff’s Office which is currently investigating the incident, the shooter and all other officers present at the scene refused to cooperate in the investigation. The local prosecutor has not filed any charges. Churna was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as well as other mental and emotional problems. She called police to report that someone tried to kill her. She was also armed when they arrived and confessed to having fired a single shot. But The Seattle Times Reports indicate that she had placed the weapon down, and was lying on the floor for three minutes prior to being shot.

Trent Kellee Freeman was a former Gilchrist County sheriff’s officer detective. However, her new job was elsewhere. Freeman was also accused of stealing $4,000 from coworkers in donations for sick leave.

After an investigation revealed that two of their principals, Debra Pustulka, and Monika SommersFridenstine, were forcing a nine-year old student at Palm Elementary School to eat food taken from the garbage can, Lorain’s school board fired them. The girl’s family filed a lawsuit against Pustulka, claiming that she told her to finish whatever was left on her tray. Pustulka told the girl that she didn’t like it and gave her food away. Sommers-Fridenstine found the food, and the girl was forced to eat it.