Man Claims Frankston Police Violated his Rights
FRANKSTON - One man has decided to take legal action against the Frankston Police Department for what he calls foul play, and he says he has the surveillance video to prove it.
On May 15th David Weigand says he and a couple of friends made the trip from Frankston to Tyler for a relaxing dinner with friends.
One of his friends who went along was an officer for the local bank in Frankston and gave Weigand permission to park his company vehicle in this parking lot for the night.
This is the red pick up he left parked in the private lot, with Bowtech, the largest archery manufacturer written on the side.
Weigand said he never expected what would unfold over the next several hours.
After finishing up dinner in Tyler, Mr. Weigand said he got a phone call from some of his friends who headed back earlier.
They told him the Frankston Police Department had broken into his car and they were towing it away.
Frankston Police told Weigand they found weapons and alcohol in his car.
The weapons were a pellet gun and a bow, the alcohol, he says, was an unopened can of beer.
The Frankston Chief of Police declined an interview and says the officers were just doing their jobs.
Sounds like Mayberry and Barney Fife. Wonder if they have bullets??
monty
5 months agoI can surely relate to the fact that FPD officers only like to "play" cop when they want to. In December 2008, my 15 yr old son was being threatened and harrassed by a 35 yr old & an 18 yr old male. My son's cell contained several disturbing voice mails from the guy and his 18 yr old nephew in which they were threatening to take his life and cause him bodily harm. I tried for 30 minutes to call the FPD, only to find out(after driving 20 miles to Frankston @ 2 a.m.) by a sign on the door that they were closed for the holidays, and would return on Monday. The sign instructed you to call ACSD for assistance. The dispatcher at ACSD told me that I would need to wait until Monday and contact the FPD, this was Saturday morning. Imagine that, I have never heard of such crap as a PD closing for the holiday! Does this mean if it's a holiday in Frankston criminals can run around committing crimes. Another incident where someone I know sought the help of the FPD, a 10 month old baby had gone into a Febrile seizure and had stopped breathing. The parents had called 911 and an ambulance was enroute. But the parents being young and not knowing CPR panicked and ran to the FPD with the baby to get help. The officer there never attempted to perform CPR, the young father kept yelling at them to please help his baby, the officer told him he needed to calm down or he would arrest him. The whole time they were waiting on the ambulance the officer kept criticizing the parents for not knowing CPR. Luckily the ambulance arrived and the baby was revived and taken to the hosptal and is okay. So I very loudly applaud Mr. Wiegand for taking his actions.
GLS
5 months agoI found it hard to believe that happen with the baby. I work for the local EMS dispatch and they would have told the parents how to do CPR. Plus if the parents called from home and went to the PD how did they find them.
JLM
5 months agoGLS...I believe you have your facts wrong. The sign you say was posted was probably refering to the municipal court which is located in the same building. Also the dispatching for the Frankston Police Department is done through the Anderson County Sheriff's Office so unless the officer on duty happens to be in the office at 2AM instead of patrolling the city then of course there would not be anyone there.
Did you ever file a report with the FPD on the problems your son was having?
T.J.
5 months agoT.J...I hate to burst your bubble, but my facts are in no way wrong. If the sign that I "SAW" posted would have been referring to the municipal court it would have not instructed me to contact the Anderson County Sheriff or 911 for assistance, it would have just said the office would reopen on Monday. Maybe you should get your facts straight before running to the defense of this department. I do understand that Frankston is a "small" town and that it is required for the officer "on duty" to "patrol the city" sometimes. However, I doubt very seriously that it takes more than 4 hours to perform this duty. And in reference to your question, "Did you ever file a report with the FPD on the problems your son was having?" No, I chose not to waste my time dealing with them any further. Actually I made the report to my local PD and provided them with the name and address of the guy. Not even an hour later my local PD contacted me to let me know that he had been taken into custody by Smith County on another assault offense that happened in their jurisdiction. They also informed me that the guy was a registered sex offender and the address where "I know for a fact" the guy had been residing with his girlfriend, his niece and her children for the past 6 months was not even the address in which he was registered with DPS. It just so happens, the address he had registered with DPS had been "verified" the week before by FPD as being his correct address. Funny thing is the house at the address "verified" by FPD is vacant and has been for quite some time. Of course since FPD spends so much time patrolling the "city", I guess they became a little confused and somehow forgot to notice this error. But of course, I guess the citizens of Frankston should have been the ones more concerned about the address where the guy was actually living, seeing as to how it gave him a perfect view of the school house. But the citizens have no need to worry now, this "predator" is in custody of Smith County and will be returning to TDCJ for a very long time. Seems that since the night in question he has been arrested on 3 other offenses also, not including the charge of "Failure to comply with the Texas sex offender registration requirements."
GLS
5 months agoGLS...my facts are straight.
FACT: The FPD does not close on holidays. The building may be closed but there is always an officer working with very few exceptions even on Christmas (eve & day). The FPD does not have enough officers to provide 24 hr service, they work a variation of 10 hour shifts that are constantly changing in an effort to keep criminals from knowing when there is no one on duty. During those times when an officer is not on duty the ACSO & DPS answer calls for service.
FACT: The FPD only has four (4) officers including the police chief.
FACT: From November 2008 till February 2009 the FPD was short two (2) of the four (4) officers. The Chief was out due to surgery and Officer Ward was seriously injured while chasing a burglary suspect who was later shot and killed by a Henderson County Constable that had come to help.
FACT: The remaining two (2) officers can not work 24/7 to cover the gap left by the Chief and Officer Ward.
FACT: You should have reported your "problem" to your local police department in the first place. They would have then contacted the FPD or the sheriff's office to help resolve the so called "problem". Do you think the world revolves around you and your schedule? I hate to burst YOUR bubble but it doesn't.
GLS your comments only show your ignorance. Do yourself a favor and take the time to research something before you open your mouth and make a fool of yourself!
T.J.
5 months agoT.J.
FACT: First of all let me get one thing clear with you. Maybe you should reread my posts and explain to me further where in my post I stated that I want the world to revolve around me!!! Just because someone requires the assistance of the department does not mean they are expecting them to focus solely on them.
FACT: I am a US citizen and their "JOB" is to serve and protect "ALL" citizens.
FACT: You are very clearly taking my posts out of context.
FACT: I "DID" talk to my local PD first, I was instructed by them to contact the FPD and file a complaint with them since the man in question had committed the offense in Frankston.
FACT: It is not the job of my local PD to take the matters of FPD in their hands, they have their own jurisdiction to control, and I might add they do a very fine job. It was only after I called them the 3rd time letting them know that I was still unable to contact FPD that they took the "SERIOUSNESS" of the matter into their own hands after listening to the voice mails on my son's cell phone, which gave clear details of how this man planned to take his life. Even going into detail about the directions to my home, and how he had a loaded 9mm with my child's name on every bullet. And they have every reason to believe the "FACT" that this man was on his way to my home when he happened to become involved in a dispute with another innocent citizen and assaulted her. Ten minutes later, being highly intoxicated he was involved in a collission and taken into custody.
FACT: My child's "LIFE" was being threatened by a man that apparently has serious mental issues, that in no way is a SO CALLED PROBLEM!
FACT: I do not feel any ignorance what so ever about my comments, and in no way do I feel that I have made a fool out of myself. As far as doing research about FPD, one just has to stop and speak to any citizen in Frankston to get a variety of opinions about the department.
GLS
5 months agoT.J. first of all the media just showed what the complainat has in his possession. Secondly no law has been broken by carrying a bow,duh it isn't a firearm!!! Little do you know. Third all you have to do is listen to a scanner and you will hear what we all hear while on duty. If i ever have a boring night on patrol -just turn to Frankston laughs .com!! Fourth are you kidding YOU MY FRIEND DON'T KNOW THE LAW!!!! They had NO BUSINESS entering that vehicle!!! end of story T.J. know before you speak!!!!
larry Terry
5 months agoLarry Terry, what kind fake name is that anyway? Mr. Terry if you will read my previous post you will see that I never said anything about laws being broken by carrying a bow or that it was considered a firearm. As for your crack about the radio traffic, I do listen and don't see any truth in your comment. Care to explain in detail sir?
T.J.
5 months agoThank you all for the support. Any letters, case numbers, of other incidents that any of you know of would gladly be accepted and appreciated. I am pushing for the Attornery General to have the local Texas Ranger to investigate this and to get involved here. If there are other incidentst that any of you out there know of, please email me at davidw@bowtecharchery.com It could help me in my case, but most importantly, it may help others and what potentially is to come with the public that travels through Frankston. On the night of the event, Chief Folmer called me at approx. 11:00 and wanted to know what happened based on the conversation that I had with his officer. THIS RAISED A RED FLAG TO ME! How many times does a Cheif of Police call someone! HMMM! He tried to get me to come to the police station that night to "take care of this". Based on what happened to my vehicle, i was EXTREMELY RELUCTANT to go down there for fear of them Muddying the waters even more. Who knows what would have happened.
He was extremly nice in nature during our phone conversation and by no means was he UGLY - Polite, well reserved and calm in Nature. He stated that the officers were doing their jobs - as he still states. The phone conversation ended nicely and he asked me if I was willing to "just let this run it's course" (I believe this was how it was put by Chief Folmer) ---- I told him yes and he said good bye! Here we are today! If any would like to know the full details and long version of this story, please email me and I will send you a copy.
Davidw@bowtecharchery.com
Bowtech Archery - A Division of Savage Arms
David Wiegand - Sales Rep Texas,Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana
David Wiegand
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