A state trooper named Ryan Wingo sees a car he thought was speeding, so he made a U-turn, without turning on his lights. There was a car who was following behind him, which belonged to a disabled veteran named Charles Donner. The state trooper stopped pursuing the car he thought was speeding, and instead, made another U-turn, his lights still off, to pursue Donner. He cut in front of a Lexus. Donner notices he’s being pursued and pulls over, and the trooper rear-ends him. Donner is later cited as slamming on his brakes in front of the trooper (IIRC), and another police officer makes a report about this, stating minor damage to Donnor’s car as well as the fact that Wingo failed to stop in time.
They pull into a parking lot, and things escalate. When the officer gets to the driver’s side door of Donnor’s car, Donnor tries to talk (although some might say argue) about what just happened. Wingo kept deflecting, stating that “we’re at a traffic stop now.” Wingo asked for Donnor’s girlfriend identification, Donnor said that the officer didn’t need it, and Wingo disagreed, stating that he needed it for the traffic stop. Well, at this point, Donnor starts cussing out the trooper. It is then that that Wingo suddenly opens the door, drags Donnor out, lunges him against the car, and arrests him for what he says “disorderly conduct.”
He returned to Donnor’s car to speak with Donnor’s girlfriend, Brittany, after putting Donnor in the back of his car, in what is basically time out, until he “can act like adult.” Donnor is released and not charged with disorderly conduct after another trooper shows up, but he is charged with following too close to a trooper and parking on a highway.
Dr. Todd Grande analyzes the situation in another one of his videos. Have a look.
2nd post for thread stats.
Sir thank you for the video. I really feel bad for all parties except one. The video speaks for it’s self. The Trooper appears to be more than nervous and did not have the tools to deescalate. I’m not a cop so I won’t shoot from the hip. I do feel for the Donners as well. As a Youngman I may have reacted the same. Common sense tells us you probably shouldn’t honk your horn at a Trooper. It reminds me that just because you can doesn’t mean you should. I can see both parties trying to illustrate their own positions and each demonstrated inflamed remarks that just threw gas on the flame. Towards the end of the video a supervisor arrives and this is “in my opinion” the state of ARK will get the checkbook out. The trooper asks Donner " are you one of those types that provoke the police" This was said before he could take a good look at both sides. The inference is that Donner is making trouble. That is shooting from the hip and is not at all constructive. If this is consistent with the ARK Troopers training one can understand why Wingo acted as he had. It is an attempt to discredit Donner regardless of any statement Donner has made. Does it suggest Donner is a trouble maker and deserves to be cuffed? I see this as intimidation and any further words or actions by Donner will be used to reinforce the statement. I believe that that the Trooper hitting Donners car is what inspired the escalation. The young Trooper made a mistake and was unable to backpedal The supervisor should be the voice of reason, but his statement only reinforcers Wingo’s actions. I hope both parties can work this out. If the video provided is all their it will speak for it’s self. For Donner I say never honk at A Trooper on duty to illustrate a wrong doing. This is along the lines of telling a Judge he is wrong in his own courtroom. This disabled Vet has been trained in the proper way to file complaints when he observes, or believes a law has been broken. I believe there are good guys and bad guys in the world and typically things work out. Both parties here are really good guys and it’s important to support each.
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