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Still, he tried to assert his rights, asking the deputy if she had “reasonable articulated suspicion.”
“Do you want me to put you in handcuffs right now,” she asked, then answered his question. “Yes, sir, I do.”
When Hodges asked what her suspicion was, Gohde told him “it looked like” he was carrying a gun in his back pocket. “I’m stopping to make sure you’re carrying it properly,” she said.
At that point, Hodges asked her if she had ensured it was not a firearm, and he took out the navigational aid and showed it to the deputy.
“You don’t have to be a dick to me,” she said.
Hodges responded: “Well, you’re being one to me.”
He then asked if he was being detained, and Gohde said he was.
When Hodges asked for her supervisor, she pointed out Sgt. Randy Harrison. Hodges explained to Harrison what happened, and instead of letting Hodges go after verifying that his walking stick was not a gun, both Gohde and Harrison handcuffed Hodges.
He stood quietly handcuffed.
“Sir, are you legally blind,” Harrison asked.
Hodges responded that he is. “I had to walk up here in the dark for jury duty, which was canceled,” he said.
Harrison then asked Hodges why he wasn’t carrying his walking stick and whether he had to carry it all the time.
Hodges responded that he doesn’t have to all the time, and Gohde interrupted another silent moment that followed.
“Alright, Mr. Hodges, was that that hard?” she asked.
Hodges responded: “It’s gonna be. I want your name and your badge number.”
Harrison suggested arresting Hodges for resisting, and the deputy ushered him to a sheriff’s office SUV.
“I want your name and badge number, too, sir,” Hodges said to Harrison.
The handcuffed man asked Gohde to pick his property off the ground and to remove the walking stick from his back pocket so he could sit in the SUV. She obliged and also took his jacket.
It was all quite civil, except that it wasn’t.
Officials claimed in the incident report that the deputy initially observed Hodges crossing a street “when the traffic control device indicated not to walk.” The deputy also accused Hodges in the report of trying to “turn away” when she first approached him.
After video of the detainment went viral, the sheriff’s office released this statement on Monday:
“We are aware of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office body camera video involving the arrest of Mr. James Hodges on October 31, 2022. Sheriff Hunter is troubled by what he has seen in the video and the matter is being addressed. An administrative investigation was initiated on November 3, 2022 when the incident was brought to our attention. If policy violations are sustained at the conclusion of that investigation, appropriate action will be taken. While we understand the frustration and concern associated with this event, please know we are working to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”
Daily Kos has asked the sheriff’s office to detail any disciplinary actions the deputy and supervisor may face. The sheriff’s office replied that a public information officer would be responding.
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