PLEASE READ ALL I REALLY NEED YOU GUYS ON THIS ONE HELP BRING JUSTICE TO OUR...
it will not even take 30 seconds to bring justice to this young man. I would greatly appreciate it.
IRONTON -- The chief of police in Ironton is standing by his officers following the drowning of a man they say was evading arrest.
Aaron Roe, 23, of South Shore, went into the Ohio River about 2 a.m. Saturday after police had been called on reports of disorderly conduct to the Fuzzy Duck bar, where Roe was watching a local band perform.
Roe was apparently identified by ownership as one of the people causing trouble and fled from police while they tried to arrest him, said Chief James Carey.
Roe's body was found about 1 p.m. Sunday near the Ohio bank where he entered the water, apparently weighted down by his boots, clothes and objects in his pockets.
Roe's friends and family have been highly critical of police, saying they restrained potential rescuers, then did nothing as Roe sank in the river.
Some have even said Roe wa**** with a stun gun before going into the water, and wa**** again while he was in the river.
Carey said stun devices were used on Roe, but it was well before Roe was in the river.
"Tasers were deployed twice, but it was in the south end of the bar. He was not tasered in or anywhere near the water," Carey said. "The tasers didn't have any effect, so we don't even know if they actually made contact with Mr. Roe."
Carey has already said Aaron Roe's brother, Allen, and friend Tim Young were kept from going into the water after Aaron Roe because authorities believed it would have made the situation even worse.
Young and Allen Roe were cuffed and placed in the back of police cruisers.
Young told The Independent he had to watch Aaron Roe drown from that vantage point while police made no effort to save him.
Carey said police contacted water rescue teams when Aaron Roe went into the river. He said the officers responded appropriately by not going in the water themselves.
In addition, Carey said police tried to coax Aaron Roe back to shore, but he responded by verbally taunting the officers.
"The officers repeatedly tried to get him to come in, and he refused and swam out even farther."
Friends said Aaron Roe had been drinking before the incident but were uncertain as to how much that might have impacted his judgment.
Young placed the blame squarely on police, saying their handling of the situation was inhumane.
An autopsy on Aaron Roe's body was being performed Monday.
Okay, I just HAVE to reply to this new paper article. If the cops in your town are doing the other things, then thats very sad, but this new article gets me. My brother is a cop, as well as several good friends of mine. My husband and I were both on the ems for years as well and worked closely with several police officers. We had a similar situation happen here last summer. Man was drunk and disorderly, went to the lake by his parents house, and dove in thinking to elude the police. Is it sad that this happened? ABSOLUTELY!
HOWEVER, with that being said, the police officers responded appropriately by not allowing anyone into the water after this guy. And also by not going in themselves. There are water rescue teams trained for just this type of rescue. Even if EMS was on hand, even they would not have been allowed in the water after this guy. I know it seems harsh, however, would it have been better that two or three people died going in after this guy? If he was indeed intoxicated, as stated above, he may not have even known he was drowning someone else as well. By all means, I am not downplaying any events that may or may not be happening in your area, but instead pointing this out from another view. If the toher things are happening in your area as you say then chances are your going to need more than a petition. I do wish you luck though!
