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Nancy Grace
Attack on Police Caught on Video. Aired 8-9:00p ET
Aired November 10, 2015 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news now, live to Sand Springs, a high- speed chase, car spikes and the horrific moment a woman plows her SUV straight into a police car as the cop pulls his weapon. Bombshell now. It
is all caught on video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop! Stop!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect made the intentional turn towards the officer in his vehicle and rammed the vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands on top of your head! Do not move!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Shocking video shows police bursting through the door of student housing on a Sunday morning, then
brutally tasing and beating a student with a nightstick. Why? Over a noise complaint. We have the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two students being pulled out of the apartment, shoved on the ground, one of them tased and arrested.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They just kind of threw everyone out of the apartment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Live, New Orleans. A woman goes missing from her own home. Tonight, the case cracked wide open as her co-worker, Mario Roque (ph),
allegedly kidnaps her, holds her prisoner in his prison-like apartment, complete with hidden chambers, false doors, two-way mirrors, all because
she turns him down for a date?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say a Louisiana woman was kidnapped, held captive by a co-worker, covered her head with a bag, gagged her and drove
her to Perez (ph) Roque`s home, the home, which cops describe as a house of horrors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight, live, Sand Springs, a high-speed chase, car spikes, and then the horrific moment a woman plows her SUV straight into a police
car as the cop pulls his weapon, and it`s all caught on video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop! Stop!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Chief Mike Carter with the Sand Springs Police Department. Chief Carter, thank you so much for being with us. Who is
this woman? She had to be drunk or on drugs. What happened, Chief?
CHIEF MIKE CARTER, SAND SPRINGS POLICE DEPT. (via telephone): Well, we had an incident with Stacey Ann (ph) Bunsey. She stole a car about 14
miles away from our city, in the city of Tulsa, and she was -- she brought it to our community, and it was being tracked by a cell phone. And they
notified us where the vehicle was, and our officers ended up in the high- speed chase that resulted in the video you just showed.
GRACE: It`s amazing to that me she`s driving directly toward the police officer! And believe it or not, Chief Carter, a lot of people are
actually saying the cop was wrong for shooting, that the cop should`ve gotten out of the way. I think that is crazy talk!
This is Stacey Bunsey right here on the left that was driving that vehicle. There`s Officer Matt Stacy.
Chief Carter, you stated that she stole the vehicle and she was being tracked. I don`t understand the purpose of crashing her car directly into
the police officer, Chief.
CARTER: Well, I don`t, either. And I think that kind of goes back to the culture that`s being built these days. We`ve put forward the narrative
that all police officers are bad, that all police officers are doing bad things every day.
And I think that what we need to put out there is that there are good officers out there doing good work every day and that trying to assault and
kill a police officer is unacceptable.
GRACE: Everybody, we are showing you the video we obtained. Let`s take it from the beginning through the taser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep both hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma`am. Ma`am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show me your hands!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show me your hands! Come on out. Are you the only one in there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can`t see the other hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yours?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m God!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, but...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming back around (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop! Stop!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I want to isolate, Liz, that moment where this Stacey Bunsey is on top of her car refusing -- well, it`s not her car, it`s a stolen car
-- refusing to hold up both of her hands. Let`s listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:06]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on out. Are you the only one in there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can`t see the other hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m God!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK (INAUDIBLE) Come on out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) taser?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taser, taser, taser!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got her. Hold her up there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Back to Chief Mike Carter with the Sand Springs Police Department. What is she saying on top of the car?
CARTER: Well, I`m not sure it`s appropriate for me to repeat what she`s saying. But it`s, basically, you know, anti-police. It`s her
displeasure with police in general.
And again, I think that`s kind of the narrative that gets put out there, and you have people like this that have issues that go and act upon
those narratives.
And so I think one of the things I`d like to point out is, is the good work our officers did that day when she is finally brought out of the
vehicle. She`s not mistreated. The officers ask her about her medical condition and can they get her some assistance and they`re met with vile
responses. And so I think that this video actually shows the success for law enforcement that we can treat people compassionately even after they
try to kill one of us.
GRACE: You know, it`s amazing to me, Chief Carter, that she drives her vehicle directly toward a police officer. It is then and only then he
pulls his weapon. And yet people are insisting he`s wrong, that he should have run out of the way as she`s coming at him full speed ahead, this after
a high-speed chase, after spikes were used!
Chief Carter, could you explain to the viewers what we mean about spikes being used?
CARTER: Yes, the officer`s first intent -- if the full video was played, she goes down by an elementary school. So he tries to go down that
way, make sure that he can back the other officer and to see if she tried to make it into the school, that they could intercept her before she got to
the school.
She then turns around, and so his plan changes. His plan becomes that he wants to lay down tire-deflating spikes. And so he starts to exit his
vehicle. And it`s at that point that he realizes that she`s coming way too fast. He has to abandon that plan.
He draws his weapon, and when she comes at him, she had the opportunity to just bypass his vehicle. He`s not blocking the road.
There`s still enough roadway for two weeks to go past his vehicle, and there would have been no shots fired. But she chose not to do that. She
chose to go directly at his vehicle to try to either kill or injure the officer. And that`s when he needed to try to protect himself.
GRACE: I`m just sick about it. Listen to this woman!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the police! (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma`am! Ma`am!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show me your hands!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on out. Are you the only one in there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can`t see the other hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m God!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK (INAUDIBLE) come on out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) taser?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taser, taser, taser!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to hell! This place is on fire! (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taser, taser, taser!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: There you see the woman, Stacey Ann Bunsey, a 40-year-old woman that should know better, getting tased. And believe it or not, even
after there`s a high pursuit, a high-speed chase, spikes are used by police to try to stop her. She`s near an elementary school in a stolen vehicle.
She drives directly toward the police at a high rate of speed. It is only then they pull their weapon. And today, people are actually saying the
police were wrong. That is crazy talk!
To Michelle Southern, assistant news director, LRN. Michelle, thank you for being with us. What can you tell me about this woman? Who is
this?
MICHELLE SOUTHERN, LOUISIANA RADIO NETWORK (via telephone): Well, this woman, Stacey Ann Bunsey, says she`s from -- was -- was doing some ice
the night before the incident happened and that she...
GRACE: Oh, whoa, whoa! Here I`ve got her getting a tattoo. I don`t know where that -- oh, Facebook. Facebook. Here she is. There`s video of
Stacey Bunsey`s Facebook page. She`s sharing herself getting tattooed with us.
All right. Go ahead, please.
SOUTHERN: Yes, so she had told police that one of the reasons that she was acting, obviously, in the extremely crazy way that she was is
because she had done some ice a few days before and ice before the incident, which is a fancy word for methamphetamine.
GRACE: Well, she`s certainly getting a distinctive tattoo. And that will help me, Chief Mike Carter, when she gets booked in. An identifiable
tattoo is always a good thing to have when you arrest somebody.
[20:10:03]So question, Chief. Why is this woman driving straight at the cop when she could easily have veered away, Chief Carter?
CARTER: Yes, it was the intent to injure or kill the police officer. And -- you know, and from our perspective, this is what we do. We go after
people who are committing crimes. We take them into custody.
Again, I think this -- what we celebrated at our police department is, is this is just another example of law enforcement officers doing the
proper things. They treated her with respect and compassion afterwards. They took her into custody without incident.
Obviously, part of the national narrative is, is officers need to be wearing body cameras. They`re wearing body cameras. They didn`t mistreat
her. So I think this is where people should say the police were doing the right things.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:15:04]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop! Stop!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect made the intentional turn towards the officer in his vehicle and rammed the vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your hands on top of your head! Do not move!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: After leading police on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle, after they put down spikes to stop her, she then drives directly
at a high rate of speed toward the police officer, gets on top of her car and starts cursing out the police.
Joining me, Chief Mike Carter. But to Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, joining me out of Miami. I don`t get it. I don`t understand
the driving directly at the police.
DR. DANIEL BOBER, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: Well, you know, Nancy, clearly, this woman is under the influence of a substance. She`s talking
about God. She seems to be having religious delusions. That certainly does not excuse her conduct by any means, but it seems like she`s
experiencing some form of psychosis, having delusions, paranoia.
GRACE: Bober! Bober!
BOBER: And that could (INAUDIBLE) to her aggressive behavior.
GRACE: Bober! Really? Are you serious? Psychosis? She stole a car, all right? She`s drunk as a skunk! Don`t blame it on some type of
mental infirmity. I think you`re doing a disservice that people that really do have some type of infirmity. She is drunk! She`s got a rap
sheet as long as the interstate, and she`s mad at the cops!
I mean, unleash the lawyers, Robin Ficker out of Maryland, Troy Slaten out of LA. All right, Ficker, I guess you`re going to jump on the
bandwagon with Dr. Bober that she has a mental infirmity?
ROBIN FICKER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There`s a car stolen every 45 seconds in the United States. If we have trigger-happy cops shooting at everyone
fleeing in a stolen car, the U.S. is going to look like the OK Corral. If someone was pointing a gun at my car, I would duck and probably crash my
car, too.
GRACE: You know what? You know what, Vincent Hill? It`s just that kind of talk that is infuriating to everyone in law enforcement because,
frankly, Vincent Hill, former cop, investigator, author, the reality is, the police are the only ones standing between law-abiding citizens and
killers, thugs, rapists, child molesters! They`re on the front line. They`re taking the heat.
They`re taking people like this woman, Stacey Ann Bunsey, trying to stop her from driving like a bat out of hell through an elementary school
parking lot in a stolen car. And now they`re taking the heat!
VINCENT HILL, FMR. POLICE OFFICER: Yes, absolutely, Nancy. And one thing no one`s taken into account is -- you know, I`ve been in many
pursuits, and it`s the most dangerous things a law enforcement officer can be in. So I think that officer did exactly what he said in his report. He
relied on his training and his instinct.
I mean, at the end of the day, had he not stopped her then by spikes or by whatever, she probably would have killed someone else in the public.
So he did exactly what he needed to do to stop that woman.
GRACE: You know, another thing, following up on what Vincent Hill just said -- Chief Mike Carter is with us, Sand Springs Police Department.
Did you hear what Ficker said, the Maryland defense attorney? Did you hear that?
CARTER: Yes, I did. And I think the important part for people to know is, is a lot of time, defense attorneys and others will try to claim
that this was an unarmed person in her vehicle. Number one, she wasn`t in her vehicle, she was in a stolen vehicle. And number two, that wasn`t an
unarmed person. She was armed with a 4,000-plus-pound automobile and trying to hurt or kill a police officer with that. That vehicle is a
weapon.
And I think that gets that lost on people when they try to do the anti-police narrative.
GRACE: I mean, Chief Mike Carter, you`re being awfully PC here. Can I just put it to you like this? Do you ever get tired of that BS the cops
do -- and I`m not saying they`re not bad cops. Of course, there`s bad cops, just like there`s bad priests and preachers and bad nuns and bad --
people in general.
But when a cop is out there doing his or her job and they`re putting their life on the line, do you ever get sick of that BS, Chief Carter?
CARTER: Yes, but I think our response has to be measured in the way we do our job. We can be tired of people trying to do things, but we will
have people`s rights that we have to take into account. And that`s what we do locally.
Again, we go back -- the narrative is, is police officers need to wear body cameras. We`ve done so. They need to go through training. We`ve
done so. They need to take people into custody without injuring them or without punitive measures against them after the arrest is made. We did
so. So I go back, our officers did a fine job that day...
GRACE: They did a great job, Chief. They did a great job because, you know, your officer was armed and standing by a cop car. What if this
had been a little kid at that elementary school that she was driving around?
And Brad Lamm, addiction specialist, founder of Breathe Life Healing Centers -- Brad, I`m so over people trying to hide behind a perceived
psychosis or addiction problem.
[20:20:16]BRAD LAMM, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: No, come on!
GRACE: Even if there is an addiction problem...
LAMM: Don`t belittle it.
GRACE: ... that does not justify what she did.
LAMM: You belittle it as an infirmary (ph). And I`m going to assume, Nancy, that you`ve never smoked, injected or snorted crystal meth, correct?
GRACE: Never! Never!
LAMM: OK. So as a man who is many years, many years off crystal meth and in recovery, I will tell you that I was crazy as a loon when I was
using meth. And so you feel like a superhero. You do dumb stuff. And I`m glad she lived through it.
And it just -- you know, I would just ask that you`d have compassion for her as a person clearly is struggling with addiction. I`m not taking
away that she`s a knucklehead. But I think the headline is not that the police were good, it`s that this is another of the 70 million Americans who
struggle with addiction.
GRACE: You know, Brad Lamm, I like you and I respect what you stand for. I respect the fact that you were an addict and you turned your life
around with no help but your own and having some course (ph). I respect that. But to call her a knucklehead after she nearly killed a cop -- I`m
not down with that, Brad Lamm!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:31]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop! Stop!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This woman drives directly at police. And now the police are being attacked, too. Candace Trunzo, I want to point out that they don`t
tase the woman until she refuses to hold up her other hand.
CANDACE TRUNZO, DAILYMAIL.COM (via telephone): Right. Absolutely. You know, she was -- you know, she`s somebody who has a long, long record
of assault, of theft and drug arrests, as well.
And she was not listening to police. She was keeping one of her hands down. They repeatedly asked her to put her hands up so they can see
exactly what was in her hand. They didn`t know. She could have had a gun. I mean, I think the officers acted with remarkable restraint and handled
her incredibly, incredibly well.
GRACE: You know, Troy Slaten, when I first started at the district attorney`s office as a young prosecutor, one of my dear friends, a rookie
cop, was gunned down, Randy Shapani (ph), by a young guy. It was just a routine traffic stop.
Are you actually telling me, Slaten, that the cops were wrong to tase her when she refused to show her other hand? I mean, how do I know she
doesn`t have a gun in that hand?
TROY SLATEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, absolutely, Nancy, to hear Chief Carter say that they acted with respect and compassion -- as he tried
to shoot and kill her? I mean, he should have jumped out of the way instead of stood there, stood his ground and fired multiple rounds, trying
to take her life. And then to come on here and say that he was acting with respect and compassion? I feel like I`m living in a bizzaro world! There
were a lot of other things...
GRACE: You know, you`re living in your dream world...
SLATEN: ... that could have been done.
GRACE: ... as a defense attorney. When someone is coming straight at you, straight at your cop car in a stolen car after a high-speed chase,
after going by the elementary school, where they`re trying to stop her -- I mean, Chief Carter, I really don`t know how you deflect arguments like Troy
Slaten`s. But here`s your chance.
CARTER: Well, I think his comments are a perspective that a very small minority of people would have. I would correct you on one thing,
Nancy. When you say that we`re being attacked -- not around here. We have had tremendous support from our own community, from northeastern Oklahoma.
And there may be people from where that gentleman comes from that feel that way, but around here, most people come with the common sense that
police officers are not asked to try to jump out of the way of 63-mile-an- hour moving vehicles and put themselves at jeopardy before the suspect has to take accountability for their actions.
So all I would say is, is that we get a lot of support around here, and that is the normalcy for our community.
GRACE: Well, you certainly have our support, Chief Carter. Thank you for being with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:32:50]
GRACE: And now on the other end of the spectrum, to Tuscaloosa, Alabama`s shocking video showing police bursting through the door of
student housing, on a Sunday morning, and then brutally tasing and beating a student with a night stick. Why? Over a noise complaint. We have the
video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Video of the police arresting three college students on a noise complaint is making the rounds here in Tuscaloosa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was already getting tased. Why would you beat him when he`s already on the ground?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The officer seen using the taser is also on administrative leave as well as the officer with the baton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You`re seeing the video right there. With me, Jeff Tyson, morning anchor, WERC. What exactly happened?
JEFF TYSON, WERC: Let`s back up and take a look at this whole situation. Saturday was probably the biggest college football game of the
year around the country, with Alabama and LSU. My son plays for Alabama. And I know that locker room, the stadium, and the town of Tuscaloosa was
electric and ramped up. There were more police on scene throughout the day, and evening, just supporting security efforts. So everybody`s
adrenalin was pumping. Not only the visitors and the fans, but the police I`m sure as well.
But you know, 3:00 in the morning, it`s a little late. Everybody is excited that Alabama beat LSU. They are partying. No doubt 3:00 in the
morning, it`s about time to turn the stereo systems off and people go to bed. That`s when it all unfolded. Cops were called. There`s too much
noise going on. And next thing you know, chaos goes crazy. And you`ve seen the video.
GRACE: Okay. What I`m trying to determine, is what brought this all about. You`re seeing the three arrested in the Alabama police video. The
woman is a double major. The others are majors in science or math or metallurgical engineering. Hold on. I`m hearing in my ear I`m being
joined by Patrick Weaver, who witnessed what happened. Patrick, thank you for being with us.
PATRICK WEAVER, WITNESS: Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me, Nancy.
GRACE: Patrick, I don`t understand. All of this is over a noise complaint?
[20:35:00]
WEAVER: That`s what we`re being told. I happened to walk up on the incident as you see in the video, the cop is starting to pull the first
victim out. And then his friend pulls him back in. I ran by as soon as I saw that happen and ran into a friend`s apartment. And by the time I made
it back out with him, I witnessed all of the policemen running in, dragging people out. I witnessed the individuals being tasered and beat, violently.
We`re told that it`s over a noise complaint, but I just can`t see where those actions for a noise complaint would warrant those actions at all.
GRACE: Michael Christian, you have been researching the whole thing. What was it? A stereo, a noise complaint, at 3:00 a.m.? I understand
that. But it`s a disconnect from a noise complaint on a Sunday morning to getting tasered and beaten by a night stick. What am I missing?
CHRISTIAN: It is very strange, Nancy. Yes, it was a noise complaint. The first officer at the door wanted to come into the apartment when the
door was answered, and the student who answered the door said, you know, no, I don`t want to let you in. I respect your authority.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. So the cop comes to the door after a complaint.
CHRISTIAN: Correct.
GRACE: And says, can I come in, and the student -- the male student says no, you can`t come in? Did I hear that?
CHRISTIAN: He said I respect your authority, but you`re not allowed in my apartment. And somehow it just kept going. The officer said you`re
not respecting my authority. Can you please step out of the apartment? The student said no. And moments later, it had evolved into this melee you
see on video.
GRACE: Well, how do I know that the noise complaint was music? How do I know it wasn`t someone screaming, how do I know it wasn`t furniture
being thrown around or the sound of a fight? What was the noise? Because that`s very important, Michael Christian, for me to determine what`s right
and what`s wrong here.
CHRISTIAN: Yes. Unfortunately, Nancy, the police have not said specifically what it was. Just that it was a noise complaint.
GRACE: Okay. I think there`s more to it than what we know. If this is just a noise -- ow. Okay. I just saw the nightstick. Ow. If this is
just a noise complaint about music or a party, then this is totally wrong. But what if the noise complaint is something like a scream or a fight or a
thud? What was it? J.T. joining me from WERC. What brought this on?
TYSON: Well, exactly. As he mentioned, the police have not specifically said what the noise was. But my kids both went to Alabama.
And I tell them all the time, when police come into a situation where there`s partying going on, you`ve got to yes, sir your way all the way to
jail and then argue with your attorney. Don`t get into a confrontation with police officers in a situation where there`s drinking and partying
going on. Police officers --
GRACE: Let me understand something, J.T. I am taking your response to be that we don`t know what the noise was. Is that a yes or a no?
TYSON: Yes.
GRACE: Hold on just a minute. Let me go to Dr. Lee Norman, chief medical officer at University of Kansas hospital. Dr. Norman, thank you so
much for being with us. What does a taser do to the human body?
DR. LEE NORMAN, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HOSPITAL: Basically, a taser short-circuits the brain from the muscles. It causes
direct convulsive contractions of the muscles, and makes it so that the brain loses control of the muscular contractions.
GRACE: Okay. I`m going to show you what one of our former colleagues, Rick Sanchez, did to explain or demonstrate a taser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ: I`m about to receive 50,000 volts of the electricity. Do it. Oh, God! Oh!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Okay. I wanted to keep that going, because he explains how much it hurt. It hurts. It lays you low. So I`m trying to figure out
where the cops were coming from, because what if the noise had been a scream or a fight? And they go to the door and say, let us in, and the
people say, no. I respect your authority, but, you know, that is not the way it works in the real world. When a cop comes on a legitimate call and
says, I need to come in, you don`t say no, unleash the lawyers. Robin Ficker and Troy Slaten. Gentlemen, I want to take this video from the top
and have you watch it with me. Liz, cue it from the top with sound.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down!
Stay down. [ screaming ]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Okay. Robin Ficker, Maryland defense attorney, and Troy Slaten from L.A.
[20:40:00]
Okay. First to you, Robin Ficker, I`m going to go with Jeff Tyson`s statement that we believe this may have been over a noise complaint. Given
that scenario, what`s your defense?
FICKER: I don`t think that anyone was being injured. These weren`t cries for help. No one was being raped. I think these cops must be
disgruntled LSU fans that got their butts kicked in the game.
GRACE: Okay. I didn`t see that coming. But I don`t know if you`ve ever been tased or not, but I guess you saw Rick Sanchez. And there is the
beating with the nightstick aspect of this. You send your children away to school to get an education, not to be beaten black and blue by the cops.
But also to open the door when the cop tells you to open the door. I still don`t think this type of force was justified.
Troy Slaten, let`s clear something up. Let`s put both of you brain trusts up right now on the law. Typically, to go in a home or a car or a
lockbox or a locker, a briefcase, you have to have a search warrant. That`s promised us in the Fourth Amendment.
SLATEN: But there are exceptions.
GRACE: A search warrant is obtained from a magistrate. You can get one over the telephone. As I was about to say, there is something called
exigent circumstances, that came up during the moonshine era with U.S. versus Carroll, a Supreme Court case where moonshiners were getting away
with goods in the back of the car. That`s when the court said, you can`t always have a search warrant or you lose your evidence. That has been
extrapolated over the years to mean emergency situations.
Now, Troy Slaten, when a cop goes to the door, they don`t know what`s going on there. They don`t know if somebody`s getting murdered, raped,
beaten, held -- being abducted or kidnapped. They don`t know. So they go to the door based on a citizen call, and the person says, no, you can`t
come in. What do you want the cop to do? Troy.
SLATEN: It depends. There are a few other exceptions as well. There`s aside from exigency, there`s hot pursuit. And there`s the plain
view doctrine. If the officer opens the door and sees a crime occurring --
GRACE: Well, neither one of those apply in this case.
SLATEN: -- then he can go in. If he sees a felony occurring, then he can potentially go in. So he doesn`t just have to stand there and wait and
let the crime occur, waiting for a search warrant.
GRACE: Sadly, in this case, Troy, there`s neither plain view, which is like when a cop goes by a car and sees pot sitting on the dash, that`s
not happening, and no evidence of a felony going on. So those things aside, what`s the real reason for going in? Patrick Weaver, you were
there. What did you observe, Patrick? What did you hear? What did you see? Did you hear loud music?
WEAVER: No, ma`am. I didn`t hear any music. And as you can see in the videos, there`s no loud music playing. However, I wasn`t there at the
start of the whole shebang that kind of started. But there was a lot of screaming once the police started to raid. And hearing the girl, Carolyn,
scream, I don`t think I`ll ever be able to forget those images and those sounds out of my head. Watching those individuals get tasered. And they
were blatantly not, you know, causing a threat to anyone at that point, I didn`t think. And it was just very excessive.
And from there, I had two close friends that are girls standing behind me. And I didn`t know what was going on at that point. I had no prior
knowledge of it being a like a loud music call or a noise complaint. And I just wanted to make sure those two girls were safe. I asked the police
officer who was telling us to get the blank back in our houses, it wasn`t our blankety blankety business, just using very profane language. I said,
officer, are we safe, and he looked at me and smirked and said, why wouldn`t you be? And, you know, it was kind of --
GRACE: Michael Christian, I want Patrick Weaver and our viewers to hear about the three students that lived in this apartment. They have no
record whatsoever. They have great grades. They have never been arrested. They have never been in trouble in any way. And as of right now, we have
no evidence that there was a fight going on, that there were screams, that there were thuds, or that there was even loud music. What can you tell me
about these cops -- or about these students?
CHRISTIAN: As you see, Nancy, it is two males and one female. They are all 21 or 22. They are all seniors. Two are from Tennessee. One is
from Georgia. One of the males is majoring in metallurgical engineering. One is majoring in economic arts and sciences. And the third, the woman,
is a double major, public relations and Spanish.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Now to New Orleans. A woman goes missing from her own home. And right now, the case cracking wide open as her co-worker, Mario Roque,
allegedly kidnapped her to hold her prisoner in his prison-like apartment, complete with hidden chambers, false doors, two-way mirrors.
[20:50:00]
All because she turns him down for a date.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say a Louisiana woman was kidnapped, held captive by a co-worker, who covered her head with a bag, gagged her, and
drove her to Perez-Roque`s home, a home which cops describe as a house of horrors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: It`s almost beyond imaginable. This woman goes to work every day. She has got this co-worker that keeps hitting on her, asking her out
for a date. She rebuffs him. Next thing you know, she is approached from behind by this guy, and as of right now an unidentified male helping him.
Let me go out to Gary Vallencourt, host of the morning news, iHeart Radio New Orleans. Thanks so much for being with us. So these two guys come up
behind her and, what, put something over her head?
GARY VALLENCOURT: That`s correct, Nancy. At 10:00 on Friday morning, she was leaving her residence to go to work. She heard two men behind her
talking in Spanish. They apprehended her, put something on her head. Put her in a black Mercury Mountaineer SUV. While she was in there, she said
she heard what sounded like a clip being inserted into a weapon. And she was told, this is not a toy. And if she behaved herself, she wouldn`t be
hurt. They threatened to kill her on the spot. And then they took her to what turned out to be the residence, where eventually with the
investigation they discovered this elaborate set-up.
GRACE: Tell me about the set-up, Gary. I understand that there was a hidden chamber in the floor with restraints. What else do we know?
VALLENCOURT: Well, when the New Orleans police got the warrant, they went in and they found two-way mirrors. They found shackles. They found a
hidden video cam. They found a hidden trap door. And there were fake walls. Now why the fake walls, were they doing that to create another
makeshift apartment, it`s unknown right now. But that setup itself is leading some people to indicate that possibly this isn`t the first time
this could have possibly happened. Or they were aiming to do it again.
GRACE: This is not his first time at the rodeo. We are being joined right now by the PIO at the Kenner Police Department, Lieutenant Brian
McGregor. Lieutenant, I have been in your jurisdiction many, many times. And I want to thank you for being with us. Tell me about how the victim
was approached. Is it true that police believe she was kidnapped and taken to this dungeon-like home because she turned down some dates with this guy?
LT. BRIAN MCGREGOR: Well, that`s basically what we know at this time. We know that the victim had injuries consistent with being restrained. You
could see the marks on both wrists. You could see the marks on both ankles of her feet and so forth. We know she was restrained in some fashion. You
know, we went inside the house. We were able to find some zip ties inside the house. We found some chains in addition to some open locks inside the
house. So we definitely knew she was abducted from Kenner. In addition to that, we have what we call license plate recognition cameras within the
city of Kenner. So we were able to take his license plate number from his vehicle.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:57:55]
GRACE: After she is kidnapped by a co-worker, a good Samaritan saves her life, and he is with me right now. Gary Messina. Gary, thank you so
much for being with us. How did you come to save her? When did you first see her?
GARY MESSINA: Well, shortly after she left the house, she was on a main street called Canal Street in New Orleans. And my wife and I and my
son were driving down Canal Street, and we saw her running and then saw the man chasing her.
GRACE: You know, it`s interesting. You jumped out of your car to go and help her. You felt this instinct, something was wrong. And you
describe an eerie moment when the EMTs were about to take her to the hospital. What happened, Mr. Messina?
MESSINA: It was -- well, the EMTs were putting her on the stretcher. And they put the restraints on her, around her chest and her waist to bring
her into the ambulance safely. And as soon as they put that restraint on her, she put her hands together like she had been restrained in the home,
and just started crying. The look of terror on her face was awful.
GRACE: You know, Mr. Messina, he was chasing her at the time you saved her. For all we know right now, she could be dead if it had not been
for you leaping from your car and acting. Thank God for you, and thank you for being with us.
Let`s remember American hero, Bryce Haynes, 40, Redlands (ph), California, 12-year vet, San Bernardino police department. A great
officer, family man, humanitarian. Son, Benjamin, daughters Abigail and Katie. Widow Alice. Bryce Haynes, American hero.
Thank you to our guests but especially to you for being with us. I`m Nancy Grace signing off. I`ll see you tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern
sharp. Until then, good night, friend.
END
