Cop, butcher in clear after dispute

The Great Meat Fight of 2007 has been declared a draw

"Criminal charges will not be filed against Vancouver Police Officer Roger Evans or Top Choice Meats owner Mike Brannan, a special prosecutor said Wednesday.

The Dec. 21 altercation started when Evans, who went to the Orchards shop to pick up a venison order while off duty, became upset that market employees failed to add pepper flakes to his venison jerky.

According to witnesses, Evans and Brannan had a lengthy, heated exchange that ended with Evans drawing his gun, customers ducking for cover and a flurry of calls to 911.

Clark County Sheriff’s Detective Rick Buckner, who investigated the incident, found no fault with Evans. He recommended misdemeanor assault charges against Brannan based on Evans’ claim that the butcher shoved a heavy box of venison at the police officer’s chest outside the store.

The Vancouver city attorney prosecutes misdemeanors within city limits, but Charles Isely and James Senescu, a former assistant city attorney and a former deputy county prosecutor, respectively, were asked to review the case to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest since a police officer was involved.

Isely said there was a lack of credible and consistent evidence to support any criminal charges.

Therese Lavallee, Brannan’s attorney, received the special prosecutors’ report and said no witnesses corroborated Evans’ claim that Brannan shoved the box at him.

Witnesses did, however, say that Evans drew his weapon without provocation.

That could support a charge of second-degree assault with a firearm, prosecutors said in their report, but they declined to file such a charge because they said Evans could argue self-defense.

Evans has said he pulled his weapon because he feared Brannan was going to pull one out first.

The prosecutors reasoned that, as a police officer, Evans has a heightened sense about predicting what a person is going to do, Lavallee said."

Simply cannot make this shit up.

A heightened sense of being hit by a side of beef wielded by an irate butcher. I see.

Draw down on an unarmed merchant and see how much sympathy the local yokels afford your excuse that you believed he or she was going to clobber you with a ham hock.

The inmates are running the asylum and have redefined the meaning of mercenary-overlord.

Thanks to The War on Guns