Former Bellator/UFC Dave Herman had a less than ideal Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to say the very least. After being spotted with a missing tail light and leading Indiana police on a “3 mile chase” early Monday morning, Herman was tasered, hauled into custody, and slapped with a litany of felony and misdemeanor charges including but not limited to Resisting Law Enforcement and Battery Against Law Enforcement. Oh yeah, and his wife and infant son witnessed the whole thing.
That last part bears mentioning, because as it turns out, Herman’s wife, Madeleine, was recording the majority of the incident with her computer prior to Herman’s arrest. In addition to contesting the report filed again “Pee Wee” yesterday, Madeleine also teamed up with retired Marine, libertarian talk show host, and activist Adam Kokesh to release the video of Herman’s arrest. Suffice it to say, the video paints a slightly different picture of what went down than the police report.
Video after the jump.
A few things:
1. Herman’s insistence on driving to a “well-lit, video-recorded area” before pulling over was a really, really dumb thing to do.
2. His insistence on asking for three forms of ID from the officers pulling him over was also a bit…presumptuous, considering the 3-mile chase he had allegedly just led them on.
3. That being said, he didn’t exactly come off as a violent man who needed to be tasered.
3.5. Is “Battery of an officer” (aka Battery of Law Enforcement) really the standard charge handed out when a taser is used on *you*? Because that seems…contradictory.
Madeleine has insisted that Herman has yet to be released, and is calling for all “liberty brothers and sisters” to demand that Herman be released and the officers who arrested him be held accountable. Madeleine is also claiming that, contrary to what they are telling the public, the police have refused to release Herman. Kokesh added in a later update:
If you call and they tell you that [Herman] has been released, they are lying! I just got a text from Madeleine and as of 8:06 p.m. Tuesday, he is still in jail.
“The prosecutors have 48 hours to set bail or arraign. They have been refusing to give out info on whatever the hold up is, but after some persistent calls, one lady finally snapped and said they were going to wait until the 47th hour to finish his paperwork because they do not appreciate his sense of humor.”
More on this story as it develops, but in the meantime, you can contact Madeleine Herman at [email protected]. The DeKalb Prosecutor’s Office can be reached at 260.925.1646.