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| Jene Newsome |
Do you remember Jene Newsome? She was the Air Force Base sergeant who was outed to her superiors by Rapid City officers. She is now preparing to file a lawsuit against the city.
In November 2009, the police of Rapid City served an out of state arrest warrant for Cheryl Hutson, Newsome’s partner (the warrant was for a charge of grand theft). The sergeant was not part of the investigation, nor involved with the case of her partner. However, the police did notice a marriage license from Iowa on the pair’s kitchen table. This fact was included in their report and was shared with Newsome’s superiors. You can guess the rest. She was discharged in January.
Hold on because it gets better. The police counter they are completely innocent and no violations happened on their watch. They add the ex-sergeant allegedly wasn’t very helpful with the investigation, and listing the certificate was important because it offered a reason why she didn’t help them out.
“Given the city of Rapid City’s unwillingness to acknowledge the wrongful and unlawful acts done by Officer (Jeremy) Stauffacher, (Det. Tom) Garinger and other members of the police department, we have no choice but to file a lawsuit against the city of Rapid City in federal court,” said Jeffrey Fransen, one of Newsome’s lawyers.
Fransen has a good point. During this whole episode the city and its police have dug in their heels, unwilling to even admit the career of a good sergeant has been destroyed.
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I have been a frequent visitor in Rapid City and came to the conclusion long ago that their law enforcement departments were not the sharpest saws in the toolbox. Typical hillbilly mentality guaranteeing a pretty shallow gene pool, clearly in need of chlorine! I hope Ms. Newsome takes them for a cool few million dollars. These citystates never quit learn their lesson until it costs them money!
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