Update: El Paso Police Chief says Sgt. Raul Ramirez may have overreacted.
Two ABC-7 reporters covering a crash on Interstate 10 were arrested by an agitated cop.
The reporters had pulled up to the scene of an overturned truck from the opposite side of the freeway.
They had parked in the emergency lane where several cars were already parked. They started interviewing people who had witnessed the accident.
But an El Paso Police officer could not fathom the idea that a couple of journalists had arrived on the scene and accused them of interfering with an investigation, even though they were on the other side of the fence.
The officer had to jump the fence in order to arrest them, even though they were fully cooperating.
Reporter Darren Hunt and videographer Ric Dupont were handcuffed and transported to a command center where they were released within minutes.
The cop’s name is apparently Sgt. Ramirez, judging from some of the comments in the ABC–7 article.
After reading all of the previous comments, I think it’s funny how the people defending the officer refer to him as Sgt. Ramirez, whereas his name is never mentioned during the newscast nor in the article. These are obviously fellow cops or family members stepping up to defend their friend/colleague. Unlike the general public, by law police officers do not have a duty to retreat in times of a confrontation. Having given the cop that much, officers must be able to exercise appropriate restraint and professionalism when conducting their duties, and this supervisory officer seriously lacked both qualities. Darren is a journalist and therefore is allowed access not afforded to civilians to crime scenes, war zones, etc.; not by local or state law, but by international laws. Sorry fellow cops, but your boy was caught with his pants down on camera and all of El Paso knows it.
