Woman worries stop was in ‘retaliation’

Mike Friend
The Express-Star

A Blanchard woman has raised concerns of “retaliation and harassment” against the Grady County Sheriff’s Office after she was recently pulled over for speeding and a tag violation.

Tammy Christopher, who recently made headlines after her family dog was shot by Deputy Sean Knight and then settled out of court with the county for $15,000, said that she feels the stop was possibly retaliation due to the fact she just had a dispute with their department.

“It wasn’t until the last few weeks did I start to notice that a deputy has been sitting down the road from my house and I wonder if it was him this whole time,” said Christopher, as she explained that Sheriff Art Kell kept her on the side of the road for approximately 45 minutes before letting her go with two tickets.

“I thought he was going to arrest me. He started cleaning out his back seat and he said that he was going to have to check out the statutes to see if the speeding and expired tag was an arrestible offense or not,” said Christopher.

Kell said the stop was a coincedence.

“The name sounded familiar but I didn’t know who she was until Deputy Hefley called me on the radio after the stop and told me.”

Kell says he never attempted to arrest her, but admitted he did make a call to his under sheriff Jim Weir to see if the law says he “shall or may” tow her vehicle and make an arrest for the violations.

However, Kell could not explain the lengthy stop and when asked if a 40 minute stop for speeding and an expired tag is normal he said, “The stop was routine.”

“He also told me he was going to make sure I took care of the tag immediately and if I didn’t he would come by my work later on to verify that I did. He said he would drive through the parking lot and he would come inside my job if it wasn’t done,” said Christopher.

“I was stunned. I can’t figure out why the Sheriff himself would be out working traffic at 8:00 in the morning, just down the road from where I live,” she said.

Kell said he has only made five or six traffic stops since he was elected be sheriff.

“I wrote several tickets when I was a reserve deputy,” Kell said.

Of the five or six stops, Christopher said, “I just think it is too coincidental that I am one of the few he has decided to stop.”

(Assuming this is true, the deputy needs to be fired and prosecuted. A civil suit, while appropriate, doesn’t take it far enough.)

It is only a matter of when and not if that the officers deeds will catch up with him.

The mills of the gods grind slow but exceedingly fine.

She had to sue because her family (most likely including you) is ridiculous.

HOW sad/

John Doe, could you please provide a link to the information you cite about the dog’s previous aggressive acts?

It’s seems more and more that we, as citizens, should have it written into law that we are allowed to video tape police activity at all times since there are so many incidents with police telling stories that differ from the actual events. Whenever I see video of police shouting at somebody to turn their camera off it makes me wonder what they are up to that makes them fearful of having it recorded. They are the police, they are there to serve the public who pay their salaries, and they shouldn’t be concerned with being witnessed or videotaped enforcing the law (unless, of course, they know that what they are doing is in violation of the law).