The incident occurred at the tee area when Lineberry was driving to the next stop. Goodin started to scream “Stop! Stop!” and “Come back here.” It was not clear to witnesses whether Lineberry even heard Goodin or realized that he had brushed him or ran over his foot. Goodin reportedly said “When a state trooper tells you to stop, THAT’S what you’re supposed to do.” Another officer, Trooper C.A. Smith, arrested Lineberry. Photographs from the incident can be seen here.
Lineberry was then hit with charges for felony assault on a law-enforcement officer; felony hit and run; driving while impaired; and resist, and obstruct and delay. That seems like a classic case of over-charging. Pam Walker, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, said “They did take a test, and there was suspicion of an impairment, potentially drugs.” However, they did not say whether it was conclusive.
The felony assault charge concerns me the most since it allows for the most significant amount of jail time. Since there is no report of any disagreement or even exchange between Goodin and Lineberry, it sounds like this was just a simple case of a golf cart bumping or running over the foot of someone in the crowded area of the tournament. That is not the type of thing that most of us think of in terms of an assault on a police officer. However, starting with that alleged felony, the failure to stop is then converted into felony hit and run and obstruction in a proliferation of charges.
Source: Fox Sports
Suggest you check Goodin’s arrest history.
Cop needs a new line of work.
Someone chimne in on where the igPay lives in NC and my dog pack will go poop on his yard.
The officer should be slapped with felony over reacting and aggravated chip on shoulder.
Yeah I agree It was an accident.
If Mr. Lineberry had run over the foot of a spectator would trooper Goodin and his trusty sidekick trooper Smith have responded in the same manner?
personanongrata – of course not. No crime was committed. It was clearly an accident. Again it is official over-reach. I am surprised they did not shoot him.
The state is going to have to prove the golf cart driver had knowledge or reasonable should have had knowledge that an accident happened. Would running over a foot be noticeable, or did the trooper indicate verbally that he was struck?
Here is the North Carolina Law:
§ 20-166. Duty to stop in event of a crash; furnishing information or assistance to injured person, etc.; persons assisting exempt from civil liability.
(a) The driver of any vehicle who knows or reasonably should know:
(1) That the vehicle which he or she is operating is involved in a crash; and
For the assault charge the state is going to have to prove criminal intent, criminal recklessness or criminal negligence at the time the alleged assault happened or just prior. I cannot see this as being made.
I’m going to have to see more than what has been alleged in the news article for me to believe this incident constituted a criminal act.
Darren – back in the day, in another lifetime, while driving a forklift, I drove over a guys’ foot. Sadly, I had a ton and a half roll of paper that I was carrying to add to the weight of the forklift. The poor guy had been working for the company for like 15 minutes when I ran over his foot. He never came back to work. I am sure it was an industrial claim.
Thank you, sir.
Darren – Thanks for your help. 😀
raff did come through yesterday. He’s not on HUAC.