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Father and son try to cut to front of line, go to jail

by francisrivera | January 13, 2009 at 03:29 pm

334 views | 12 Recommendations | 6 comments

Here's something worth giving that judicial balancing acts.

MUNCIE -- City police said a Frankfort man picked the wrong time to cut in line at the north Walmart store on Sunday, setting the stage for events that landed both him and his father in the Delaware County jail.

Edward R. Pluhar Jr., 26, was preliminarily charged with battery on police officer Chris Kirby, while his father, 61-year-old Edward R. Pluhar Sr., was preliminarily charged with criminal recklessness with a vehicle and intimidation.

According to police reports, officer Kirby was off duty as he waited in Walmart's customer service line with his wife and daughter Sunday afternoon, and watched the younger Pluhar walk past him and directly to the service desk.

The police officer told Pluhar Jr. he needed to wait his turn, but the Frankfort man purportedly refused.

The elder Pluhar then allegedly approached the off-duty officer, told him to mind his own business and asked whether Kirby wanted to take the dispute outside.

When Kirby asked Pluhar Sr. what his intentions were, the Frankfort man purportedly said he would kick Kirby's posterior and also suggested he might shoot him.

Kirby then informed the father and son that he was a police officer and called emergency dispatchers to send an on-duty officer to the scene.

The Pluhars then left the store, at 4801 W. Clara Lane, with Kirby following them to the parking lot and then standing behind their van as they attempted to leave.

The van, driven by the elder Pluhar, allegedly hit the officer's leg. Kirby and the younger Pluhar then fought, reports said.

Patrol officers Kevin Durbin and Jess Neal then arrived and arrested the father and son without incident.

Edward Pluhar Sr. was released from the county jail Sunday after posting a $5,000 bond, while his son was released on a $2,500 bond.

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Replay (not verified)

at 09:22 on January 14th, 2009

Justice what, I do not care if he cut or not. The off duty police officer (off duty being the key word) had no right to go out in the parking lot and stand there to block him in. Where does he got off thinking he has the right. He is lucky he did not get his legs broke. I mean assault is assault and if you are going to get accused of something make it count. Now look the guy's are wrong for cutting in line and trying to start a fight if that is what happened? But if the cop would have not been tiring to be Barney wanna be bad ass and just let him go and leave the store there would not be an issue. He had already defused the situation and they where leaving. You know the saying less is more, I think it would have fit nicely here. Less flexing of the badge more being what it means.

Rubyheart (not verified)

at 12:45 on January 14th, 2009

I read an AP report that included the Pluhars' side of the story. After reading it, I'm inclined to side with them. What they said is more believable than the cop's version of things. Here's what it said:

Pluhar Sr., however, gave a different version of events leading up to his arrest.

"There's a lot more to the story," he said.

He said his son had waited in line for 25 minutes once and been sent by a clerk to exchange an item. When he returned, Pluhar Sr. said the clerk waved his son to the front of the line, and Kirby objected.

He said his son tried to explain the situation, but Kirby insulted him, at which point Pluhar Sr. asked Kirby to step outside but Kirby laughed at him. Pluhar Sr. also denied Kirby's claim that the older man threatened to shoot him. He said he and his son tried to walk away from the confrontation, but Kirby followed them outside.

Pluhar Sr. said Kirby never identified himself as a police officer and he only found out he was an officer from other police at the scene.

"What I did was wrong, but that doesn't make what he did right," Pluhar said.

Edward R. Pluhar Jr. was preliminarily charged with battery on a police officer, while his father was arrested on charges of intimidation and criminal recklessness with a weapon. Police said Pluhar backed into Kirby's leg as he attempted to leave the parking lot while Kirby was standing behind the vehicle.

Read the whole article here.

Rubyheart (not verified)

at 12:59 on January 14th, 2009

The end of my comment got cut off. I had added:

Read the whole article here.

I’ve had exactly that experience in the customer service line at Wal-Mart (minus the fracas with the popo), so I’m more inclined to believe the Pluhars’ explanation. I also believe them when they say the cop did NOT identify himself (or I believe they may not have heard him say it), and I have a really hard time accepting that he threatened to shoot the cop. It doesn’t say any gun was found on the guy or in his truck, so what was he gonna shoot him with?

More than anything else, this looks to me like a case of a cop who jumped to conclusions, and a pair of “suspects” overreacting to a personal confrontation.

By the way, a cop is a cop 24/7, off-duty or not, so he really didn’t overstep his bounds in that way, but he did take things further than necessary. I don’t like it when people cut in front of me either, but if they have an explanation, I’ll listen to it. I don’t think the cop cared about their explanation, and just decided to flex his muscles. All three of them were just a bunch of meathead males who got juiced up on testosterone. Unfortunately, one of them had a badge and a police force on his side.

Rubyheart (not verified)

at 13:02 on January 14th, 2009

OK, attempt #3! The end of my comment got cut off. I had added:

Read the whole article here.

More than anything else, this looks to me like a case of a cop who jumped to conclusions, and a pair of “suspects” overreacting to a personal confrontation.