THE PORTLAND POLICE Bureau has opened an investigation into Sergeant Kyle Nice—one of the officers involved in the 2006 death in custody of James Chasse Jr., a man with schizophrenia—after Nice pulled his gun during an off-duty road rage incident in Beaverton, challenging the other driver to “go ahead and call the police.”
Neil Ruffin did indeed call the police after Nice pulled his gun, on Saturday afternoon, April 3. Nice followed Ruffin after he cut the officer off outside a Chevron station at SW Allen and Scholls Ferry Road. Nice yelled at Ruffin at a stoplight, who then followed the officer for a distance.
Eventually, both men pulled over. Ruffin planned to get out of the car, but before he could, “he saw Nice in between the front of his car and the back of Nice’s truck with a pistol out,” according to Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy James Bieker, who wrote the report for the incident.
Ruffin told Bieker that Nice had pointed the gun at him. Meanwhile Nice told Bieker he had only drawn the gun because he was concerned for his own safety with a six-week-old child and two cans of propane in his car. Nice said he hadn’t pointed the gun at Ruffin, while a witness, Elizabeth Johnston, said she couldn’t be 100 percent sure if the gun was pointed at Ruffin or not. She also said, “Nice seemed to be the more aggressive one out of the two,” according to Bieker’s report.
Nice was not charged with any crime following the incident.
“We don’t treat police officers differently from anyone else,” says Sergeant David Thompson, a spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. “In fact, if anything, we scrutinize them more.”
So, why wasn’t Nice charged with menacing?
“It’s subjective,” says Thompson. “He didn’t point the gun at Ruffin, at least by his and by a witness account. There was also the justification that he feared for his safety and his child’s safety, sufficiently to feel threatened enough to pull his gun out at that point.
“The line between self-protection and menacing,” Thompson continues, “you need to be threatening someone. It didn’t appear from what the witness said that he was threatening this man. And, Mr. Ruffin’s justification for following this guy didn’t really make sense. He said he thought [Nice] was ‘crazy’ and our deputy asked him, ‘Well why follow him then?’ And his response didn’t really make sense.”
“The Mental Health Association of Portland [MHAP] asked for [Nice’s] resignation in October 2009,” says Jason Renaud with MHAP. “We stand by that request, we don’t believe he’s the sort of man Portland can rely on to protect people, and we’d like to see him no longer be a Portland police officer.”
“This is what happens when you don’t punish officers for the worst behavior,” says Dan Handelman, an activist with Portland Copwatch. “The spokesperson for Washington County is saying that the other gentleman’s behavior is strange, but Sergeant Nice’s behavior needs explaining too. He was willing to engage in a gunfight while driving a very young child in his truck?”
Man, Nice must feel like such a big shot, threatening & pulling his gun on random motorists! Seriously, why is this rotten peice-o-shit STILL a cop? Why is he not in prison right now? This is beyond retarded! The 3 pigs who stomped Chasse to death (e.i. MURDERED) damn near 4 years ago all have displayed a pattern of violence that both pre & post-dates Sept. 2006. Are we really waiting on them to just kill someone else?!
Will a grand jury once again find that Ofc.Nice “acted properly” in this latest shenanigan of his?
If a CIVILIAN had pulled a gun on someone just for cutting them off, they’d be arrested & charged with MENACING, for fuck sakes! Plus, additional charges relating to the gun. Plus, if they also had an infant child in there vehicle, there’s be additional [felony] charges relating to THAT!
Sorry, getting cut off and being an asshole about it is not justification for pulling a gun. It doesn’t matter how old the other passengers in the car are.
“We don’t treat police officers differently from anyone else,” says Sergeant David Thompson, a spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. “In fact, if anything, we scrutinize them more.”
That is an out right lie and complete bullshit. Pigs always cover and lie for each other. They are nothing more than gang members who will do anything for their own. The deserve absolutely zero respect from anyone.
“That is an out right lie and complete bullshit. Pigs always cover and lie for each other. They are nothing more than gang members who will do anything for their own. The deserve absolutely zero respect from anyone.”
THANK YOU!
I’m sorry, but if someone followed me and I had my baby in the car and access to a gun, you bet your ass I’d pull it on him too.
I’m sorry, but if someone followed me and I had my newborn in the car and access to a (registered of course) pistol, I’d pull it on him too.
This just shows how police so often escalate the situation. The off duty officer should have tried to get away from the other driver (especially since there was a child in the car), then called the police. Instead he confronted the other driver.
Portlandlmt: You might do that, but you’d be arrested.
Anyone who owns and legally carries a firearm knows the do’s and don’ts of concealed carry — which does not allow you to whip out a gun and wave it at people because you want to feel like a big shot who’s above the law and just HAS to be the road rage “winner”
When I moved to Portland, the very first piece of advice I received from a co-worker was “never get pulled over by a Portland cop – they would rather shoot you than ticket you.” I believed it then – I believe it now.
One would think that a police officer with training on how to respond to stressful situations would have been more mature than pulling over in the first place. That office had a cell phone – why didn’t he call 9-1-1? No, much easier to pull your piece and be the big man. Especially when you know you can get away with it. The other driver is lucky to still be breathing, actually.
“I’m sorry, but if someone followed me and I had my newborn in the car and access to a (registered of course) pistol, I’d pull it on him too.”
So you’d be perfectly willing to shoot someone just b/c they were following you, REALLY? How about if you just drove away?
Imagine, for just a moment, what that police/prosecution response to this incident would have been in Nice hadn’t been a cop. Even if he were carrying his gun totally legally (with a valid concealed handgun license and everything), he’d have been punished by the legal system long ago, assuming he survived the initial police response to the 911 “man waiving a gun around” call. Legality aside, he also appears to have totally violated cardinal rules of gun safety, but I haven’t heard anything about him being disarmed by the office he works for, so this public liability hasn’t been resolved. If you see this cop, watch out!
Officer Nice gets out with a gun. The other person has no idea what’s going on and (let’s suppose) is legally carrying a firearm. The result is a gun fight in which the civilian was technically in the right for firing on Nice, if he had done so. Nice’s actions endangered himself, the other motorist, a small child and any member of the public who happened to be walking or driving by within firing range. This kind of behavior is just ludicrous!
If Nice had taken the 1-hour training seminar that EVERY LICENSED gun toting Oregonian sits through before being allowed to carry loaded fire arms in public, he would be very well aware of that. Which calls into question our Police training in general.
Finally, if Nice felt so concerned for his child’s safety, instead of being a big shot he would have (wait for it…) *called the police*.
Portlandlmt: “I’m sorry, but if someone followed me and I had my newborn in the car and access to a (registered of course) pistol, I’d pull it on him too.”
Then you can throw a tequila bottle in the air and shoot it to let everyone know you mean business… especially the guy flashing his lights at you, trying to let you know that your muffler was about to fall off.
Piece of shit.