Mesa
Police Aviation Unit is out of Control
Mesa Police aviation department has engaged in a
pattern of harassment. They repeatedly buzz the home of the DeGroote family at
odd hours of the day and night. These individuals on behalf of the City of Mesa, or with its
approval or acquiescence, have collectively engaged in and have been following
a pattern of conduct designed to violate This family’s civil rights, harass and
intentionally inflict emotional pain and duress on the DeGroote family.
This harassment began in the first part of 2006 and
has steadily increased in its intensity.
These officers have followed and dive-bombed the DeGroote family on many
occasions. The officers involved in this are waking the DeGroote family up in
the middle of the night on a regular basis in order to threaten and intimidate
them.
December 6th, 2006, David and Jocelyn DeGroote
went down to the southeast location of the Superior Court and filed an
Injunction Against Harassment against Officer David Dolenar, Jr. and the Mesa
Police Department, case number CV2006092580. Commissioner M. Scott McCoy said
he would not order the injunction at that time and had his assistant schedule a
hearing.
An incident of harassment was on November 3, 2006 very
early in the morning when Officers Dolenar and Traficano apparently arranged to
have the DeGroote’s street blocked off.
Plain clothed officers began kicking their door, yelling, but not
identifying themselves. They turned off
the power to the DeGroote home, and then after a while turned it back on and
eventually left. Mr. DeGroote had the
fingerprints lifted off the circuit breaker box for evidence. The technician
concluded that some of the fingerprints were made by someone who was wearing
surgical gloves.
November 14, 2006 at 15:25:05. A Mesa Police helicopter hovered over the
DeGroote house to make sure the parents were not home. Officer Dolenar than
pulled up to the house and waited for her arrival. The Officer watched the street for the
16-year-old daughter while helicopter reports her location on his radio. This
was a very elaborate scheme just to talk to her without parental consent. This
cop/pilot scared her and misled her asking her questions and telling her that
her Daddy was being investigated for some crime against the police
helicopter. The officer was trying to
get her to recall things that she did not recall and he suggested that she was
lying to him saying “come on”. Jocelyn
DeGrootes parents knew nothing about this conversation prior to it happening
and no effort was made ahead of time to reach either of them.
February 12, 2007 at
8:19:00. A Mesa Police Helicopter followed Jocelyn DeGroote home from picking
up her brothers. The helicopter followed her really close as it was shinning
its spot light on and in her car while she was trying to drive. This frightened
her so much that she almost crashed and she could not breath. Jocelyn DeGroote called her mom because they
would not stop, they kept the light on her for a while, she could not stop
crying after this happened. Jocelyns mom called the mesa police department and
was told that nothing is going on at that time, they were out on a shots fired
call but that was over by then.
December 15th, 2006, David and Jocelyn Degroote
went to the hearing and Officer Dolenar, Jr. appeared along with Mark D.
Ishikawa for the Mesa Police Department. Commissioner McCoy would not listen to
what David and/or Jocelyn DeGroote had to say. It was ordered that David and
Jocelyn DeGroote give all of the evidence to Mark Ishikawa and reset the
hearing for January 12th, 2007. At that time Mr. Ishikawa from the Mesa City Attorneys
Office watched some of the videos yet failed to advise his clients to leave the
DeGroote family alone, this was in December of last year. The DeGroote family believes Mr. Ishikawa had
an ethical duty as an Attorney/member of the State Bar of Arizona and as a
human being to report this on-going criminal behavior. Instead he advised that criminal charges be
filed on Mr. DeGroote (even though he broke no laws) to protect the City from
the liability and accountability for the actions and the violations of the
DeGroote family’s rights such as turning off our power and the intentional
harassment. Mr. DeGroote had a few
different conversations on the phone with Mr. Ishikawa in December 2006 that
were recorded. Mr. Ishikawa was told
that the DeGroote family continues to be severely harassed yet he did nothing
about it, even though it is a policy with the City of Mesa in these situations
that they do; it is also his sworn duty as an Officer of the Court to report
any knowledge of a crime that: “is being or will be committed”, immediately
upon discovery to the proper authorities.
Mr. Ishikawa was the defense Attorney for the City of Mesa
and for one of the Tactical Flight Officers/“Watchers”, in the Injunction
Against Harassment case that David DeGroote and Jocelyn DeGroote filed against
the City of Mesa
in 2006.
December 29th, 2006, David DeGroote filed a
motion and order to dismiss without prejudice. For reasons such as, the
Plaintiff’s household was very ill with the flue and the Plaintiff’s expected
the court to be more helpful as they are not legal experts. It is obvious that
once that was done the Officers at the Mesa Police Department that were
involved in this harassment decided they needed to try and shut up the DeGroote
(as stated in a death threat on youtub.com “your silence is needed”) family so
they began submit charges against Mr. DeGroote and beefed up the harassment and
the intimidating
January 16th, 2007, Complaint was signed against
David DeGroote for one count of Endangerment one count of Criminal Nuisance and
one count of Disorderly Conduct docket number 2006073087 DR NO 20063060095. He
was being accused of shinning a light at a Mesa Police Helicopter. The fist
court date was set for February 16th, 2007.
January 31st, 2007, while investigating the
harassment that was being done to himself and his family, David DeGroote was
arrested by Sergeant Thompson for the Endangerment charge that was sent by
summons and complaint. Docket number 2007008155 DR NO 20063060095 (same as
01/16/07 complaint). February 12th, 2007, State files Motion To
Dismiss case number CC2007022121000 stating that is was a duplicate docket.
March 1st, 2007, Case number CC2007022121000 was dismissed. February
16th, 2007, Complaint was signed against David DeGroote for one
count of Criminal Trespass in the third degree. The charge was for the date and
time he was attested on January 31st, 2007
February 1st, 2007, Officer Dolenar Jr. filed an
Injunction Against Harassment against David DeGroote. Case number
CC2007022121000 in the North Mesa
Justice Court. David DeGroote requested a hearing
and it was set for March 1st, 2007.
February 16th, 2007, David DeGroote filed a
Motion to dismiss Officer Dolenar’s Injunction Against Harassment. March 5th,
2007 Officer Dolenar filed a motion to have the Injunction reinstated. It was
denied on March 7th, 2007. March 8th Officer Dolenar
filed another Injunction Against Harassment in the North Mesa Justice Court, case number
CC2007045342. The court set a hearing for it on March 21st, 2007.
Officer Dolenar was given the Injunction. Even though he did not prove any
thing.
March 8th, 2007, The DeGroote family mailed out
requests for help along with DVD’s containing footage of the constant
harassment to Attorney General Terry Goddard, United States Attorney Daniel G.
Knauss, and the FAA. Terry Goddard’s office sent them a letter telling them
that there was nothing they could do and that we should contact the County Attorney’s
Office and the Governor’s office. Terry Goddard then forwarded the information
to the Governor’s office. Mrs. DeGroote contacted the Governor’s office and was
told that they could not do anything about it and that they should have all of
the neighbors help by contacting the Police Department. No response was given
form Daniel G. Knauss.
April 10th, 2007 David DeGroote filed a notice of
claim against the City of Mesa
and the Mesa Police Department, no response received
April 19th, 2007 Jocelyn DeGroote’s friend called
her to tell her that a death threat
was put on You-Tube.com about David DeGroote. Some of the statements were
“Degroote is a moron, I am so stupid that I think the Mesa Police Helicopter is
stalking me” another statement included “You clearly have mental health issues”
there also was a song playing that said, “your silence is need, I am waiting
here with a loaded gun”. David DeGroote
filed a complaint with You Tube.
This threat was reported in-person at the Mesa Police
Department on Robson in Mesa
by the DeGroote family who asked to file a criminal report and were told that
this was what they were doing with the Internal Affairs Officers. When the report was supposedly completed, the
DeGroote’s asked for the case number and to be kept in the loop because they
are victims. The DeGroote’s were told
that they were being interviewed for an internal investigation and no criminal
report will be submitted and there family will not be kept in the loop about
any of it and they refused to give the DeGroote family a case number and
refused to submit the criminal report.
We have a tape recording of this entire event. Since then we received a letter stating that
they have completed the investigation and the officers that put the threat up
on youtube.com have been “Exonerated”.
May 1st, 2007 Terry DeGroote, Avery DeGroote and
Keaton DeGroote filed a notice of claim against the City of Mesa and the Mesa Police Department, no
response received.
May 1st, 2007 Jocelyn DeGroote filed a notice of claim
against the City of Mesa
and the Mesa Police Department, no response received.
We are afraid for our lives and the Mesa Police has
refused to take a report or do an investigation of this threat on our
lives. This is “Intentional Discrimination” and “Dereliction of Duty" If it were not an
officer(s)/detectives(s) who had committed this crime, felony charges would be
made by now against them. This is GROSS and INTENTIONAL NEGLIGENCE as it is designed to hide the identity of a
very dangerous felon(s) and to cover-up and hinder the investigation of and
prosecution of a violent offender who has made death threats against our
family. When my children are involved
this is unacceptable and inexcusable
As victims of a crime of this magnitude, whom are being
refused the help and protection they are entitled to by the Mesa Police
Department, it is becoming clearer that the likelihood of this threat actually
being created at the City of Mesa’s expense, and on the City’s computers, with
the knowledge of a group or department with-in the City of Mesa, or the Mesa
Police Department, is very likely. It
will identify from whom and where this threat originated and what the login
information used was, and from whom it came. They are confident that this
discovery along with the videos they have will ultimately prove to be one of
the single most significant and organized cases of police abuse ever
documented. There is no justification or
rational that can exonerate anyone from this behavior.
These are only a few of the examples of
the abuse of power by certain individuals in the Mesa Police Department and The
City of Mesa which have systematically terrorized and intimidated the DeGroote
family and caused the, physical and emotional harm and stress. They are a wonderful family, but since this
began, there lives have been in turmoil.
They do not know why they have decided to harass their family, but they
want it to stop.