Yeagley nears completion on student’s complaint

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A report Director of Public Safety Bill Yeagley is preparing on a felony stop a CMU student and Mount Pleasant resident have complained about is almost complete.
Yeagley said he’s tying up the loose ends of the report so he can turn it over to the city commission.
“We’re very close to gathering all the information and documenting it,” he said of the report on the complaint.
The report is being presented to the commission this week, he said.
The investigation stems from a complaint made by Mount Pleasant resident Taneka Richardson, who, along with Kermit Harris, Mount Pleasant freshman, was leaving the Forum, 950 Appian Way, around 4:30 a.m. July 23 when they were stopped by police in the Lil’ Chef, 1720 S. Mission Street, parking lot. Moments earlier, an armed robbery was committed at Keith’s Shell Station, 1911 S. Mission St., and police saw the two in the area.
They were places into police cars and about three grams of marijuana was found in the car, according to police reports. Police let Richardson go because she didn’t fit the description, but Harris was taken to jail overnight and released the next day on a $2,000 bond for possession of marijuana.
On July 25, police arrested Anthony C. Reinke, 20, who was connected with the robbery by a surveillance tape given to officers by the female clerk working at the time. Reinke had come in and bought a pop earlier, prior to allegedly robbing the store, and that image was taken around to businesses open near that time. In talking with people who could identify him, officers went to his residence. They found marijuana there and Reinke gave a written statement and full confession to the robbery.
Harris and Richardson are claiming police owe them an apology for the mistake and Harris wants his charges dropped if possible. They met with Yeagley July 29 to discuss the matter.
Yeagley could not comment on the results of the meeting, but said regardless of how that meeting turned out, a report would still be completed.
“Just because we may meet with people and they understand and maybe aren’t as upset doesn’t mean we don’t still do a complete investigation,” he said. “On the other side, if we think we did everything right and they still have a complaint, we still do a thorough investigation.”
Harris said in an article in the July 28 issue of CM LIFE that he wants an apology from the officers involved and hopes charges against him will be dropped. He could not be reached for comment at press time.