Drunk And Stupid Is No Way To Go Through Life, Son.

[mrjarrell]

Here's what happens when guns and booze get out of hand. My only question is why the guy wasn't given a field sobriety test, blood test or breathalyzer. Guess there are certain privileges for some folks. Not in my neck of the woods, tho. This story actually made international headlines.

From The Baltimore Sun

The haunted house in Essex is billed as "The House of Screams," but it was the man portraying the Texas Chainsaw Massacre killer who ended up frightened, authorities say, when an off-duty Baltimore police officer pulled his gun and pointed it at the actor during a performance at Eastpoint Mall.

Baltimore County officers arrested Southeastern District Sgt. Eric Michael Janik, 36, and charged him early Monday with first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. He was released on $25,000 bail and was suspended by the Baltimore Police Department.

"I've never had anything like this happen to me," said Michael Brian Morrison, a 32-year-old contractor who helps run the privately owned haunted house and played the part of "Leatherface." The owners rent space from the Baltimore County mall on Eastern Avenue.
Morrison is at the end of the haunted house tour and threatens people with a chain saw (with the sharp chain removed). He said Janik's group, which went through Sunday a little after 10 p.m. and included a female city police officer and the sergeant's 9-year-old daughter, were rowdy.

He said the sergeant held his screaming daughter close to scary characters and that when it came time to give chase, "I went after the adults" because the girl was crying.

A Baltimore County police report says Morrison approached Janik while he revved the gas-powered saw; when he came within a few feet, "Janik pointed a black handgun as his chest."

Morrison said he put his hands in the air, and the police report says Janik stated, "It's o.k. I'm a cop." He said the officer's daughter was tugging the sleeve of the arm with the gun and that after he put the weapon away, the sergeant approached him to shake his hand.

The report says the officer went back to his car, where a county officer first encountered him sitting in the front passenger seat. Janik rolled down the window and the officer noted in the report that "a strong odor of alcohol" could be detected. The report says that both Janik and the other officer in the car, Lisa Michelle Hinkley, showed their city police badges.

"When asked if he had at any time pulled his handgun out of its holster for any reason while attending the haunted house, Defendant Janik stated 'no,' " the police report says. Janik told the officer that his daughter "may have pulled on his shirt and accidentally showed it."

Read the rest at the source.

 

[Archbishop]

That is just insane. Wonder if he'll get sued?

 

[rambone]

Maryland Cop Pulls Gun on Haunted House Actor, 10/26/2009

*sigh*

Maryland Cop Accused of Pulling Gun at Haunted House

A Baltimore city police officer delivered the fright of a lifetime to a haunted house employee, pulling a gun on the chain-saw-wielding man at the end of his act, authorities said Monday.

Sgt. Eric Janik, 37, was charged with assault and reckless endangerment for pointing his service handgun at the worker, who was dressed as Leatherface, the killer from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," Baltimore County police said.

The employee, Mike Morrison, followed Janik and several other people up a staircase Sunday night at the end of the haunted house tour in a bid to get "one last scream" out of them, police said.

When the group exited into a parking lot, Janik pulled his gun and pointed it at Morrison from less than 10 feet away, according to police and Morrison, who said he dropped the chain saw, put his hands up and backed away. The saw had no chain.

Only then did Janik identify himself as a police officer, said Morrison, who retreated into the building.

"I started shaking pretty bad," he told The Associated Press.

Another employee of the House of Screams called police.

According to charging documents, Janik smelled of alcohol and told police two different stories about what he did with the gun. First, he denied drawing the weapon, but later he said he pointed it at the ground.

Morrison and two other witnesses told police that Janik pointed the gun at Morrison's chest.

Janik had no listed number and a voice mail for his attorney, Shaun Owens, was not immediately returned.

A security guard had been following Janik's group, which included his 9-year-old daughter, through the haunted house because Janik appeared to be drunk when he arrived, House of Screams owner Tony Sapanero said.

Morrison said Janik's daughter appeared to be disturbed by his act, in which he pretends to cut one woman in half and disembowel another with the chain saw.

Janik was suspended with pay after police commanders learned of what happened and could be without pay after a hearing Tuesday morning, city police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

City police officers are required to carry their service weapons while off duty within city limits and can carry them at their own discretion outside the city, Guglielmi said.

 

[Adrenaline]

wow...drinking and guns seems to be a little like drinking and driving. I am all for carrying where ever when ever....but to go around pointing it at people who are doing their job, that seems frightening. I love the rule never let the barrel of your gun point at something you don't want destroyed, he sounds like he needs a wake up call.

 

[CSK22]

And to think I went through a haunted house last friday and never even touched my g27 . . . . . just amazing how these bums think only the government employees should have the right to carry guns.

 

[Dogman]

 

[Dogman]

And to think I went through a haunted house last friday and never even touched my g27 . . . . . just amazing how these bums think only the government employees should have the right to carry guns.

Which bums would that be?

 

[CSK22]

Which bums would that be?

 

[Dogman]

Oh, those bums.

 

[mrjarrell]

And they didn't even bother to give the guy a breathalyzer, blood test or field sobriety check. Privilege's are great perks.

 

[LCSOSgt11]

Great, just great.

Just when you think a police officer couldn't do anything MORE stupid, one reads a story like this. This guy needs a spanking, and probably fired. It is these type of stories, and they appear to be more and more frequent, that give us all a black eye.

 

[Dryden]

Halloween night at Sgt. Eric Janik's house:


Ding Dong. Trick or treat.

BANG BANG BANG.... Oh,... sorry about that. My bad.

 

[IndyGunworks]

Halloween night at Sgt. Eric Janik's house:


Ding Dong. Trick or treat.

BANG BANG BANG.... Oh,... sorry about that. My bad.

at least he apologized

 

[Sasquatchhunter]

seems to be a lot of weeds getting through the system these days

 

[OneBadV8]

I've always lived by "Booze and Bullets don't mix"

And I also think Law Enforcement should lead by example.

 

[LEaSH]

I'm sure the up and comers will be taking note on how not to behave as an officer when off duty.
Sure the union will stand up for the drunk cop, that's what modern unions do anymore.
But there's a lot of young cops that take their careers very seriously. Hopefully.

 

[Lex Concord]

And they didn't even bother to give the guy a breathalyzer, blood test or field sobriety check. Privilege's are great perks.

All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.

Sadly, we live at a time in which "Animal Farm", "1984", and "Brave New World" are seen by those in power (see bums post above) not as horror stories but as "playbooks".

 

[femurphy77]

No attempt to stir the pot but do they have grounds to do any of the drunk tests if he wasn't driving? Curiousity only.

 

[lawrra]

No attempt to stir the pot but do they have grounds to do any of the drunk tests if he wasn't driving? Curiousity only.

Public intoxication should be enough

 

[mrjarrell]

No attempt to stir the pot but do they have grounds to do any of the drunk tests if he wasn't driving? Curiousity only.

He was sitting in a car when he was approached by the cops and the officer said he smelled alcohol. That's more than enough in many jurisdictions.