Topic: Truck 793 - Built by the Obama DEA

[Pandora]

The Houston Chronicle recently reported a noteworthy story. 

The story is noteworthy solely as a rare act of journalistic practice (the full article is well researched and a good read) but also as just another prominent example of imprudence, incompetence and subsequent denial at the federal level.  Although this case involves the DEA, it shares the same brutish Fast and Furious/Gibson Guitar/drilling moratorium genetic defects that are so common to all Obama agency actions.

The Chronicle's story focuses on Craig Patty, a married father of three who left the pharmaceutical business to start a sand hauling trucking operation in North Texas.  Until November 2011, Mr. Patty's business owned two revenue-earning trucks.

Unbeknownst to Mr. Patty, while Truck 793 was supposedly in Houston for repairs, it was:

    Commandeered by one of his drivers, who was secretly working with federal agents, the truck had been hauling marijuana from the border as part of an undercover operation. And without Patty's knowledge, the Drug Enforcement Administration was paying his driver, Lawrence Chapa, to use the truck to bust traffickers.

The DEA's sting operation went bad, resulting in the death of the driver in a surprise attack by hijackers seeking to steal the truck and its load of pot.  Truck 793 was sprayed with bullets, impounded and out of commission for 100 days for repairs that were funded by Mr. Patty's 401k savings.  Mr. Patty's business nearly went bankrupt as a result of the loss of the use of half of his business assets.

Eight months later, Mr. Patty is still seeking reimbursement for repairs, lost wages and damages to his family who now "fear retaliation by a drug cartel over the bungled narcotics sting."  So far, he has had no luck getting reimbursed by the US government for its decision to use his asset and employee without his permission.  His insurance company has denied the claim because the semi was used in a law-enforcement operation.

The economic damage is bad enough, but Mr. Patty's family has been hit hard in less tangible ways:

    Panic at the Patty home these days can be triggered by something as simple as a deer scampering through the wooded yard or a car pulling into the driveway. One morning as his wife made breakfast, one of his young sons suddenly bolted across the house yelling, "Get the guns!"

    A Bronco sport utility vehicle had pulled into the driveway past a broken gate. The dogs were barking in the darkness. Patty grabbed a pistol and headed for the front yard.  The Bronco pulled away, leaving a shiny object by the front walkway. It turned out to be the morning newspaper wrapped in a plastic bag reflecting a neighbor's floodlight.

    The whole ordeal has forced his children to grow up more quickly than he'd like, Patty said.  "I wanted to keep them young as long as I could," he said. "I've gone to great lengths to keep my son believing in Santa Claus, and now I'm talking to him about death, mayhem and drug cartels.  "That is a huge canyon between the two."

So far, the DEA refuses even to acknowledge that the driver was an informant, "because its official policy is not to comment on whether someone was an informant."  This makes reimbursement tough, given that the DEA concedes no role.  Mr. Patty is stuck:

    How am I - a small businessman, father of three, American Joe from Texas - supposed to make a claim against a federal agency that has conveniently shrouded itself behind a red, white and blue cloak of confidentiality and secrecy?

How very convenient indeed.

How rare, as well - we seem to have found at least one successful business asset for which the Obama Administration seeks to take no credit, Mr. Patty's Truck 793.

H/T The Smallest Minority

I read this and I think about Antonin Scalia bloviating yesterday on more possible future gun regulation by the Court and a Hot Air commenter going on and on about "the interest of the State" in this regard and .... I need to go start dinner and have a glass of wine.  Can't take it.  Don't want to.

[Weisshaupt]

Turn on, Tune in, Drop out.

Going Galt is the only rational response. You can't work or run a business in Obama's world.

   

[John Florida]

  Pan try the Moscato wine you'll love it.

[Libertas]

F&F involving weed and truck-jacking, screw the consequences...yeah, sounds like normal in Obamaland...

I think I want some vino too...

[Alphabet Soup]

You know, the hell of it is that My. Patty might well be a conservative. My father's generation was raised to trust the government - almost implicitly. If a cop asked for assistance my dad (and my dad's generation) was right there. Now it is the authorities who are the renegades unworthy of trust or aid.

And yet, in the heat of the moment, the old ways kick in. If I saw an injured cop I would be helping him befire I had a chance to rationalize why I shouldn't. It's the way we're wired and why it's so damned frustrating that we find ourselves in their cross-hairs.

[charlesoakwood]

Commandeered by one of his drivers, who was secretly working with federal agents, the truck had been hauling marijuana from the border as part of an undercover operation. And without Patty's knowledge, the Drug Enforcement Administration was paying his driver, Lawrence Chapa, to use the truck to bust traffickers.

This is incorrect, the truck was commandeered by the DEA. 
Chapa was under the control of the DEA therefore he was their employee
and he commandeered the truck under their direction.  The truck was
commandeered by the DEA.

also:

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.


http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment04/01.html
Scope of the Amendment
.--The language of the provision which became the Fourth Amendment underwent some modest changes on its passage through the Congress, and it is possible that the changes reflected more than a modest significance in the interpretation of the relationship of the two clauses. Madison's introduced version provided ''The rights to be secured in their persons, their houses, their papers, and their other property, from all unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated by warrants issued without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, or not particularly describing the places to be searched, or the persons or things to be seized.''
...

[Pandora]

That's all very nice, CO, and when someday, maybe, we can get back -- or forward -- to the place where such niceties matter, well, then they'll matter.

But that is not today.

[charlesoakwood]

It's not nice, it's the law.  He needs a legal assistance fund.
He needs an excellent lawyer to take them to court, expose
them and jamb them.  They broke the law, at the very least,
they stole his truck and I think they broke federal law in doing
so.  As long as we exist in a so called civil society it is our duty
to push back and force the rule of law upon them. 

[Pandora]

It's not nice, it's the law.  He needs a legal assistance fund.
He needs an excellent lawyer to take them to court, expose
them and jamb them.  They broke the law, at the very least,
they stole his truck and I think they broke federal law in doing
so.  As long as we exist in a so called civil society it is our duty
to push back and force the rule of law upon them.

I'm sorry, my friend; we don't and so, therefore, it isn't.

[Glock32]

The law is what the oligarchs say it is. Neither more nor less. And what they say today doesn't have to match with what they said yesterday or will say tomorrow.

[Libertas]

The law is what the oligarchs say it is. Neither more nor less. And what they say today doesn't have to match with what they said yesterday or will say tomorrow.

It is called "lawlessness" and "treason" and it is the hallmark of "tyranny".  Dictator or oligarchs...doesn't matter, tyranny is tyranny!

[Weisshaupt]

The law is what the oligarchs say it is. Neither more nor less. And what they say today doesn't have to match with what they said yesterday or will say tomorrow.

Any faith I had in the courts to Administer justice died with Robert's Obamacare announcement. We now live under the rule of men. If you want the laws enforced, you better be arming to do it yourself, and with the full opposition of the illegitimate edifice of the occupying government.

[charlesoakwood]

It's not nice, it's the law.  He needs a legal assistance fund.
He needs an excellent lawyer to take them to court, expose
them and jamb them.  They broke the law, at the very least,
they stole his truck and I think they broke federal law in doing
so.  As long as we exist in a so called civil society it is our duty
to push back and force the rule of law upon them.

I'm sorry, my friend; we don't and so, therefore, it isn't.

Not yet:

Sheldon Adelson Files $60 Million Libel Suit Against Democratic Group…
***

Report: GOP Rep. Steve King Considering Bill To Repeal Everything Obama Has Signed…
***




HT: Weasel Zippers

[Libertas]

A couple rays of light!   

Those who fail to stand up and punch a bully in the nose only have themselves to blame for additional abuse coming their way.

Most people learn this lesson while they are quite young!

[AlanS]

F&F involving weed and truck-jacking, screw the consequences...yeah, sounds like normal in Obamaland...

I think I want some vino too...

The way things are going, I'll be doing tequila shooters pretty soon....

[Libertas]

F&F involving weed and truck-jacking, screw the consequences...yeah, sounds like normal in Obamaland...

I think I want some vino too...

The way things are going, I'll be doing tequila shooters pretty soon....

Ufda.  Tequila...or as I pronouce it "ta-kill-ya"...something about cactus juice always turned me into an angry (OK, angrier!) dude...that stuff is barfight fuel!  Haven't touched it in decades...

[AlanS]

F&F involving weed and truck-jacking, screw the consequences...yeah, sounds like normal in Obamaland...

I think I want some vino too...

The way things are going, I'll be doing tequila shooters pretty soon....

Ufda.  Tequila...or as I pronouce it "ta-kill-ya"...something about cactus juice always turned me into an angry (OK, angrier!) dude...that stuff is barfight fuel!  Haven't touched it in decades...

Who'd a thunk it?

[Libertas]

F&F involving weed and truck-jacking, screw the consequences...yeah, sounds like normal in Obamaland...

I think I want some vino too...

The way things are going, I'll be doing tequila shooters pretty soon....

Ufda.  Tequila...or as I pronouce it "ta-kill-ya"...something about cactus juice always turned me into an angry (OK, angrier!) dude...that stuff is barfight fuel!  Haven't touched it in decades...

Who'd a thunk it?

Load me up and toss me into a pack of libiots!   

[BigAlSouth]

   Commandeered by one of his drivers, who was secretly working with federal agents, the truck had been hauling marijuana from the border as part of an undercover operation. And without Patty's knowledge, the Drug Enforcement Administration was paying his driver, Lawrence Chapa, to use the truck to bust traffickers.`

True Story:

I knew a Colombian guy from Florida who was a painting contractor. One of his employees was using the painting van on the weekends to supplement his minimum wage by trucking coke. When the Feds busted the employee, he cops a plea and tells the Feds what they want to hear: His boss was a major Colombian drug smuggler. The DEA raids the boss' house, find nothing, but indict Luis on cocaine trafficking 'conspiracy' charges. He spends the next ten years locked up, all on the basis of a lie by a guy caught with drugs.

[AlanS]

   Commandeered by one of his drivers, who was secretly working with federal agents, the truck had been hauling marijuana from the border as part of an undercover operation. And without Patty's knowledge, the Drug Enforcement Administration was paying his driver, Lawrence Chapa, to use the truck to bust traffickers.`

True Story:

I knew a Colombian guy from Florida who was a painting contractor. One of his employees was using the painting van on the weekends to supplement his minimum wage by trucking coke. When the Feds busted the employee, he cops a plea and tells the Feds what they want to hear: His boss was a major Colombian drug smuggler. The DEA raids the boss' house, find nothing, but indict Luis on cocaine trafficking 'conspiracy' charges. He spends the next ten years locked up, all on the basis of a lie by a guy caught with drugs.

Seems like financial records would have set him free. But I guess logic doesn't apply here.