On 6 August 2009, a concerned father called the police for assistance with his diabetic son. Joseph Tucker was slurring his speech and showed signs of his diabetes being out of control. Joseph insisted on driving. His father, Perry Tucker, called asking police and paramedics to help get his son to a hospital. Joseph made his way out in his truck and drove toward westbound I-80. Utah Highway Patrol and Salt Lake City Police both converged on Joey on I-90 near Saltair. While following Joey at around 30mph, one of the officers called Perry to ask if Joey had any firearms with him. He did not. A ‘pit maneuver’ was executed, which is a method police are trained in to induce a controlled, non-lethal crash in order to stop a runaway vehicle. Joey’s truck was sent into a spin, causing him to impact the middle retaining concrete divider. Officers immediately jumped from their vehicle, weapons drawn, despite knowing he was simply in dire need of medical attention and unarmed. One officer in particular, Louis “Law” Abner Jones, lept from his car and without even 1 second of delay, shot Joey 3 times, killing him. Police reports contend that Joey was trying to use his vehicle to run over the officers. Watch the dash cam video for yourself:
Joey’s family – mother Jayna tucker, father Perry Tucker, and sister Melinda Tucker Castellenos joined me in the studio today to share the story. It’s unbelievable. I hope you’ll take some time to listen to this episode.
- Stay up to date on the Joey Tucker case here: https://www.facebook.com/InMemoryOfJoeyTucker
- Join the Families Speak Out On Police Violence Rally on 4 October at 1pm in downtown SLC: https://www.facebook.com/events/853137441372476/
- Officer Jones has since retired from the SLCPD, and now trains new police officers at the Police Academy. For those that want to know who he is, here you go: https://www.facebook.com/law.jones.5
- District Attorney Sim Gill has the option to file criminal charges against former officer Louis Abner Jones. Consider taking a moment to email Sim Gill and express your thoughts on the matter: districtAttorney@slco.org
- From the monologue: the famous Stanle Milgram experiment about submission to authority and obedience: http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/milgram.htm
