Greene County deputies handcuff woman who waited to stop in well-lit area

by Sara Sheffield, KY3 News

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By Gene Hartley

SPRINGFIELD -- A family hopes law officers will make clear what they expect a driver to do if an officer tries to stop her and she wants to make sure a fake cop is not stopping her. That's what Vanessa Kimery thought was happening to her when she saw flashing lights behind her Wednesday morning.

It turns out it was the real deal -- a Greene County sheriff’s deputy. The deputy tried to stop Kimery on South Campbell Avenue (U.S. 160), south of Springfield.

It wasn't too long ago that Highway Patrol troopers and the Howell County sheriff were dealing the case of two women who were pulled over and assaulted near West Plains by a man impersonating an officer. So, remembering that, Kimery says she wanted to be safe instead of sorry when she saw police lights behind her. Now, she faces a possible fine for it.

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"Put hands up, put hands up," the deputy’s dash camera video shows a deputy yelling at Kimery after she stopped and got out of the car.

The video throws three deputies approaching her at this point. One had his gun drawn.

The deputy pulled Kimery over for speeding as she headed south on Campbell in the middle of the night.

"It's 2:30 in the morning. Campbell is dark and there are no cars there. So I was like, ‘I'm not pulling over on the side of the road,’” said Kimery on Thursday.

Worried about who could be pulling her over, she did what she thought every mother would recommend -- drive until you see lights and people.

"She's not running away; she's not driving erratically; she's trying to get to a well-lit place with other people there and that's what I need to come to a common understanding with the authorities on,” said Sheri Campbell, a friend of the family.

To see one part of the patrol car dash cam video of the traffic stop, click here.

To see a second part of the dash cam video, click here.

Kimery says the deputies started to pull her over near Lakewood Drive. The earliest place she says she could have pulled over would be into the Pet Warehouse parking lot. But, since it was 2:30 in the morning, the business was closed and it was dark, so she decided to go about a half mile more to the next possible intersection at Plainview Road, into the Kum N Go lot, because it was open and well lit.

That earned her a ticket for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, a citation left up to an officer’s discretion.

"I don't see any violation as far as policy in the way they handled this, none at all,” said Sheriff Jack Merritt.

Merritt says his officers were only using extreme caution because they didn't know with whom or what kind of situation they were dealing.

Kimery also didn’t know with whom she was dealing.

“Normally, when people don’t stop,” a deputy yelled at Kimery on the videotape.

“Why are so emotional?” a deputy yelled at her.

“You put me in handcuffs,” Kimery replied through tears as another deputy searched her car.

Kimery says she thought going to a public area where she would be safe was the right thing to do.

"I wanted people around me so that there could have been a witness if something happened,” she said.

By the time Kimery stopped, the original deputy had called for backup and at least three other deputies soon arrived at the scene. Kimery was ticketed for speeding and for failure to yield. However, she says, looking back, she'd do the same thing all over again.

Merritt says, in this case, she should have known this was a real cop because it had so many lights on the car. Typically, he says, fake cops only have a dashboard flashing light.
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PREVIOUS REPORTS ON WOMEN'S ASSAULTS NEAR WEST PLAINS

Probe of attacks by fake cop is 'back to ground zero'

Detectives go to Texas for fake-cop assaults investigation

Detectives in West Plains wait for Harsch to leave hospital

Suspected fake cop in Texas was questioned in Missouri

Release of fake-cop's sketch brings good leads

Sketch may help find fake cop who attacked two women

Sheriff urges women to be wary around West Plains

Second woman reports attack by fake cop in Howell County

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