Monday, September 26, 2011
Police beat Trooper Andrew Rhew resigns following Missouri DWI
Posted by Max Brantley on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 2:06 PM
The State Police reports that he resigned this morning. He turned in his car and other equipment, but gave no specific reason for the resignation. The agency learned later of a possible reason for the resignation.
The Missouri Highway Patrol reports that Andrew Rhew was arrested at 12:23 a.m. Sunday for "driving while intoxicated and failed to drive on right half of roadway resulting in an accident." A Highway Patrol employee in that district said there were no injuries reported in the accident, but the trooper who had the accident report was not immediately available to provide more details. Rhew apparently lives in the Missouri bootheel.
Will Feland, as a special prosecutor, worked out a plea bargain with Rhew in the fatal crash. He pleaded guilty to a Class A misdemeanor, but the sentence was suspended and the conviction would have been expunged if he had no trouble for a year. Feland said he presumed his role with the case was completed. Prosecutor Scott Ellington of Jonesboro was in court when I called. He left a message that his office was aware of the situation and would be reviewing it.
In pleading for reinstatment after he was fired by Col. JR Howard, Rhew made the case that he hadn't been going as fast as 103 mph, as the recorder in his car indicated. His attorney also said the woman who was killed, Vickie Freemyer, a Blytheville teacher, had caused the crash in Manila by pulling out into the highway from a restaurant. Freemyer's family wasn't happy about the plea bargain and is believed to be prepared to file a claim against the state over the death.
Comments (12)
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State Troopering has got to be a difficult job. I applaud those which take up the challenge yet there is still a very great responsibility in using the powers granted to the troopers.
Deadly force be it weapons or cars must have sharply defined conditions.
I hope the former trooper can pick up the pieces of his life.
Good luck son!
Well, at least:
At least he didn't get the woman out of her car, lay her on the pavement and shoot her with a shotgun. That could have brought some manslaughter charges which would have needed to be dismissed.
Or he could have pulled off the killin Fayetteville-cop style: entice her onto the front porch and have 5 poleese open fire, in the dark of the night.
It's too bad Lu Hardin couldn't have gotten a change of venue to Judge Cindy Thyer's court. Rhew gets 1 year probation for killing someone, while Hardin got 5 years for lying about his bonus.
Justice in this state is f**ked up!
Whata you mean he lives in Missouri? As an State of Arkansas employee, he should be required to live in Arkansas. And that goes for anyone else living off the Arkansas tit!!d
downtowner, good point except had he gotten pulled over here in arkansas for DUI. no charges would have been filed and he would still be a threat to society.
he obviously is a sociopath... judging from how he handled killing innocent person. By trying to pin the victim, for his neglect of police procedure.
he is a coward for not manning up to his superiors and telling them why he was resigning due to the DUI.
i hope this incident helps Vickie Freemyer's family in their case against this scumbag.
@citizen1... listen to a police scanner for a couple of hours and you quickly figure out that police work isn't as overwhelming as it is made out to be. this guy should be in jail already.
Maybe he's drinking because of the guilt he's feeling by killing that poor woman.
I do wish him well in picking up the pieces of his life but he should have been in jail or at least awaiting trial for killing this woman.
@ downtowner
Living in the Missouri Bootheal isn't the same as living in Missouri. I live in the Bootheal and am still in Arkansas. Northeast Craighead, North Mississippi, East Clay and East Greene Counties are all in the Bootheal.
He has that typical smug, arrogant, cocky, 'chip on his shoulder' cop look about him. I know some good decent folks in law enforcement. Unfortunately,based on my experiences, the "good guys" seem to be in the minority....
Until you have walked in any officers shoes, don't be judge and jury so quick. It take a strong person to handle some of what they see on a daily basis. They deal with things rape of children and other volient crimes to the traffic parts of their job. How would you handle all that has happened to him over the last couple of year if it had been you. It had to be tough living with being in an accident where another person died. And maybe he had a breaking point. No one knows that but him. What happened in the accident was bad and I feel sorry for the family but also for him. I am sure he thought of it daily. Prayers for all.
Prayersforall@ what you say is true, however these people sign up for this job knowing full well what they are going to encounter. if this state trooper is self medicating to cope with his job he needs to get help and perhaps find another source of income. but he did not he continued working as a state trooper.
Karma doesn't normally happen this quickly, but so be it! This should help Freemayer's family in their civil case against the state.
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