http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1121302.html

RALEIGH - Larry Harris, an assistant men's basketball coach at N.C. State University, acknowledged that he was speeding when he was pulled over more than a year ago in an incident in which he was pepper-sprayed and accused of resisting an officer.

The Wake District Attorney's Office dismissed the misdemeanor charge of resisting, delaying and obstructing an officer.

Harris paid a $15 fine Wednesday for speeding 41 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to court documents.

After his arrest on April 4, 2007, Harris denied that he had done anything wrong during the traffic stop conducted by Raleigh Police Officer Robert W. King.

Harris filed a complaint against King with the police department's internal affairs unit, claiming that King used excessive force. The results of that investigation were not made public.

“We’re not at liberty to say,” said Jim Sughrue, Raleigh’s police spokesperson, about the internal probe. “The law prohibits us from discussing personnel matters.”

Harris was driving on West Morgan Street in downtown Raleigh when King pulled him over.

The circumstances of what followed were in dispute, but King charged Harris with refusing to follow instructions, not providing his driver’s license and physically resisting arrest.

Lee Turner, Harris’ attorney, said King assaulted and pepper-sprayed the basketball coach without justification.

King’s reputation has been called into question in the past by court officials. In 2006, a Wake District Court judge wrote the police department, saying King had lied in court. He gave a different account from witnesses about an arrest of a 19-year-old accused of driving while impaired.

“Officer King does not have a reputation for truthfulness,” Judge Jennifer Knox wrote in December 2006. Knox dropped the charges against the 19-year-old in that case.

6/27/2008 1:08:09 PM

douchebag cop

6/27/2008 3:40:22 PM

Quote :

"Harris paid a $15 fine Wednesday for speeding 41 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to court documents."

ha, not even a dollar/mph over the limit

6/27/2008 5:15:16 PM

i'm sure he also paid a $100 or $110 court cost

6/27/2008 5:17:38 PM

glad that is finally taken care of.

6/27/2008 10:53:25 PM

I keep thinking this is about Lenny Harris

6/27/2008 11:10:13 PM

Does anybody know what page of the sports page this was on? Did it make the print edition?

Good post gunzz.

6/30/2008 10:52:58 AM

Quote :

"King’s reputation has been called into question in the past by court officials. In 2006, a Wake District Court judge wrote the police department, saying King had lied in court. He gave a different account from witnesses about an arrest of a 19-year-old accused of driving while impaired."

I'm gonna have to go check my ticket to see who the arresting officer was, because the same thing happened to me in 2005. Having a D.W.I. and several other charges on your record for being a passenger is awesome (not to mention going to jail).

RPD is a bunch of corrupt fucking scumbags.

6/30/2008 12:16:39 PM

well do tell this story, id love to hear how you got a dwi while being the passenger.

6/30/2008 12:24:38 PM

Directing While Intoxicated?

6/30/2008 12:29:15 PM

^^if you are drunk and let someone drive your car that gets pulled over and is found to be drunk as well, they can give you both DWI's

That is the only situation that i have heard of where it can happen.

So don't let someone drive your car b/c you think they are less fucked up then you.

6/30/2008 12:46:51 PM

They can arrest the passenger if there is no one in the Driver's seat, but I have never heard of anything besides that, and I'm gonna have to call BS.

6/30/2008 1:19:10 PM

people hate police just to hate police.

6/30/2008 1:25:32 PM

Quote :

"well do tell this story, id love to hear how you got a dwi while being the passenger."

The driver of the car said we pulled over and switched seats . Yet it was his car, and I was underage, drunk, and didn't have a license. From what he told his friends, the cop told him he could go to jail, or say I did it and go home. He took the easy way out. Then his friend gave a sworn statement of what went down, and the case fell apart. All charges were dropped. But it took over a year and cost about 2 grand in lawyer fees.

I don't hate cops at all. But from my experiences with RPD and what's been in the news in the last year or two, many of the officers in this state should NOT have been given a badge. It's unfortunate that a small(ish) minority ruin the reputation of those that truly wish to help and uphold the law.

6/30/2008 3:29:41 PM

holy crap. were you friends with the driver of that car? ever get them back?

so you're saying the cop TOLD him to lie about you driving?

did he ever get charged?

6/30/2008 3:59:34 PM

why would the cop wanna charge you instead of him?

that just seems ridiculous, i mean he had the guy so why would he risk an open and shut case to illegally go after someone he doesnt know or apparently has no reason to go after?

something tells me youre not friends with that dude anymore

6/30/2008 4:08:59 PM

Sorry for the delay, but my ISP here in Boone is terrible. I have to go to ASU's library just to check e-mail.

The whole thing started when he hit a car and took off (piece of crap didn't want his insurance to go up). So a call was put out to the police for his car, and we eventually got pulled over. This is what he told his friends: the cop presented two scenarios - he was driving the whole time, or that at one point after the collision that we pulled over and switched seats. He was not explicitly told to lie, but was given the option of getting arrested or going home. I seriously had no idea what was going on, they took him out of the car to talk and then all of a sudden I was being cuffed and put in the back of the cruiser.

At the time, we were friends. Obviously not anymore. I'm honestly not sure what ended up happening as far as him getting ticketed. I found it weird that they didn't bring him to court, at least to take the stand against me. What really takes the cake is that afterwards he wouldn't even take my calls. He had his mom call me to ask how I was going to pay for the damages. Once I told her what really happened, I never heard back from her. Weird.

As you can imagine, I wanted to beat his ass for a while. But as a result of this he lost pretty much every friend he ever had, and his best friend gave the sworn statement for me. I lost a year of my life working to pay for the whole thing instead of being in school, but I'd like to think it made me a stronger person. What goes around comes around, and being a shady prick will eventually catch up to him.

7/1/2008 10:28:00 AM

any idea why the cop would even give hiom that option instead of just hauling him straight in?

thats just crazy

7/1/2008 10:42:21 AM

The only thing I could think of was that he didn't actually witness the accident, and that my driving record was not exactly perfect (suspended license). I'm not claiming to be a saint, I was under 21 and had been drinking. But I could not imagine anyone in their right mind believing that the guy would let an intoxicated, underage and unlicensed driver get behind the wheel of his car without any evidence.

It's a crazy story, but so is getting pulled out of the car and being pepper sprayed for 41 in a 25.

7/1/2008 11:02:34 AM