Thread: Reservist arrested in migrant case sues Arpaio

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... aab08.html

Reservist arrested in migrant case sues Arpaio


Robert Anglen
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 8, 2005 12:00 AM

An Army reservist arrested in April for holding seven undocumented workers at gunpoint is suing the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for false imprisonment, emotional distress and abuse of process.

In a Maricopa County Superior Court lawsuit, Patrick Haab also accused Sheriff Joe Arpaio of acting with an "evil hand" and "being guided by an evil mind" for disclosing Haab's military records.

At the time of his arrest, Haab described himself as an Iraq war veteran. But military records showed he had been sent home for a mental health evaluation without ever serving in Iraq. They showed Haab was on the verge of being kicked out of the military, suffered from paranoia, threatened to commit suicide, pulled a knife in an altercation with fellow soldiers and reportedly told an officer that he wanted to kill all Muslims, including a soldier in his own unit.

In his lawsuit, Haab claims that Arpaio released the records to The Arizona Republic only after the county attorney refused to charge Haab with any crime.

"The sensitive medical and mental health information regarding (Haab) was only obtained and divulged to bring harm, ridicule and embarrassment," he claimed in the suit, adding that the sheriff's investigation had been closed by the time the documents were made public.

The Republic had sought Haab's military records since his arrest and had filed public records requests with the county and the U.S. Army before publishing a story about the records in August.

On April 10, a Maricopa County sheriff's deputy arrested Haab and charged him with seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he drew his pistol on seven immigrants at a desolate Interstate 8 rest stop.

In interviews, Haab said he had stopped to relieve his dog when seven men rushed out of the darkness, making him fear for his life. He said he followed the men to their vehicle, ordered them to lie on the ground at gunpoint and called police.



Arpaio said Wednesday that Haab's lawsuit was frivolous.

County Attorney Andrew Thomas later dismissed charges against Haab because of a state law that allows citizens to make an arrest when a felony has been committed. According to Thomas, all seven of the immigrants were committing felonies: the smuggler in planning the operation and the six immigrants in "conspiring" to illegally cross the border.

Haab's arrest and subsequent release triggered a storm of protest on both sides of the immigration issue and has prompted a review by the U.S. Department of Justice to determine if Haab violated federal civil rights laws.

Oh, gosh. I never did hear all of that stuff about that man. I remember well when the event took place but it just kind of faded away after that and I SURE didn't hear that they had released MEDICAL RECORDS. I think that crossed the line.

This is sort of an older story that resurfaced again. Did a quick search and came up with a bunch of old articles for anyone that may have missed it or wants to refresh their memory.


https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-1691-patrick.html+haab

https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-1684-patrick.html+haab

https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-2002-patrick.html+haab

https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-2041-patrick.html+haab

https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-2068-patrick.html+haab

https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-1981-patrick.html+haab

https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-2798-patrick.html+haab

https://www.alipac.us/ftopict-7028-patrick.html+haab

Thanks, Brian. Will check them out in the morning.

How is it this sheriff can get all this info and it takes us a week or two to even find out if a murderer, rapists, drunk driver is illegal.

That's a good question, had_enuf. I was getting ready to go to Lou's site and post something related to this from last night's program.