Charges Dismissed in AT&T Case: Police arrest employee for failing to provide customer information

[eyeontheprize]

Charges against a Bartlesville man accused of obstructing a police officer were dropped following a municipal court hearing on Thursday.

....
The incident began on July 14, when Officer Troy Newell of the Bartlesville Police Department was dispatched to an alleged hit and run in the parking lot of Stonegate Plaza. Witnesses reportedly said that a man driving a black pickup had backed into a green car and that, before leaving the scene, the black pickup had stopped in front of the AT&T store, where a woman was seen getting in the pickup.

At a hearing in Municipal Court on Thursday, Newell said he went to the AT&T store and told Myers, an employee of AT&T and who was working at the time, that he was investigating an accident and was looking for information. Myers said Thursday that he knew the man and woman, but that they were customers of AT&T and, as such, Myers did not believe he could release any information.


http://examiner-enterprise.com/articles/2009/09/27/news/news394.txt

The police arrested the AT&T employee a few days later when the employee again refused to give the information without a subpoena.

[Selatius]

1. He should've been higher up the food chain, like ATT executives when they spied for Bush.

They never saw handcuffs. In fact, Congress granted them immunity at Bush's request.

[spotbird]

5. AT&T has a policy on the local

level that it ignores on the federal level.

[Changenow]

2. Perfectly ironic. NT

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. Idiots: Officer Troy Newell & BPD Lt. Mike McCarty of the Bartlesville Police Department

I see a lawsuit coming.

[Changenow]

4. Let's hope so. nt

[spotbird]

6. kick. nt

[Nickster]

7. Good for that employee. I had a similar situation happen when I was at a store and someone else did

something, they readily gave up the list of all their recent customers and I had a cop at my door questioning me about something I had nothing to do with.

[eyeontheprize]

8. Why did the cops think they could avoid process?

Shouldn't there be disciplinary action against them?

[petronius]

9. Why didn't the police just get the warrant or sub poena or whatever was necessary?

It sounds to me like this officer preferred the route of strong-arming the innocent employee who got in his way...

[eyeontheprize]

10. They didn't think those requirements mattered? nt