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Criminal charges
against two officers dropped
Officers Ian Estorffe and Brent Anderson were accused of
criminal assault by suspects they were investigating and
arrested per warrant from the Justice Court of Hancock County in
Mississippi. In May of 2003, Officer Anderson was in Dan B’s
Lounge with his wife and other off-duty officers when Detective
Estorffe was approached by a suspect he had been investigating
for illegal activity related to narcotics trafficking. The
suspect who physically confronted Detective Estorffe was with
two cohorts believed to be his cousins who also physically
confronted Detective Estorffe. After the confrontation, the
assailants were removed from the bar. Later, when Officer
Anderson, his wife and Detective Estorffe decided to leave Dan
B’s Lounge, the suspect and his cousins attempted to assault
Detective Estorffe. Officer Anderson intervened to prevent the
assault on Detective Estorffe and was struck in the head with a
beer bottle by the suspect. Detective Estorffe then successfully
defended himself. Bay St. Louis police arrived at the scene and
arrested the suspect and later charged the suspect with the
misdemeanor offense of being publicly drunk or disorderly. The
suspect and his cousin both filed a private criminal affidavit
alleging the crime of “simple assault.” Both officers were
represented by PBA attorney James Halliday along with attorney
Ben Galloway. The attorneys were successful in challenging the
court’s jurisdiction and quashed the warrants against both
officers by obtaining an Order from Justice Court transferring
the actions to Circuit Court. (See article below.)
The attorneys were also successful in arguing that the assaults
on the assailants were “duty related” even though the officers
were off-duty at the time of the incident. An Order of Dismissal
was signed by a Circuit Court Judge dismissing the criminal
charges and all charges against the officers have been expunged
from their records. |