Comments about ‘Hot story had teeny, tiny flaw’

This ending is really a sad commentary on reporting. It couldn't have been that hard to see both sides of the story with a little investigation.

This was not bad reporting it was the Police and Prosecutor that blew it. Most Prosecutors just want to make a name for themselves and sometimes at the expense of the innocent - Duke Lacrosse.

Sam

At last one reporter had the courage to tell a very brief accounting of the TRUE events that took place on June 14 and thereafter. There is, however, a whole lot more to this story that hasnt been told. One small correction to Lee Bensons column, Kyle Perry has yet to tell his side of the story. He has never had a chance to do so. And he didnt have to during the hearing last Tuesday. Kyle Perry never had a chance to take the stand. Only Mr. Wellington took the stand. When it became apparent that the truth was about to come forward and that such would be an absolute embarrassment to the Utah County Attorney's Office, prosecuting attorney Curtis Larson dismissed the charges faster than one could say ready, set, go. The charges were not dropped because Mr. Wellington didnt want to ruin Perrys life, they were dropped because his long prior legal history, including fraud, was being exposed. As was reported by Sara Israelsen "This particular case caused Mr. Wellington to consider HIS interest in considering the case and he decided that it would be in HIS best interest to have the case dismissed." These charges are a clear example of irresponsible, unprofessional, and careless police work. The Provo police owes Kyle Perry a public apology, and thousands of dollars in legal fees, but will they have the courage to do so and pay restitution for their careless work?

Someone in the Provo Police Dept. should be disciplined and/or let go.
Totally irresponsible police work. Shame on them.

I didn't believe a word of this story from the start. The facts just don't add up. First, why in the world would the driver of a car who narrowly avoided striking a pedestrian then leap from their car to assault said pedestrian? Wouldn't the pedestrian be the one whose temper would flare in this scenario? Secondly, if you've ever spent time around BYU's running community (and I have: I was a very mediocre thrower for BYU in the early '90s, and I worked as a strength trainer for the program for about a year as I finished my education), you'd know that these guys typify runners in general: not a real hot-headed bunch. Third, the image of any cross-country runner starting a fight is absurd. They're TINY! And, as I've already said, also very NICE. Fourth, this dude is a GREAT RUNNER with a GREAT FUTURE. Why would he jeopardize everything simply because he almost hit someone? Fifth, the initial policework left doubts lingering. I love the service the police render in general, but the fact that in this instance they didn't bother to take statements from all parties directly involved has just the briniest of smells, if you catch my drift. I was in a serious accident a couple years ago, and the officers on the scene interviewed every single person, and certainly did NOT avoid interviewing an involved witness just because they might have had some perceived bias as a potential victim. "Shoddy" comes to mind. Bottom line: I knew there had to be more to this particular story, and I can't believe that Provo's public servants don't have better instincts than were demonstrated in the very avoidable prosecution (persecution?) of Kyle Perry.

The really sad thing is that although he has been exonerated, his booking picture and charges are still available on the Utah county inmate search page. If you are found not guilty or if charges are dismissed, shouldn't you have your face taken off this page?

This is another apparent example of the Provo Police bias against BYU athletes. There appears to be a culture in the Provo Police department that needs to be cleaned up.

Yet again an innocent person has been smeared due to poor police work. How many other athletes are going to be smeared by what appears to be an incompetent police force. Surely someone in position of authority has to see the bigger picture and the embarrasement this is creating for the image of the a department that is charged with protecting it's citizens in a professinal manner with integrity and due process.

I have needed police help 9 times in my life time.

1. When my 5-year-old daughter was grabbed by sexual predator in a store. My wife called the police. An officer caught the man and put him in the back seat of the police car and put my wife and daughter in the front seat of the same car. He demanded that my wife give the officer our home address as the pervert listened. So now the pervert had our home address too.

2. A young woman going the wrong way on a one-way street crashed into my wife's car in a hit and run. Police found the woman and car based on my wife's description but refused arrest.

3. A building I own was broken into 4 times and expensive equipment stolen. 2 times equipment from the fenced yard was taken. That's a total of 6 times for losses well over 150-thousand dollars. The police chief told me "We DON'T patrol your street because it's too far out of our way." And that's despite the thousands in taxes I've paid for police protection.

4. Two policemen came to my door at 2 a.m. and demanded entry into a house we recently bought. I allowed them entry. They then demanded to know where a certain person was. I said "I don't know, he doesn't live here, he lives next door." They wouldn't believe me and for 20 minutes they interrogated me.

So I understand Mr. Perry's dilemma...spend a night in jail, be falsely accused by police, or complain and risk more charges.

The 9 times I needed personal police help, they were not helpful or professional.

The police actions in the Perry incident are not surprising based on my experience.

Perry deserves an apology from police and prosecutors.

there's a reason cops are "underpaid"

It sounds to me like at least some of the police and the prosecutors are overpaid! As previously stated, this is not an isolated incident, by any means. A close friend of mine had to suffer through a trial for something he did not do because the police and prosecutor were looking for a scapegoat.

He's lucky he wasn't in Las Vegas. He would of been shot.

Anyone who went to college in Provo likely saw right through this story from the start. Clearly another case of Provo police and city government targeting rather than serving the resident college students that give the city a reason to exist.

My daughter was involved with an incident in Orem and I wasn't impressed by police involvement. I think it is the air of arrogance in Happy Valley that causes problems with a lot of people living there.

Since we're listing deficiencies of the Provo Police Department, I'll add my experience: A teacher at BYU (which I happen to love; I even have a BYU sports commentary blog) knowingly sold me a defective used car. When I took the car back to him to ask about it, he said, "I'm not in the used car business." My accompanying younger brother, who will never be confused with a physically threatening person, asked him if he was in the "honesty business". This person grabbed my brother by the throat and said something along the lines of "You think I can't take you?" (This really happened--I'm not sure how this guy got a job at BYU.) I told my brother we should just leave, but we reported the incident to the police. Needless to say, we never heard anything from them regarding the incident.

Police are not listening to the real story

Schools are not teaching

The provo police department is a disgrace. They will do anything for publicity. All these Byu athlete incidents are nothing but somehow make it to the front page.

This whole affair is sad because:
1.We all deserve better police work than was evidenced in this case. Grave injustice was done to the reputation and pocketbook of the athlete- no repercussions to the Provo Police Dept. The same sloppy police work will likely continue
2. The news media nationwide, while quick to run the lurid story, will be slow to run the retraction (Benson excluded from this criticism) and most in the country will never hear that the original story was false.
3. No media retraction or police apology (which will not happen) will recompense an individual for trauma from arrest and undeserved night in jail, damage to reputation, and money/time/stress spent on defense.
4. This sort of thing will continue to happen to innocent individuals because the police will not change, the media will not change, and society will not change.

My daughter's car was hit in a parking lot in the Provo Smith's. Several people saw it happen and wrote down the license plate number. We contacted the police several times but they would do nothing. Way to go provo.

Come on people... we're talking about Utah County here. You know that many of you would report your mother for drinking a Coke! Why would you then have a Police Department that was objective and a prosecuter who actually would investigate? It's much more fun to judge and try someone on heresay than gather things like "facts" and "evidence" Next time your at 7-11 and you see someone filling up their big gulp with something as evil as Coke, see if YOU can resist judging them on the spot. Perhaps THEY have a medical condition that YOU are unaware of. So quit casting stones at the cops when you do the same thing everyday!!!!

I just wish I knew what we, as the public, can do to improve our justice system. We hear so much of this kind of thing. It seems people are guilty until proven innocent. So many decent people are pulled into jail and courts costing them thousands of dollars and much time and worry, often ruining their lives, before their innocence can be proven, while true crimials run free.