Professional Accountability

July 3, 2009

Paul Abel says someone punched him while he was stopped at a red light. So he drove around the neighborhood trying to find the man. Abel, who'd been drinking, saw Kaleb Miller and thought he was the man who hit him, so he struck him on the back of the neck with his handgun. The gun went off, striking Miller on the hand. At trial, a judge declared Abel's actions "inappropriate, impudent and ill-advised," but acquitted him of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and DUI. Why? Abel was an off-duty cop, and he says he was trying to arrest Miller, who witnesses say wasn't the man who struck him. He says he had to use force when Miller refused to obey his commands.