DRIVER TELLS OF DRUG UNIT ABUSE

Roughed Up, Car Shot At, Says Dope User

Orlando Manning won't be testifying at today's special meeting on the
future of the Crittenden County Drug Task Force.

An acknowledged dope smoker, Manning, 25, of Whitehaven, was pulled over by
task force member Barry A. Davis early on the morning of May 31 for going
too slow in the westbound lanes of Interstate 40.

Before Manning was taken into custody, he says, Davis fired at least 20
bullets or shotgun shell pellets into his Olds 98 during a chase, then shot
out the last inflated tire while Manning sat handcuffed in his patrol car.

Davis also slammed his gold front teeth into the pavement and threw his
cellular phone out onto the highway where it was "smushed" by a passing
18-wheeler, Manning says.

He was charged with driving without a license, reckless driving, impeding
traffic and fleeing - all misdemeanors - after he allegedly refused to step
out of his car and instead led Davis on a 10-mile chase at speeds in excess
of 100 mph, according to Davis's police report.

Manning recalls the incident somewhat differently. He said Tuesday that he
believed Davis told him he was free to leave after the initial stop and was
surprised and scared to see the same officer come up from behind, ramming
his car and gunning for his tires.

There are no references to shots being fired in the official police report
of the incident, and Sheriff Dick Busby said Tuesday that the whole matter
is under investigation.

Davis, 33, and six other sheriff's department employees were notified last
month that they will lose their jobs June 30 if the Crittenden County
Quorum Court's 10-0 vote May 28 to cut off funding is allowed to stand.

The members of the court, the equivalent of a county commission, said they
want to be kept apprised of the unit's activities, which are the subject of
an ongoing federal grand jury probe.

Davis, a longtime member of the sheriff's highway drug interdiction unit,
is an apparent target of a federal grand jury investigation looking into
suspected cash skimming from drug and cash couriers. His $280,000 house in
West Memphis, as well as the $195,000 Marion home of Louis Pirani, who has
since left the drug interdiction unit, were searched by FBI and IRS agents
last Thursday.

Davis's wife, Tonya, said in an interview Saturday that she was called
before the Little Rock grand jury and asked about her spending habits,
including how many times she had her hair cut or colored.

"I don't know why they're fishing," she said. "We have nothing to hide."
Sheriff Busby said Tuesday that a rifle removed during the FBI search of
Davis's home last week - a rifle that appeared to be equipped with a scope
and silencer pictured in Friday's newspaper - was not a department-issued
firearm. "It belonged to him," Busby said.

County Judge Melton Holt called today's special meeting in hopes of
postponing the court's funding cutoff. He said the county needs a drug unit
to deal with a major problem with methamphetamine. The public is invited to
speak at the 9 a.m. meeting at the Crittenden County Courthouse in Marion,
but a sergeant-at-arms will be provided by the Arkansas State Police.

"We are going to keep order," Holt said.

The controversial highway interdiction program has given local law
enforcement a black eye in recent years even as it has provided huge sums
to local government. Officers in Crittenden County have seized $5.4 million
in cash from suspected drug couriers in the past 2d years, records show.
That's more than was seized in the rest of the entire state. A portion of
seized money is returned to the arresting agency and the local prosecuting
attorney's office.

But the effort has raised suspicions that, with that much cash, some
officers may have grown greedy. Three West Memphis police officers were
fired last year for violating policies on cash seizures after two of them
were caught in FBI sting operations. In one case, money the FBI counted
before it was "seized" from a car parked at the Southland Greyhound Park
came up short, records show.

It's likely that the county sheriff's unit will come in for some criticism
from members of the Quorum Court, called justices of the peace or JPs. Two
members have been pulled over by task force members in recent weeks.

JP Jim Turner says deputy Shane Griffin pulled him over on Interstate 55 on
April 1 after he'd allegedly cut Griffin off while passing a slow
18-wheeler. Griffin turned on his dashboard blue lights and pulled him
over, then "got a little bit mad," Turner said.

But when Turner told him he'd had the right-of-way and that Griffin had
been driving too fast and tailgating, Griffin retreated. When Turner
demanded his name, Griffin got back in his patrol car and sped away. Turner
followed him to the Marion exit, took down his car number, and made a
formal complaint.

Barry Davis cited longtime JP Vera Simonetti for a burned-out tail light
June 4, a week after she made a motion to disband the drug unit.

Says Turner of the stops: "It's borderline on stinking pretty good. If you
ask me 'Is it harassment?' I'll say it's not normal."

Manning, who told Davis he had smoked "weed" several hours before the
initial traffic stop, said he was probably driving 50 mph in the fast lane
of Interstate 40, trying to get directions to an address in Forrest City
over a cell phone, when Davis pulled him over.

Manning, a factory worker, said he has reported his encounter with Davis to
the FBI and is considering a lawsuit.

"I didn't have no guns, no drugs, no nothing," he said. "I feel like I was
in the wrong place at the wrong time."