To Protect and Serve: The seige on 12th street | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

   How many mamas have said to their child: "Don't be afraid of policemen. They are there to help you if you need help."

    On June 15, 2011 dozens of law enforcement personnel responded to a call from a desperate man seeking help with his self-described "drinking problem." Gary Gautier called the Washington Police Department shortly after 8:00 a.m. on June 15. About 3:00 p.m. he was taken to Beaufort Regional Medical Center and was later arrested for making a false bomb threat and threatening an officer. The same day, his uncle, Carter Leary, was arrested for resisting arrest. Both have cases pending trial if the District Attorney's office chooses to continue prosecution.

    This begins a series of articles on how this story developed. But here's the summary, nutshell version.

    Gary Gautier sought help. His uncle, Carter Leary, tried to help law enforcement officials talk him into surrendering and in the process disarmed him. But Mr. Leary was arrested also. In the process of being arrested Mr. Leary lost a tooth and received serveral lacerations and severe bruises. We'll have more, including pictures, and possibly a cell phone video of the arrest, later.

    What you should know as you listen to these recordings is that Gary Gautier lost his job as a result of a broken leg back in April. Since then, according to his father, Robert Gautier, he has accumulated over $30,000 in medical bills. Sparing the details, Mr. Gautier is facing severe financial distress. Moreover, as a result of his injury, it is reported that the doctors put him on "pain pills." He, as he says in the tape, also has a "drinking problem." And as you will learn if you follow this series, he has what most people would agree is justifiable reasons to be skeptical, if not paranoid, of law enforcement officials. But on this day he sought their help.

    He starts his call by asking the WPD dispatcher how he can get into rehab and how much it would cost. The dispatcher explains that he does not have that information but tries to refer Mr. Gautier to a doctor. As you will hear, the caller's frustrations multiply and eventually he resorts to making threats against police officers who might "come to get him." He explains later that he didn't get help to begin with but rather after he resorted to the threats.

    The listener should also note that Mr. Gautier gives his uncle's name to the dispatcher rather than his own. His uncle, Carter Leary, lives two doors down the street from him. The Observer is very familiar with Mr. Leary. We investigated a situation in which he was, in our opinion, abused by law enforcement authorities recently. And while we did not report it at the time, because Mr. Leary feared recrimination if the incident was made public, you should know that the earlier incident certainly explains to our satisfaction why both Leary and Gautier would be skeptical that officer responding to their homes might not be in a "helpful" mode. From the earlier incident we concluded that Mr. Leary was abundantly correct when he concluded our last interview by saying: "I'll never give them permission to search my house again. They'll have to have a search warrant first." More on that later, but suffice it to say that Gary Gautier knew on June 15 of that earlier incident between Mr. Leary and SWAT teams. All over a Civil War antique. And as you hear in the recordings, Mr. Gautier himself has had previous bad experiences with the Sheriff's Officer.

    So as you listen to the tapes, understand--if you want to know the real story--that this is an exceedingly complex story with multiple facets. We'll expose as much of it as we can because we have come to believe very strongly that this story raises some very vital issues that the public should know about and we suspect will become very concerned about as the truth comes out.

    But the story here is what happened on the morning of June 15. Here's the recording of the first call:



    The second call is the longest recording. In this clip you witness the frustration grow, both on the part of Mr. Gautier and the WPD. Note as you listen, to Mr. Gautier's explanation for why he made the threats. WARNING; Some of the language in these recordings is inappropriate for children. It's not much worse than a lot of rap music, but nonetheless as Mr. Gautier's frustration rises he begins to use profanity and obscenities to try to impress upon officials the urgency of his requests.



    The third is a very short clip that reveals the breakdown of communications with Mr. Gautier. It may make more sense if you know that about the time this clip was made the record indicates the police had arrived at the scene. Although multiple units responded, indications are that WPD Chief Reed attempted to keep Mr. Gautier from knowing that multiple units were on the scene, but indications are that about the time of the third call he became aware that officers were outside.



    Finally, we would urge the reader to withhold judgment of the individuals in these stories as they unfold. We have spent dozens of hours investigating and we are convinced that we still don't know all of the truth and we suspect much will come out if either case goes to trial and particularly if any conviction is appealed or civil action is brought that would trigger compelled discovery. In the meantime we will publish our stories only after we are satisfied that we have gotten as much of the truth as we can obtain. That will spread the stories out over time. But more on that later.

    For those who may wonder what kind of training these dispatchers receive in handling situations such as this, we ask WPD Chief Mick Reed that question. He furnished us with this schedule of topics that dispatchers are trained in.