U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- James Hodges, who is legally blind and cannot drive, was walking home from jury duty in Lake City, Florida when he was stopped by Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy Jayme Gohdy, because she mistook his collapsible white cane for a pistol.
A video of their encounter was captured by Deputy Gohdy’s body camera. Hodges later posted a copy of the video on his YouTube page.
“What’s this in your back pocket?” Deputy Gohdy can be heard asking on the video.
“It’s a navigational aid,” Hodges said. “What’s the problem? Are you a tyrant?”
“Yeah, I am actually,” Deputy Gohdy said. “What’s your name and date of birth.”
“I don’t have to give that …” Hodges started to say.
“Do you want me to put you in handcuffs right now?” Deputy Gohdy said. “It looks like you’re carrying a gun in your back pocket. I’m stopping you to make sure you’re carrying it properly.”
“Have you ensured that it’s not a firearm?” Hodges asked.
“No, you keep turning so I can’t see it. You don’t have to be a dick to me,” the deputy said.
“Well, you’re being one to me,” Hodges said. He pulled out a collapsible white cane from his back pocket and showed it to the deputy.
“Am I detained?” Hodges asked.
“Yeah, you are,” Deputy Gohdy said. “What’s your name and date of birth.”
Her sergeant arrived, whom the Sheriff’s Office later identified as Sgt. Randy Harrison. Hodges walked over to talk to the man.
“Her suspicion was that you were armed and she’s asking for your ID,” Sgt. Harrison said.
“I verified that I am not armed so there is no crime,” Hodges said. He refused to produce his ID so the deputies handcuffed him behind his back. Hodges did not resist. The sergeant pulled Hodges’ ID out of his left-front pants pocket.
“You are not allowed to search me,” Hodges said.
Deputy Gohdy ran a records check on Hodges with her radio.
“Sir, are you legally blind?” Sgt. Harrison asked.
“Yes, I am,” Hodges said. “I had to walk up here in the dark for jury duty, which was cancelled.”
“Why ain’t you using your stick,” the sergeant asked, as the warrant check came back clear.
“Alright, Mr. Hodges, was that that hard?” Deputy Gohdy asked.
“It’s gonna be,” Hodges said. “I want your name and badge numbers.”
“Put him in jail for resisting,” Sgt. Harrison said.
“Okay,” Deputy Gohdy said.
Hodges was placed in the back seat of the deputy’s squad car and taken to jail. At no point in Deputy Gohdy’s bodycam video did Hodges ever physically resist arrest. He was charged with resisting arrest without violence, a First-Degree misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a $1,000 fine and 12 months of probation.
False Arrest
Hodges’ video has received more than a million views. The Sheriff’s Office’s social media accounts were deluged by posts calling for an investigation and more.
Columbia County Sheriff Mark A. Hunter did not return calls or emails seeking his comments for this story, but his public information officer, Sgt. Steven Khachigan released the following statement announcing that the department was launching an internal investigation of Hodges’ arrest:
We are aware of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office body camera video involving the arrest of Mr. James Hodges on October 31, 2022. Sheriff Hunter is troubled by what he has seen in the video and the matter is being addressed. An administrative investigation was initiated on November 3, 2022 when the incident was brought to our attention. If policy violations are sustained at the conclusion of that investigation, appropriate action will be taken. While we understand the frustration and concern associated with this event, please know we are working to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
Sgt. Khachigan also provided a copy of Deputy Gohdy’s arrest report.
She indicated in her report she first saw Hodges in a crosswalk and “observed what appeared to be a silver (chrome) pistol with a white grip in his back right pocket.”
She wrote that Hodges “was found to be in violation of FL Statute 843.02, by obstructing the ongoing investigation when he repeatedly refused to allow identification of the object in his pocket as well as by refusing to identify himself. James (Hodges) was placed under arrest for Resisting without Violence and transported to the Columbia County Detention Facility without incident.
Deputy Gohdy never mentioned in her report that Hodges removed his cane and showed it to her and her supervisor. Instead, she wrote that she discovered it was a cane only after Hodges was handcuffed, which is incorrect.
Florida considers police reports to be official documents. False statements or intentionally omitting certain facts can be considered crimes.
In an interview, Sgt. Khachigan said Deputy Gohdy hadn’t been at the department very long, maybe a year at the most. He was not aware of any recent discipline.
Sgt. Khachigan acknowledged that while Hodges was charged by the Sheriff’s Office, the Columbia County State Attorney’s Office ultimately decides whether to file formal charges or drop the matter entirely.
Asked whether this was the type of law enforcement the public could expect in Columbia County, Sgt. Khachigan would speak only in general terms.
“If you look at our social media, do we have instances where our deputies have made mistakes? That is certainly the case. Anywhere is going to have that. I think you’ll find that the majority of the times most of our community members say they appreciate the job we do. Does that mean we’re without fault? No, it doesn’t. In those times we have to follow procedures that are set in place. In general, you can find times when we’ve sent out press releases before where we’ve shared good stories. Sometimes, there were some things not in a positive light. We’ve owned those things as well,” he said.
Open Carry
Florida only allows the open carry of arms while hunting, camping, or fishing. Absent those exceptions, open carry is illegal.
In 2015, when the legislature was considering making open carry legal, Sheriff Hunter spoke out against the bill.
In a letter to his constituents, Sheriff Hunter denounced the open carry bill.
“My highest priority is the safety of the citizens of Columbia County,” the Sheriff wrote. “I do not support the bill in its current form because I do not believe it will make us safer.”
Sgt. Khachigan acknowledged that legal open carry could have prevented Hodges’ arrest.
“If we had open carry in Florida and there was believed to be a weapon, I could see your point,” he said. “It’s hard to speculate on hypotheticals. You know as well as I do that when they create laws, we don’t know what kind of language will be in there, but I see your point and where you’re going with that question. It’s hard to say whether it would have completely resolved this, but I do see your point.”
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
Hmmm, sounds like the deputy was blinder than the man with the white cane.
WB;
You nailed that one!
Except that the deputy is not blind. He’s just a dick getting off on a power trip. Which is many times worse!
But I still voted you both up anyway. 🙂
HAHA!.
and stupider than anyone in public office should be, hope she is in jail
This is also a case of perjury, falsification of evidence and false arrest.
This is disgusting.
Correct. This is the part of the story that concerns me the most. The ‘perjury, falsification of evidence and false arrest’ were – as recorded in official report – was outright intentional.
The department’s statement about “owning” its mistakes comes into question here. Perhaps(?) the officers have done so historically… but in this instance it appears the issue is being swept under the rug (at the least, it is being ignored as much as possible).
A “mistake” is doing something accidentally that you didn’t intend to do. Her false statements in her report were entirely intentional.
Not “mistakes”, sorry Sheriff.
Her “mistake” was thinking she could get away with it.
Unfortunately, she probably will get away with it, highly unlikely criminal charges will be filled. The taxpayers will foot the bill for any suit.
she should be strip searched in a mixed jail and sent in without anything
All they’d have to do is put her in women’s general population, believe me. Somebody would find out about her and her life would be hell. She might even be killed.
The “blind” man will have a windfall of $ soon!
And First degree bitchy-ness! I’m surprised she didn’t taser him.
As with anybody a LEO has to know when to stop digging the hole deeper.
A power trip for sure In see a monetary settlement involved.
I thought this was a joke at first. Sounds like the deputy needs a white cane as well.
She needs a swift boot out the door.After her own appearance(s) in front of a judge, of course.
Agreed, and so does the sergeant. He told her to arrest him. A lieutenant told me to arrest someone once. I told him, “You have a badge. You do it.” He didn’t.
Both officers displayed a gross level of PRIDE. Best for officers to just admit they made a big mistake.
needs to be beat with one
Seems like these two officers need to be former officers. I hear wal mart is looking for greeters.
and since Yoober and such deny their workers the right to self protetion,she’d have to place herself out in public unarmed……. THAT would be a fine turnabout.
wallmart requires civil behavior , these two would be hard pressed to find day work outside home depot
road rage issues nothing withcars
This ain’t a “mistake”. This is about as bad as it gets without violence
Yes. No mistake typical untrained duffer cop. Sgt no better. That tells it all. Defund and replace with trained cops. Maybe even train them in the laws.
Fortunate for the guy walking down the street minding his own business, these cops were just plain stupid and not stupid plus violent. His arguing with them could have resulted in his being dead right.
Sheriff Hunter denouncing the open carry bill:
Whether open carry will make the community safer is the wrong (pre-Bruen) question. It should have been ‘Will it make the community more dangerous?”
Columbia County needs a new sheriff in town and FL needs to repeal laws against open carry before a court finds them unconstitutional.
Florida us not an open carry state unless you’re in the wild engaged in hunting or fishing.
Looks like the government thugs are committing aggravated kidnapping and violation of rights again.
This kind of thing is why people don’t trust cops the way they should be able to. She should have just let it drop, but no…
So much for the 4th Amendment. I guess it doesn’t apply to sheriff’s in Florida.
Speak of the devil and he may appear. In this case two of them.
Sounds to me the female deputy is the dick instead of the man
I think she wants to be the dick.
I hope those two cops are fired and loose their law enforcement certification.
particularly the male member of this asshole patrol.
The citizen did a good job of standing up for himself and I hope he is financially rewarded.
This is going on in MANY places where it is easier and safer to harass the law abiding than go after real criminals.
If the most important thing for police officers is to go home safe at the end of the day they are a threat to the community, no one is safe and they should be working at walmart
NC Tyrant Hunter would give both of the Tyrants the Bam and they earned it.
Too many FEMALE deputies/cops with attitudes and in general result in this B.S. The supervisors are more concerned with not offending the female officers and a resulting lawsuit than they are of doing what is right, including firing these female POSs.
This kind of crap is why people don’t trust the Police, and I’m a retired Police Lieutenant. This Deputy was ok until after she confirmed the gentleman did not have a weapon, It all should have ended right there.
I was dea and dont trust police ,atf fbi I saw so many power hungry nuts , and it is worse now
Passed this in front of my Daughter and her husband. Both are in Laws enforcement for over 17 years each. Both indicated they would have been suspended and very possibly fired for what happened. Once Id’ed as a cane and he was blind, regardless of his attitude, that would have been the end of it. This is a prime example of why people have lost respect for some law enforcement. Both agreed that the soft skill of communications are lacking in todays ‘recruits’. They either 1) have attitude and like to swing their authority around, or 2) when it comes… Read more »
You can arrest someone for their attitude, but only if they’ve broken a law. I’m former law enforcement, and in down time on duty, I’d read the statute books,just so I’d have a list of potential charges. I never arrested anyone who didn’t need arresting though, wrote very few citations and gave loads of warnings. I wouldn’t have arrested yhis guy, because he was right to balk at his mistreatment.
There are ‘officers’ who believe that the badge makes them correct regardless of any laws, rules or previous court rulings, WHICH by the way acknowledge the right of the citizen to privacy and no one is Required to identify themselves to satisfy an officers curiosity. An officers Suspicion of a crime is not the commission of a crime. Good thing this woman didn’t charge the man with possession of Rape Tools.
Cha-ching! Money in the bank.
I’m pro law enforcement, but I’m not pro police state. I hope they change the name to Hodges County after the lawsuit.
I’m pro old law enforcement. Not swat team bully crap.
One of the first things I learned in field training was that “contempt of cop is not a crime.” Assuming the officer really believed he had a pistol in his back pocket, AND that having a pistol in plain view (open carry) is illegal there, there was sufficient cause to detain the man to investigate. (Never mind for now whether bans on open carry are still constitutional, that remains to be decided by the courts) She should have stated clearly to the man that he was being detained for investigation. Under Terry v. Ohio she had the right to pat… Read more »
Plan & simple harassment, after she saw it was a cane
The man did show them it was a cane. It should have ended there. Actually they should have offered him a ride home. What happened to Protect & SERVE ? LEOs wonder why people don’t warm to them. Here’s a good example why I & others would support DE FUND THE POLICE. Neither officer, were very professional, that’s for sure.
Understandable, coming from a fellow PIG!!!
Our support of the Second Amendment (and the rest of the Constitution, too) binds us. Comments like that divide us. Perhaps we could do better.
How much after the vultures er lawyers are through?
No she didn’t have the right to Pat him down, she is a female and she is a male… It works both ways.
yes to a point… the very point the copper was presented his white cane as PROOF he did not have a firearm. At that point the ONLY correct thing to do was to say somethinh like “thank you, sir for confirming your words and showing me the object in question is not a firearm. Be on your way, then, sorry to have bothered you. Enjoy your day….. But she did not. And I really hope HE DOES enjoy a day sometme soon… when he gets a big fat settlement check for his false arrest and harrassment, and gets to see… Read more »
i saw sooooooooomany bad ones and the “good” ones dont set them straight ,so are there any good cops?
the problem is the”good” cops wont go after the bad and get rid of them . the clean up must come from inside or the system will have to change
you and your down vote friends are likely just like the cops in this story
police dont want citizens over site board that can fire without recourse but that is what is coming , gangs and thugs seldom control their own unless survival is at stake, and many departments are little more than paid thugs
filed my share of complaints when i was working some were even answered ,but for most part “good” cops hid and moved changed departments ,some even went bad. whole department in surfside was just doing civil asset forfeiture think state de certified the department
I saw what a fed sees from “our” side and what I saw was real bad,others I know from other lettered groups (yes I know some atf agents, and worked with them) thought the same. many times we would not say anything to locals because there was NO trust
and as for not doing the right thing that is a cop out (pun intended) kent wheeler , lawyer sick of corrupt system wears a wire ,you may have heard of operation court broom , helped for a while, bobbie fielder city of Miami internal affairs wore a wire about 30 lost credentials or went to jail he wound up with fbi. good people can make a change
go read the oath you took ,and tell me where it says your job was just control civilians @ope
Im sorry sir,thought I saw something else, can I give you a ride home would have been the correct response
Complete asshole This gives all fuzz bad names because the majority unfortunately are like this.
Done tell me about uncle Joe being a good cop, that was then, this is today.
Just Gestapo. Sad. Only getting worse with this asshole behavior. Sgt no better. Typical.
Arrogant cop! And I have seven copy in my family! So I am not Anti-police.
The nomenclature seem to fit here.
Deputy was stupid, he may not be totally blind and can navigate with direct sunlight.
She should be fired for falsifying the police report and the Sgt. should be busted and his stripes removed along with pay grade.
Dept will have to pay the man some big money to settle the case.
enough to have a car and driver
Yet another case proving… : “And it’s allll in how you write the report…”
Dummies.
One hour and 20 minutes west of my home, im not surprised actually. They are a rough bunch of necks in Lake City. My Ex Wife is from there, I know the area well. Great Golf courses though.
so you are north of me
I support law enforcement, I cannot support this.
Behavior such as this occurs only when someone feels they are above the law, and unaccountable to their superiors and the public.
Whoever was supposed to be supervising these two should be dismissed. Whoever fills the position should make these two their first order of business.
In my area Sheriff is an elected position, I truly believe that in my part of the State, there would have been a news conference explaining why these two were let go.
and I just re-read the article, perjury is a big one and an officer of the law must be beyond any standard applied to the general public.
Won’t be popular here, but, this could have been resolved in 10 seconds.
“What’s this in your back pocket?”
A response of “it’s a collapsible walking cane” would have gone a long way in lowering the temperature.
“Are you a tyrant?” response certainly didn’t help.
Just a 10 second dialogue would have been more socially responsible.
Ok, hit me.
I believe the term was “legally blind”. That’s different than blind.
Without knowing that he was “legally blind”, she may have assumed that her uniform was identity enough.
Legally blind and completely blind are two different things, he was walking without the cane so that means he can see to some extent, well enough to navigate streets with traffic on them.
And she could have identified herself before the video started.
That being said, she and the other officers were way overwhelming stupid on power trip.
I know a few people with macular degeneration ,and they see greys and shadows so one of them could not identify police without the verbal statement , yet can walk from home to store
I agree. These 2 were definitely on a power trip at the end but this guy ramped up the situation from the beginning. No matter what the occupation, there are veterans, rookies, good guys, and bad guys. Everyone needs to be trained. These 2 are a prime example of that. This guy could have stopped his whole day from going down the toilet with a simple cordial reply explaining that it was a cane and turning around so she could see it. That would have probably stopped this situation from ever happening. I certainly would not have reached behind me… Read more »
or have a gun
walking while blind
While the deputy’s demeanor and actions show issues of control , manipulation and domination, terrible issues for our police, she did what she was ordered to do, to arrest him. Falsification of the report may or may not be her fault. We aren’t told why or who controlled the written report. When I was in a DA’s office filing charges, I would always ask for more info with such suspect cases before issuing charges.
Just more uneducated, Low IQ PIGS!!! Yeah, Back the Blue…. NOT!!!
Trump wants to hire more cops and give them more power. What, so we all get to experience an increase in this type of “protective” activity?
Hey, can I get into that mind reading class that you went to.
What are you on about?
You don’t know what Trump wants. You are no mind reader.
In his speeches he says he does. What kind of Trump worshipper are you if you don’t listen to your saviors speeches?
I listen to my Savior’s speeches. You ought to, also. Pax vobiscum.
That imbecil is no more than a clown and a troll yet good at neither. This site is in desperate need of a mute button. Why we have to tolerate them for so long is why I seldom bother with the comments. Look how long it took to get the Wonder Twins sent into exile…
He can not pull me down! I just got back from voting; we got a bowl of chili con carne from the Masonic Lodge in town; and the weather is beautiful.
The elite, the political class, and the deep state people will never know such a good life.
We hit the precinct in Coral Gables Fire Station #2, then hiked past the Coral Gables Trolley garage and a Starbucks to Taco Rico. Fine Tex Mex cuisine and damn good eatin’.
Outstanding!! I hope that we all, here, had as good an Election Day as I did!
no one ran off useless 1, you should have played the lotto
Looking at the word usage, senttence structure, and grammer, below in this clowns post, you can quickly see that this is just Russian8 on a side account. It seems he just cant help himself and lets the mentall illness consume him. What a pathetic clown. We voted yesterday afternoon and then went out and enjoyed a great roasted lamb shank from a world class Greek restaurant. It takes over a week to prepare the shank as it is marinated in spices and olive oil (from the owner’s own family olive grove back in Crete). Its run by a couple that… Read more »
Kinda like having shingles after the chicken pox is long gone.
I hope that everyone, here, was able to make the voting chore into a pleasant afternoon!
Thank God!
I would if he would help get rid of a few of the demons ,we dont even have them under control
he is not un employed, demoncrats will give him more money
would be nice if someone would park a train on him
That’s not what yo momma said last night.
I wonder how long it would take to mute Old Vet/Ope’s numerous personas on this site.
The first line of your reply to tackleberry shows your immature nature and lack of an ability to communicate with others on their level. You remind me of someone who is no longer here on this site or maybe not. Are you him again?
Maybe his style, too. We will be watching more closely his word choice and phrases.
Watch all you like. I am not Russn8tor, but I see he was so right about you and your multiple personalities on here. I wondered what became of him.
With your answer to Tackleberry, I believe all of us here would not trust you to tell the truth, and if you are NOT the rooski, than you are no better, IMO. Go find another site to troll. Maybe you can find where he’s at now so you will feel more comfortable telling him about his momma. We pretty much here gave up that s*%t when the gruesome twosome left. Carry on LOSER!
At the time I thought it was highly unlikely he was a fisherman, he seemed so adept at disturbing still waters. Immediately I thought of the joke about the animal rights protesters trying to disrupt a fishing contest by beating the water with their oars and the old guy telling his partner – “they’ll never catch anything doing that “
Wow, throwing away beer! And a cold one at that. He has a ready made insanity defense.
Get a rope!
Alcohol abuse!
Most humorous!
It was a White Claw. Says a lot about the thrower.
I would think the prosecutor would have him in a psycho ward
What a waste of good beer, unless it’s a Dixie! Seriously, throwing an aluminum can at someone should be a felony if it hits the person. I’ve seen things thrown at people and it didn’t end well either time. In 1970 I was 16 living in the French Quarter. Al Hirt was riding on a float during Mardi Gras when someone on Canal Street threw a brick hitting Mr. Hirt in the mouth. Almost ended his trumpet playing career. They never caught the brick thrower. Here’s a NYT’s article about the incident I found when trying to remember what year… Read more »
https://www.c-span.org/video/?522967-1/president-trump-rally-wilmington-north-carolina
Starts at about 43:45 This video counts in decreasing order towards zero. This may not be the entire exact verbiage I am thinking of but If you do your research carefully, you will find it at more than one rally in recent months.
Not even close to your assertion. Nor could any president hire more local cops or give them more authority. Those are Tenth Amendment police powers issues.
Dream on, man. Keep dreaming on.
Let’s say he actually did say that.
So you disagree with that, and believe less police are needed while crime rates are skyrocketing nationwide? Boy, you’re a sharp one, aren’t you?
You do know Trump currently holds no public office, right? Unwad yourself.
More police are not the solution An ARMED citizen is. Police hamper good people from doing what needs to be done. Hangings always did bring good people together. lol
and you cant get police and take what is yours
Did you read the story and watch the video? Too many cops equals bored cops and administrators (mayor’s, chiefs, sheriff’s, captains, majors, etc) who need a way to make their mark in the world and draw attention to how “innovative” they are. This translates into more chickensh%t traffic stops, tickets, and situations as you have here. Before you label me a cop-hater, know that I am an honorably retired cop and I am aware of the bs from BOTH sides. Also, Trumpy is likely to be running again in the future or at a minimum, have tremendous influence on those… Read more »
Pro old cop. Not pro bully modern swat team wanna be cop. Most are bully’s and should be shown the door. Most likely starts at the top.
Very often, it does!