Before people should get all excited over one blog and a real life drama video, it is only fair to know all the facts...... This comes from "Riehl World View" This guy was not just an "Occassional Pot Smoker"

Subject Of Missouri SWAT Raid Was No Angel

There's a video of a February drug raid making the rounds. I realize the video is compelling, but a closer look paints a somewhat different picture than many blogs have indicated.

Andrew has already posted this, and I'm late to the game because I couldn't bring myself to watch it, but nonetheless, I feel compelled to remark. Yes, folks, this is your war on drugs:


After he watched it, my more temperate better half was literally shaking with anger.

But frankly I don't care if the owner of the pot was a drug dealer. For that matter, I do not care if he had a mountain of marijuana in his back yard in which he liked to roll around naked. It still wouldn't constitute a good reason for armed men to burst through his door without knocking, much less light up the family pets in front of the kid.

While police are reviewing their procedures, the target was hardly an angel.

Four co-defendants who pled guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana in Boone County will be sentenced: Joseph Blair Nardi (Columbia, MO, 10 a.m.), Jonathan Eric Whitworth (Columbia, MO, 11 a.m.),David Scott Steinbruegge (St. Peters, MO, 1 p.m.), and Robertson Blake Alexander (Columbia, MO, 2 p.m.)

I wonder how Megan's more temperate better half would have felt if confronting him on their front lawn after he took out six cars and kept going as recently as 2008 while plastered, telling the homeowner, F-ck you, for good measure.

Roberts said his primary concern immediately after the accident was finding out if the driver was OK.

“We asked him to stop, and he said, ‘F— you’ before hitting two more cars,” Roberts said.

The driver pushed his way between two of the cars to get back onto the street and sped away, leaving skid marks on the grass, Roberts said.

“Our lawn basically looks like one giant pool table with cars instead of balls,” Roberts said.

Jonathan Eric Whitworth, 23, of 1501 Kinloch Court, was arrested at 2:40 a.m. Friday at his home on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident and duty to maintain financial responsibility. He was released from the Boone County Jail on $5,000 bail at 8:44 a.m.

And here's a slice of his rap sheet. The dog yelping in the video was a Corgi hit in the paw inadvertently, as it was jumping near the pit bull, which was later dispatched. Officers claim it had tried to attack them twice. And as I said, they are reviewing their procedures. The latest local report is here. There's audio of the chief responding to questions, too. I'm not saying the raid deserves a complete pass. But not every story is displayed accurately in a brief web video, either.

FWIW, Jonathan Whitworth, the target of the raid, has a federal drug conviction and a history of combative arrests. Here is a sliver of this poor “victim’s” history. WHITWORTH, JONATHAN E 31302CM13089 Defendant ST V JONATHAN E WHITWORTH Criminal/Infract.-see Charges 12/27/2002… COLUMBIA, MO Circuit 31 Greene Circuit Division, WHITWORTH, JONATHAN E 31304CM7792 Defendant ST V JONATHAN E WHITWORTH Criminal/Infract.-see Charges 08/30/2004
COLUMBIA, MO Circuit 31 Greene Circuit Division
WHITWORTH, JONATHAN ERIC 04CR164249 Defendant ST V JONATHAN ERIC WHITWORTH Criminal/Infract.-see Charges 01/14/2004
COLUMBIA, MO Circuit 13 Boone Circuit Division
WHITWORTH, JONATHAN ERIC 08BA-CR02900 Defendant ST V JONATHAN ERIC WHITWORTH Criminal/Infract.-see Charges 06/26/2008
COLUMBIA, MO Circuit 13 Boone Circuit Division
WHITWORTH, JONATHAN ERIC 10BA-CR00983 Defendant ST V JONATHAN ERIC WHITWORTH Criminal/Infract.-see Charges 03/09/2010
COLUMBIA, MO Circuit 13 Boone Circuit Division......