McCafferty alleges police misconduct in DelDOT basketball pole scandal

To view the video footage and background story, click here.

On Monday, IBTimes spoke with John McCafferty. Below are further allegations from McCafferty about this incident.

The Woman in Charge (blonde, in FBI hooded sweatshirt)

- She only identified herself to McCafferty as “the lieutenant on charge.”

- She wore an FBI hooded sweatshirt.  McCafferty called the FBI and confirmed that she doesn’t work for the FBI.  She is most likely a state trooper.

- She was armed with a gun.  When she first confronted McCafferty, she flashed the gun by pushing aside her sweatshirt and putting her hand on it.  “She made sure I saw it,” said McCafferty.  A disabled man with a cane, McCafferty said he felt threatened by the weapon.

- So far, the Delaware state police has refused to reveal her identity.

Threats & Obscene Language

- McCafferty’s wife Melissa sat on top of the basketball pole at one point to prevent its removal.  While she was sitting there, she was called extremely obscene and derogatory names by the police officers. McCafferty’s son was present and heard the obscene language.

- The officers asked if McCafferty received any benefits from the state and threatened to take it away.

- The officers threatened to call McCafferty’s employer and have him fired. 

- The officers threatened to impound McCafferty’s car (which at one point was blocking the basketball pole’s removal), take away his driver’s license, arrest him and his wife, and take away their kids. 

Vehicles Present

-Aside from the police vehicles, there were at least three flatbed trucks (one was seen in the video) and one frontend loader (seen in the video, was used to dislodge basketball pole from ground).  They were sent to remove  the 7 or 8 basketball poles in the neighborhood that allegedly violated traffic laws.

- McCafferty said he thinks it’s misuse of taxpayer money.

The Basketball Pole

- The basketball pole was present on the property when McCafferty first moved in in 2005.

-  According to a long-time resident of the neighborhood, it was built by construction workers who erected the houses in the neighborhood.  They built the basketball pole to play basketball during breaks from construction work.  After the housing construction was finished, the pole was likely left there at the request of the house’s first owner.

- Because of its decades of history, McCafferty thinks the pole should be grandfathered in and exempt from newer traffic laws.

What McCafferty Wants   

- He still wants the basketball pole back (DelDOT took it away on one of its flatbed trucks).

-He said he has no ill will towards the Delaware state police in general, but he wants the five officers involved in this incident to be dishonorably discharged from duty.

DelDOT has released this statement regarding the incident.

The Delaware state police could not be reached by IBTimes for comments.  However, delawareonline reported that the state police is conducting an internal investigation about this incident.