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Local excise officer stars in YouTube confrontation Kate Braser A video of Indiana State Excise Police officer Ron McDonald currently posted on the Web site www.youtube.com is garnering attention.
In the video, McDonald is seen yelling and cursing at a 29-year-old man. "I have the lawful right to detain you," McDonald said in the video. "I have the lawful right to discuss with you. I can't hear anything in there, OK? When I ask you to go outside and you say no, that's when your (expletive) goes to jail." During the short incident, the man repeatedly asks McDonald if he is going to detain him. "I am detaining you, are I not?" McDonald responds. Recorded on the cell phone of the man's wife, McDonald explains during the video that he is upset because he thought the man and his friends had run away from him after leaving the bar for a short time. However, the man and his friends say repeatedly that they've been inside the bar the whole night. The man — whose name is not available and could not be reached for comment — repeatedly asks his wife if she is recording the altercation. The video ends when McDonald confirms the man has no warrants in his name, and tells him he is free to go. "Welcome to the Police State," the woman recording the video says before it ends. Reached at his home on Friday, McDonald declined to comment, referring calls to the Indiana State Excise Police and Indiana Attorney General's office. "I'm just doing my job still, out here working," he said. Moments later, McDonald called the newspaper and said officials in Indianapolis are aware of the YouTube video and he referred further comments to them. Jenny Fults, Indiana State Excise Police information officer, said the agency is aware of the video, but declined to comment further. The video was first posted on the site two weeks ago. As of late Saturday night, it had been viewed 2,123 times.
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