By Gari Voss
The evening of Thursday, June 30, 2022 was beautiful, but the air was somber as family, friends and adamant supporters of Joseph Maverick Nagle gathered in his memory on 26th Street north of 134th Avenue in Monterey Township where 2 weeks before, he lost his life during what could have been a routine traffic stop.
The traffic stop occurred on Thursday, June 16, 2022 at about 10pm. The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office shared that the deputy had pulled Nagle over because of expired plates. During the stop, there was a physical altercation during which the deputy shot Nagle in the chest. Nagle died from his injury. The deputy was checked at a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
The group gathered to support Nagle’s mom Kelly who is still waiting for the morgue to release her son’s body, and to learn what happened that took her son.
“I don’t understand, it’s been two weeks,” Kelly Nagle shared with WOODTV. “Why can’t I see my son’s body? Is this typical? Does it usually take this long?”
Family members and friends voiced that the deputy may have thought Nagle was related to an incident at Sandy Pines where there was a gun involved. Another is that Nagle was upset because he was requested to do a field sobriety test, and he is not a big drinker. It may have been because the plates on his vehicle had expired, but no one felt that should have led to a physical altercation.
Maria Sheldon, a family friend, echoed the sentiments of those who knew Joey, “Everything is a mystery. She [Kelly] should be able to see her son. We know nothing for sure. They have not named the officer. We do not know what happened. He was the kindest person and would help anyone who needed help. When he lost his father, Joey stepped up to help his brother and mother. He was a wonderful person. When we heard there was a shotting, Joey was the last person we would have expected.”
Present at the vigil was Commissioner Robert Womack of Kent County’s 17th District, who began the gathering with a prayer. He voiced that there have been too many police shooting, and has watched closely the proceedings for Patrick Lyoya’s death. In that case, there were dashcam, bodycam and phone videos which assisted in the Grand Rapids PD officer Christopher Schurr being charged with second degree murder for shooting Lyoya in the back of the head.
In Nagle’s case, there were no dashcam or bodycam videos, and the incident occurred on a deserted rural road. There has been little on state or national news regarding the shooting. Those who knew Joey wonder if it is because he is white rather than African American.
Nagle had been popular in high school and was a state champion wrestler at 215lbs. After high school, he set his sights on entering law enforcement, but after completing the program, he backed away because of being uncomfortable carrying a gun. Recently, he was a student at Grand Rapids CC and had just begun working for FedEx.
Since the incident, Allegan County Sheriff Frank Baker has added little to the original information that the traffic stop accelerated into a physical altercation and that during the altercation, a shot was fired that struck Nagle in the chest, and the deputy suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Baker explained that Allegan County Commissioners had approved the purchase of dash and body cams. These have been coming over the past month. The cameras have been deployed in the field to 25-30% of the deputies. This deputy had neither.
According to protocol for this type of incident, the Michigan State Police’s Fifth District Special Investigation Section is conducting the investigation, and the deputy is on administrative leave. Baker ensured the public that a thorough investigation is being completed and asked for patience.
In the meanwhile, Joey’s friends will wear shirts and cars will done bumper stickers stating, “#Justice4Joey”. Their voices are not just for the “injustice” in Joey’s situation, but for all questionable altercations between law enforcement officers and people like Joey.
For now, Kelly Nagle thanks everyone for their support, and just wants to know what happened to her son and to be able to bring closure to a horrific situation.