Former Piedmont Police Officer Indicted

(Piedmont, MO) A former police officer from Piedmont is indicted and accused of violating the civil rights of two people and then lying to the FBI about it. A press release from the Eastern District of Missouri United States Attorney's Office shows 66 year old Woodrow Massa, of Wayne County, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau Tuesday on two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and two counts of lying to the FBI. The indictment says Massa, while a Piedmont police officer, participated in the arrest and detention of two people "despite the absence of an arrest warrant or probable cause.” The indictment indicates the arrest deprived the people of the Constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizure. Massa is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau October 13 to answer the charges. Each misdemeanor civil rights charge carries a potential penalty of up to a year in prison, a $100,000 fine, or both. The felony charge of making a false statement carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department.