Former Piedmont Officer Indicted

(Piedmont) A former Piedmont Police officer, Woodrow Massa, has been indicted for an illegal arrest and lying to the FBI.
The charge says that Massa detained two different people despite the absence of an arrest warrant or probable cause. These incidents occurred on two separate occasions, one in August of 2020 and one in May of 2021. The indictment says Massa lied about the first arrest of someone identified as J.R. twice in FBI interviews: first in October of 2020 in Wayne County and again on May 24, 2021 in Cape Girardeau County. Massa lied by saying he was not present in the booking room while J.R. was being processed, despite a video recording depicting his presence there. 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.