| There are approximately 172,000 arrests made
in Massachusetts each year. Probably all of them involve some degree
of excessive force or police brutality. However, only a handful of
civil suits have been awarded damages by the Massachusetts Judicial System.
Federal courts have awarded damages somewhat more
frequently. Federal courts, however, usually require that a civil
rights violation be present.
I went outside to get a breath of fresh air to try to clear my head. I suddenly became totally confused, unable to see properly, and got lost trying to find my way back to the party. I felt like I was going to pass out. I tried to find a place I would be safe to sit until this feeling, which did not feel like alcohol intoxication, wore off. I was getting frightened at this point because my vision was extremely blurred, and though I could hear everything around me, I knew I was getting more and more confused. This leads my family and me to believe someone drugged my drink. In total, I had 5 beers and 3 mixed drinks over a period of 7 hours. By the general guideline of human alcohol metabolism, I was (1) drink over the limit by the time I got to the police department I found an alcove. I tried to read the writing on the window of the business in an attempt to orient myself, and found I could not make out the letters. I sat down, and remember feeling like I did when I was being put under anesthesia. I awoke to a large man cradling me in his arms. He called over to a taxi. Someone opened the back door of the cab, and the large man pushed me into the back of the cab. There were other people around, but I didn't know any of them. Nor did I know the man who shoved me in the cab. The other people around were all laughing. At some point after being put in the cab, the cab driver asked me if I wanted to be in his cab. I could not respond, though I understood what he was asking me and had the answer in my head, which was "No, and why am I here?" I fell unconscious again. The next thing I remember was being dragged out of the cab by a screaming, police officer. He grabbed my arm so tightly that I have bruises of his fingers, and thumb on my left arm. After all of this took place, with time to think about the time frames, my boyfriend and I realized I left the party at approximately 11:00 p.m. The information from the police department states that the call was responded to shortly after 1:00 a.m. (Please read the attached reports on GHB/GBH and its peak, and wear off times) The officer started screaming at me to pay the cab driver. I realized I did not have my purse, and no way to pay the driver, and explained this to the officer. He continued to scream at me to pay "the man." I re-explained that my purse was gone. I did not ask to be driven home in a cab. I didn't know who put me in the cab, and if someone would take me home, I would write the cab driver a check. The officer screamed, "You stupid drunk! You can't pay for a cab ride with a check." He continued to be nasty, yelling at me. I asked him what his name was. He covered his badge, and told me he wasn't telling me his name. He then asked me for my name. I told him I would not tell him my name until he told me who he was, and why he was treating me like this. He then said he should arrest me. I said, "If that's what you feel you need to do, then arrest me. "At this point, he began putting handcuffs on me. As he was doing this, I told him I have a torn rotator cuff. When he got me fully cuffed, he yanked my arms (which were now behind my back,) upwards tremendously hard. The pain caused me to fall to the ground, hard, on both knees. He then screamed at me to get up, while yanking on my arms. He continued screaming at me about paying the cab driver, and telling me how stupid I was. By now I was in tears, while trying to explain that I had no way to pay the cab driver unless someone would take me home. I also asked how much the fare was. He asked the cab driver, and reported to me that I owed$77.00. (I have taken a cab from Apopka to Orlando International Airport before and it only cost 35-40 dollars. Driving me home from where we were should not have cost $77.00. I also asked another cab driver if $77.00 from International Drive to Apopka sounded reasonable. He said no.) The more I offered a solution to my inability to pay the cab driver, the more violent the officer became. He threw me to the ground hard again. This time I fell on my right knee, and elbow. While I was down, he kicked me in the chest, on the left side. (There is no visible bruise there, however it is painful to the touch, and there is a small lump.)He then began screaming at me to get up. I could not do this without assistance since my hands were still bound, and I said, "I can't." He again called me a stupid drunk., grabbed my by my bound arms, and yanked me up again. He began screaming that I deserved to be in jail for fooling this "nice cab driver" into taking me home when I knew I couldn't pay him. He then said, "How are you going to pay this nice cab driver for his time?" I finally said, "I don't know." He pushed me hard with both hands, and I again fell down. He immediately pulled me back up by my arms, and asked the cab driver if he wanted to press charges. The cab driver responded, "No, I just want to get her home." The officer knocked me down for the fourth time while screaming, "See, now he doesn't even want to press charges. This man is a nice man. You see what you have done to him. You're lucky he doesn't want to press charges." I yelled to the officer, "Stop it! Stop hurting me! "While I was still on the ground, another officer came outside from inside the police department, through a side door. He asked what was going on. His question leads me to believe he saw a portion of what was going on. The first officer gently picked me up off the ground, took the handcuffs off of me, and said, "It's okay honey, we're here now, and we're here to protect you." My personal opinion is that he wanted the other officer to believe the cab driver had done this to me. The second officer, who appeared to be full of sorrow, asked me my name and address. I gave both to him, but did get his name. The first officer asked if I had anyone who could come pick me up. I looked to the second officer and told him that my mother might be able to, and gave him her phone number. My mother was unable to pick me up, and a few minutes later, both officers drove me home, while treating me like I was an actual victim. By this time, I was crying uncontrollably, and was hysterical to the point I was gasping for breath and could not speak. When I got to my home, I went straight inside while my mother stood at the door speaking with the abusive officer. My mother states officer #2,was standing behind the abusive officer while the abusive officer was talking to her. She said the second officer’s head was tilted low, and he kept shaking his head in what she feels, was shame. She also states that as soon as the abusive officer turned to look at officer #2,officer #2 stood strait and tall, and he quit shaking his head. Later Friday afternoon, I went to the police department and asked who the officer was that responded to a call to the parking lot, at about 1:00 a.m. I was told there was only one call for the police department parking lot, and that a Steve A____ responded to it. I also described what the officer looked like, and a Detective confirmed that it was Steve A____, by my description. I have now found that Steve A____ did not file a police report about this incident. The only witness other than "officer #2" is the cab driver who took me to the police department. We have called some cab companies and attempted to find out who he was, not only for witness information, but also so I could pay him his $77.00 that he is rightfully owed. If the company has located him, he is not returning the call. My opinion is he wants to stay out of this, and probably feels the $77.00 is not worth the problems that may lie ahead. If I saw him again, I would recognize him. I have 4 distinct, horrible bruises on my left knee, along with an open lesion, which appears to be infected. I have two distinct bruises on my left knee, as well as another open lesion. I also have numbness in my right lower thigh on the outer side, starting from just above my knee, and running in length upwards about 5 inches. I have an open lesion on my right elbow. I have small bruises on both wrists. I have bruises of three distinct fingers on my left, upper, inner arm, and a distinct thumb bruise on my, upper, outer arm, just above the elbow. I have an abrasion on my left inner, palm portion on my left hand, and all of these areas are extremely swollen. I am also an insulin dependant diabetic of 26 years. I have poor circulation to my extremities, and it takes me months to heal from an open wound. (Pictures included)I went to my family doctor on Friday, December 10, 1999 at 7:00 p.m. He refused to see me when he found out it was a criminal police brutality case, and recommended that I go to the emergency room where they could take pictures and make clear documentation. I left his office and went to Florida Hospital Altamonte. There, they took x-rays, but no pictures. I was not presented with a victim advocate, or even any place to call for someone to talk to on an emotional level about being beaten up. I was sent home with instructions to see my doctor in three days, which I had already explained was not possible since he was refusing to deal with this case. The doctor at the hospital did not give me anything for pain, and didn’t even suggest anything over the counter that I could take for pain, and/or to reduce the massive swelling. I am writing you because after researching my rights civilly, humanly, and criminally, I have come to the conclusion that all of my rights have been violated, and that I am a victim of violence. The points that I find crucial are: · I was a victim of violence, while bound and unable to protect myself, by a public servant, paid with my tax dollars, to "Protect and Serve." · I was not charged with any crime. · I was not arrested. · My Miranda Rights were not read to me at any time during all of this. · I did not resist arrest, I actually submitted to the threat of being · arrested. · No report has been filed, and according to a conversation with the department this evening, there is no intention of any being filed. · If anyone else had done this to me, and I looked the way I did Friday morning, the police would have put that person in jail. · I have made the mistake in my 30 years of life, a few times, where I have had too much to drink. I remember what that feeling feels like. I know I was not intoxicated. The onset was too quick. It lasted much longer than alcohol, and the feelings I felt are not consistent with intoxication. They are more consistent with anesthesia. I am asking that you investigate this crime, and assist me in gaining justice. If this officer is allowed to escape punishment for what he has done to me, I know that he will continue this behavior towards the citizens in this town. I would like to be able to end this story in the future, by saying, "I was the last person he did this to." |