Posted on 08/29/2014 7:10:25 AM PDT by TurboZamboni
St. Paul police responded Thursday to criticism over officers' interaction with a man, including police use of a Taser, saying a video doesn't tell the whole story.
Chris Lollie, 28, said he was sitting on a chair in a downtown skyway Jan. 31 when a security guard told him it was a private area and he couldn't be there. No signs were posted saying it was private, Lollie said. The guard called police.
Lollie, of St. Paul, told an officer he was heading to pick up his children and didn't have to identify himself because he had done nothing wrong.
On the cellphone video that Lollie took, he can be heard saying, "The problem is I'm black, that's the problem. No, it really is, because I didn't do anything wrong.
WARNING: This video includes expletives.
Lollie said an officer later put his hands around his throat and ripped his jacket open. Another officer used a Taser on him, Lollie said.
Police wrote in a report that Lollie was "actively resisting by attempting to pull his arm away" and "began to forcefully try to shove past us as he was pulling away from us." An officer pushed Lollie against a wall to try to control him and Lollie accused the officer of trying to choke him, the report said.
"Several times I attempted to force his hands behind his back but was unable to overcome his active resistance," the report said. When Lollie's "resistance was becoming uncontrollable," an officer used a Taser on him, the report said.
Lollie was charged with three misdemeanors -- trespassing, disorderly conduct and obstructing legal process. All counts were dismissed July 31. Lollie said his attorney went to court with surveillance video from the skyway and witness statements.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
You are correct. IIRC, the skyway locks down at 1am.
(most of the places of business close much earlier, except the bars)
Or at least it used to when I lived in that complex many years ago.
I totally disagree with your attitude about this.
If there was no sign posted and it was an otherwise open space open to the public then he was doing nothing wrong.
That being said, someone could have politely told him he was in a reserved space and would he please go to such and such location.
In my opinion he was removed because he was a black man with braided hair, he scared someone.
Cops are not special people. They have a responsibility to the people they stop and talk to as much as those who they think they are protecting. Too often they don’t get to exert much authority because the vast majority of people obey the law most of the time. When they get a chance to exert a little authority they leap at the chance, sickening.
Was the black man being a jerk? Perhaps. Is it against the law to be a jerk? No, I don’t think so. Being arrested is a traumatic event, a violent event. The charges were dismissed, obviously arresting this guy was simple abuse of authority and force, perhaps assault.
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If there is a chair there then you have to suppose it is ok to sit.
This officer should have taken a good look at the man. Made note on his appearance. Does he look tired, drunk, high, ill, agitated, sleepy? How is he dressed? Does he appear to waiting for something or someone? That would be a good way to start a conversation with the man to find out what he's about.
I am thinking about the instances when cops have hurt or killed people with medical or mental conditions. Observation before confrontation.
ie,,,”a guy is sitting on my unmarked back porch and I try to roust him by informing him he is on private property, and must leave immediately. He stands his ground,,,”
See?
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Silly argument, your back porch isn't in the middle of a commercial public space. There are laws about commercial public space. Your back porch is not considered public space nor commercial space.
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If his “rotten attitude” as you call it is to set up the police, in other words, force them to do something wrong, then I hope it works, the cops did something wrong. They didn't have to. No crime was committed. In the middle of a public, commercial space you need a sign to say it is not part of the public area, otherwise it is. Sounds like some company decided to put a couple of chairs out for their employees and hope nobody else uses them.
It has been about 30 years since I was involved with one of these walkways in the Twin Cities.
There is an agreement between the City and the building owner. In the building, it is owned by the property owner with a public easement for the use of the general public. Outside of the building it is owned and maintained by the City. The building owner gets people into his store that would not normally go there if it were not connected to the skywalk, particularly in the winter.
However, sometimes, what is in the easement and what is NOT in the easement is unclear.
If police can tase everyone with a bad attitude,I think half my town would be getting the taser.
He was Lollie-gagging around and needed a good tasing.
/sarc
The vast amount of private properties in America do not have obnoxious no trespassing signs to spoil the view. Sometimes the boundaries are obvious and sometimes they are not. Often property owners employ security to patrol their properties. That appears to have been the case here. He ignored private security. So they called the police to dal with him. The black guy has a chip on his shoulder. He is playing the race card. I'm sure the dreadlocks didn't help
“I don’t like anyone doing illegal stuff regardless if they are black or white or, in this case, blue.”
I don’t either, but the situation here related to a Black citizen in this particular instance.
And it appears that the improper actions were all on the part of the blue, i.e. police.
“Cutting all PD budgets by 30% should help stop a bunch of this wasteful nonsense.
/johnny”
Yeah, and it might avert more municipal bankruptcies too. The recent municipal bankruptcies here in California, were driven almost exclusively by the ongoing costs of “public safety employees.” Vallejo, which “went through bankruptcy” and “emerged” did not address the 80% of their budget that the cops and FFs represented. And now they will probably go bankrupt again as a consequence. You tell me just how it makes any sense for a police Lieutenant to make $310,000 a year? And the FF’s are worse because they just lay around for the most part, eating on our dime “at the house,” and work the “time off scandal” to double their annual pay. Their motto: “We eat until we’re sleepy, then sleep until we’re hungry.” In our county, the only people who make more money than the Sheriff’s Deputies and the FFs are the doctors at the county hospital whose names you can’t pronounce!
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No, commercial public accessible spaces have doors that can be closed. They do have signs that say when they are open. When they are open they are fair game. He was not loitering according to the local laws. He was just waiting outside his kids school. The only thing he did was to be black.
Had most of us been there we would have not been told to leave.
This whole thing is sickening.
I am one who realizes that Trayvon Martin and gentle giant Michael Brown were gangsta wannabe thugs who deserved what they got, this guy was being responsible and was only bothered because he was black.
Wait for the lawsuit payout on this.
And that’s just one of many.
“Wait for the lawsuit payout on this.”
Hey TZ, you just have to wonder when people are going to wise up to just how much these lawsuits are exacting from their paychecks. Maybe someone needs to do a rollup and publish it.
I doubt the newpaper union wants to do a story for on it for fear of upsetting the police union.
I agree. Police seem to resort to violence way too often. What’s wrong with being polite, informing a citizen what they are doing wrong, and using the bare minimum of violence relative to a situation? It shouldn’t matter if a citizen has an attitude or black skin.
Government powers are few and limited. Citizen rights are everything else. The benefit of the doubt should always go to the citizen. That’s the ideal.
If the police don’t have probable cause that a crime has been committed, what gives them the authority to demand ID from anyone? If a citizen hasn’t been arrested or detained based on reasonable suspicion, they should be free to go about their business unmolested. That should even include the freedom to walk away from the police, i.e. “Am I being detained?” If not, the police have no right to do anything further.
Amen!
Always remember being an ass to someone doing a thankless job brings more pee on yourself.
When did they start drafting cops in St Paul?
+1
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