Police settle excessive force suit with 71-year-old (blind) woman

KATU NEWS ^ | April 23, 2004 | The Associated Press

[Veracious Poet]

PORTLAND, Ore. - The city of Portland has agreed to pay $145,000 to an elderly blind woman after police pepper-sprayed and shocked her with a stun gun.

The altercation began as an attempt to remove shrubs and appliances from 71-year-old Eunice Crowder's yard, and ended with police citing her for harassment and disobeying an order.

This week, the city agreed to settle her excessive force lawsuit out of federal court, a month after a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge dismissed the violations against her.

"This case goes to show that police misconduct and excessive force can happen to anybody outside the mainstream," said Ernest Warren Jr., Crowder's lawyer. "It does not have to be an African American; it can be someone who is elderly and white."

The Portland City Council approved the settlement, based on a review by the city's risk management division that indicated "there is risk the City may be found liable."

The June 9, 2003, incident began when Ed Marihart, a city employee, showed up at Crowder's home. He served her with an administrative search warrant to remove an accumulation of trash and debris.

According to Crowder and her lawyer, the woman told him she was blind and hard of hearing, and asked him to read the entire warrant to her, but he refused. She said he placed it in her hands, walked outside and ordered others to start removing items from her yard.

The city denies that the woman asked Marihart to read the warrant and maintains that Marihart explained to her why he was there.

The woman followed the city employee outside. She was concerned that he and his co-workers had removed a family heirloom, a 90-year-old red toy wagon with rhododendrons in it. She asked to enter a trailer, where items from her yard were being placed, to feel around for the wagon.

Marihart told her she couldn't enter the trailer and said the wagon was not inside. He then called police.

When Portland Officers Robert Miller and Eric Zajac arrived at the house, Crowder acknowledged she had one foot on the curb and one foot on the bumper of the trailer. She felt someone step on her foot and asked, "Who are you?"

Moments later, she felt someone strike her in the head, which dislodged her prosthetic right eye from its socket, and was knocked to the ground, she claimed in her lawsuit.

Officers said Crowder ignored their commands not to climb into the trailer and tried to bite Miller's hand.

They acknowledged she was "pushed onto the dirt next to the sidewalk," according to the city's legal brief filed in court.

While on the ground, Crowder asked the officer what he thought he was doing and kicked Miller. She said the officer kicked her back, then pepper-sprayed her in her eyes.

"While she's still on the ground, on her stomach, they tased her in the back and in the breast," her lawyer said.

Police said they pepper-sprayed Crowder after she refused to stop kicking them. They admit that Crowder's prosthetic eye fell out at some point, and that Zajac stunned Crowder with a Taser, an electric stun gun, twice in the lower back and once in the upper back after ordering her to stop fighting and resisting.

Warren said the city's argument is bogus. He said, "To kick the crap out of old folks seems a little bit much to me in the name of law enforcement,"

[Arpege92]

"Did you notice the first-blow was thrown by the cops and that it resulted in knocking a prosthetic from the socket?"

Were you there? Did you see who threw the first blow? No, you didn't. This woman sounds like a real pain in the a$$ and her behavior must have been really bad for the city employee to call the police in the first place.

BTW....there are good cops....I'm married to one.

[Arpege92]

"She was blind and partially deaf."

Then how in the world was she able to follow the city employee out of her home? He handed her the warrant and began removing the items....I doubt he had the time to walk her around by the hand.

[Arpege92]

In your 42 years, have you ever needed a LEO to help save you, or come to your aid? Count your lucky stars that you haven't needed a LEO in your 42 years.

[zoyd]

This woman sounds like a real pain in the a$$ and her behavior must have been really bad for the city employee to call the police in the first place.

1. If you're blind, or even partially blind, the idea of city workers rummaging though your yard and packing stuff up is probably a little more distressing to you than it would be for someone who can understand what is going on around them.

2. She's 70 years old.

3. She's a 70 YO lady, with at least one prosthetic eye.

4. Do you REALLY want to defend using a stun gun on her, TWICE, and enough physical confrontation to pop out her fake eye?!?!?!?!

4. Try and understand that we're not talking about YOUR HUSBAND. We're talking about cops who pushed a seventy-year old, partially blind lady to the ground and TASERED her!

Wake up.

[zoyd]

He handed her the warrant and began removing the items....I doubt he had the time to walk her around by the hand.

Why do you doubt this? Shouldn't a 70 year old blind lady be given a LITTLE deference, especially when the city has shown up to take away her stuff?

Is a city cleanup guy SOOOOO busy that he can't deal with a 70 year old lady with any dignity? Are city workers somehow exempt from being decent human beings? I'm sorry, but I'll worry a little more about blind old ladies than I will about the time schedule of city garbage men.

[Politicalmom]

Um...she LISTENED for them.

[Arpege92]

"If you're blind, or even partially blind, the idea of city workers rummaging through your yard and packing stuff up is probably a little more distressing to you than it would be for someone who can understand what is going on around them."

First....for a blind lady, she certainly got around pretty well without the help of anyone to guide her. She couldn't read the warrant according to this article....but she could follow the city employee around her yard giving him nothing but grief.

I never condoned the use of the stun gun. I think the situation could have been handled better by the cops....but she played a part in it as well and her age is used as a bias towards the cops. My husbands grandmother is almost 90 years old....she lives by herself, drives her own car and I've seen her personally rake her entire yard. Just like his grandmother....the 70 year old woman has alot of spunk left in her.

BTW...I'm wide awake! I've seen the way some folks here on FR take a stand against the cops based on one side of the story....just like you are doing now.

[Arpege92]

"Why do you doubt this?"

Because we are only hearing ONE SIDE of the story.

"Shouldn't a 70 year old blind lady be given a LITTLE deference, especially when the city has shown up to take away her stuff?"

Shouldn't you at least hear the whole story before condemning the cops....obviously no. You've already convicted them based on one article....I hope you will not be sitting on a jury any time soon.

"Is a city cleanup guy SOOOOO busy that he can't deal with a 70 year old lady with any dignity?"

Open your eyes....why did the city cleanup guy have to get a warrant in the first place? Could it be that they tried to deal with this 70 year old woman time and time again and she refused to cooperate. I suspect they treated this old lady with respect right from the beginning.

[Arpege92]

"Um...she LISTENED FOR THEM."

Ummmm....she was HARD OF HEARING!!!! Re-read the article...not that it will matter....you've made up your mind.

[Veracious Poet]

Are you serious, are just another facist in GOP clothing? LOL

[Veracious Poet]

REAL men don't need no stinkin' badges!

[Veracious Poet]

***BINGO***

I was starting to wonder if ANYONE would notice this basic right was violated in addition to the severe abuse the women suffered?

This behavior is an outgrowth of relegating our property rights down to that of peons and surfs (e.g. Zoning Laws, Eminent Domain, Property Taxes, etc.)...

The whole incident came about because her neighbors convinced the city bureaucrats to intervene and clean-up the outside of her home to "their" standards.

Another example of gov't. run amok...

[Veracious Poet]

"999 out of 1000 times that people get "beat up" by the police, the person was violent, drunk, and forcing the issue."

If you're going to create hard statistics like the aforementioned, I hope you've got some hard data to back it up!

"As(sic) an aside, this happened in Portland, Or. A liberal town in a liberal state... I am not terribly bothered by them getting taken for a wad of cash.."

Does it matter if it happened at the upcoming 2004 DNC Convention?

The fact is it happened in the "good ol'" USA and it's more than indicative of a general trend in attitude towards the populace in large by LEOs.

Before you counterpoint with some sort of retort alleging I'm just over-reacting, give some serious thought to the issue, weighing in the current debacle in Iraq in which Iraqi POWs were submitted to sub-human treatment.

IMHO, there is a disturbing trend here and I hope it is resolved before it turns into a shooting match between LEOs and citizens afraid for their lifes.

[Veracious Poet]

I have a friend that owns one of the most popular custom hog paintshops in So. California.

It seems he has a large following among LAPD and one afternoon I happened to be hangin' with Jake when a group of SWAT members came in to get quotes for some paint.

A few of the guys were wearing muscle shirts and I noticed a strange tatoo on several of the guys that said "Monkey Killer".

I waited for about half an hour to give the SWAT team time to consume the beer they brought with them, and BS-ing with one of them I asked what the "Monkey Killer" tatoo meant.

He informed me it was a tatoo of honor LAPD SWAT teams wore for pulling the trigger on some African-American "scum" in South-Central.

If this isn't a dead give away to their overall demeanor, I don't know what is...

[Judith Anne]

I have LEOs in the family too. People would be surprised if they knew how strong and mean some old folks are...sometimes it's from Alzheimers, sometimes it's just plain meanness.
;-D

[Arpege92]

"REAL men don't need no stinkin' badges!"

After 42 years, you'd think that a man wouldn't resort to childish name calling!!! I guess puberty hasn't caught up with you yet.

[BushisTheMan]

I have learned NEVER to trust the main stream media, especially where peoples' "feelings" are involved. MSM sucks when it comes to stories against the police, the military, and George Bush. Why would it be different with this story?

Until I see an article that presents BOTH sides, I'm going to be reticent to believe what I read in a Seattle (Liberal land) newspaper.

[Blue Scourge]

hmmmm, thank God for our second ammendment rights....hope we never have to use them, but it's nice to know that they are ther.....hey.....what is that Clinton woman and Kennedy doing to the constitution.

[Onelifetogive]

If you're going to create hard statistics like the aforementioned, I hope you've got some hard data to back it up!

Of course...I made it up...