Posted on 06/03/2004 6:18:45 PM PDT by freepatriot32
Tanya Smith is sporting a broken left arm, and she says a South Bend police officer is to blame.
Police Chief Thomas Fautz said he has been reading reports of the incident, and so far he hasn't found any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the officers involved.
He said he cannot provide many details about the incident since it is an open investigation, and police policy keeps him from talking about it. He did confirm that the officer injured the woman.
Smith, a 25-year-old Elkhart resident, said she and a friend, Felicia Bradley, had gone to Benchwarmers early Sunday morning to join some friends.
They were met at the door by the owner and a security guard for Benchwarmers, Smith said. The men told them to wait outside for a few minutes while they dealt with an incident inside.
So that's what they did. They waited on the sidewalk outside of Benchwarmers. They said they have visited the bar before and been made to wait outside on other occasions, too.
Cpl. Jess Elliott, a South Bend police officer, was working in the downtown area that night. Smith said he approached and ordered her and Bradley to leave. He told them nobody else was going to be allowed inside the bar, she said.
Smith said she tried to explain that the men from Benchwarmers had instructed them to wait outside, but the officer didn't want to hear it. He ordered them again to leave.
"He was talking kind of rough to us,'' she said. "We asked what his problem was, and he said 'you're my (obscenity) problem.' ''
Bradley said she told the officer he didn't have to talk that way to them, but "he had a horrible attitude.'' She said she went to the door of Benchwarmers to see if the owner would come out to tell the officer that he had given the women permission to wait outside.
At that point, Bradley said, Elliott allegedly grabbed Smith and "was really roughing her up.'' She said she started to holler at the officer to let Smith go, but another officer came up and body-slammed her, knocking her down. Fautz identified that officer as Cpl. Keith Walker.
Smith, meanwhile, said she already had placed her arms behind her back to be handcuffed when Elliott grabbed her left arm and twisted it.
The humerus, the bone that connects the elbow to the shoulder, broke in two places, she said.
Smith said she was facedown on the ground with her hands cuffed behind her back when an officer fired a Taser weapon at her. The Taser delivers an electric shock that momentarily immobilizes a person. Smith has marks on her back where the Taser darts hit.
Roger Sartin Jr., a 25-year-old South Bend man, said he was downtown and witnessed the incident. He corroborated the women's story, saying he heard the men from Benchwarmers when they told Smith and Bradley to wait outside.
He said Smith was walking away when the officer grabbed her and yanked her arm behind her back. He said he heard a loud popping noise when the bone broke, and he saw the officer throw her to the ground. He said an officer fired a Taser gun at her while she already was handcuffed on the ground.
Sartin said none of the police officers talked to any witnesses, but instead tried to shoo the crowd away from the scene.
"They're going to cover for each other,'' Sartin said. "That's why they didn't take a report (from witnesses), because they knew he did wrong.''
Doneisha Jones, 20, of South Bend, also witnessed the incident.
She said Smith and Bradley were not doing anything wrong when the officer suddenly grabbed Smith and broke her arm.
"That was so wrong,'' Jones said. "We heard her bone pop out when they did it."
After the arm broke, Jones said, the officer threw Smith on the ground and someone fired a Taser at her.
"The police were laughing like it was a joke, like she was faking her arm being broke,'' Jones said.
Neither Sartin nor Jones had ever met Smith or Bradley before.
Jones said she thinks the incident was racist. Smith and Bradley are black, and the officers are white. Jones said officers tend to police Benchwarmers, which draws a mostly black crowd, more heavily than the nearby State Theatre, which draws a mostly white crowd.
After Smith was hurt, Jones said, it seemed to take a long time for the ambulance to arrive.
Smith claimed she lay on the ground for almost a half-hour before an ambulance arrived. Ambulance records show a dispatch time of 2:16 a.m., but Smith thinks that is wrong. She said she didn't even arrive at Benchwarmers until around 2:30 a.m.
Smith went to Memorial Hospital, where her arm was treated, then put in a sling. It was too swollen to set the bone, she said. That is to be done next week.
Police took her to jail after her treatment at the hospital, Smith said. Bradley had been taken to jail earlier. The women bonded out later that day.
Bradley went to a doctor on Tuesday for treatment of the injuries she said she suffered when she was knocked down by Cpl. Walker. A doctor's report refers to neck strain and costochondritis, an inflammation of the junction between the cartilage and ribs in her chest.
Chief Fautz acknowledged that Smith was injured while being arrested but said "there appears to be a logical explanation of how this injury occurred."
He would not elaborate, except to say the police reports indicate that Smith had some culpability in what happened to her. He was unaware of the witnesses' accounts of the incident.
"Right now the only version I have is what's on the police reports,'' the chief said.
If Smith and Bradley want to contest the reports, they can file a complaint with internal affairs, he said.
"We're certainly willing to hear her side of the story,'' Fautz said.
Smith is to appear June 10 in traffic and misdemeanor court, while Bradley has a June 17 court date. They were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
In the meantime, Smith said, she will be off work for at least three months while her arm heals. She said she works as a caulker for a recreational vehicle plant in Goshen.
She is talking to an attorney about possibly filing a lawsuit against the police.
Nancy J. Sulok's columns appear on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. You can reach her at nsulok@sbtinfo.com, or by writing c/o South Bend Tribune, 225 W. Colfax Ave., South Bend, IN 46626, telephone (574) 235-6234.
Why? It's the only conclusion you can come to after reading the article.
Never mind, you all have convinced me that you are right.
The woman was a drunken whore, and deserved to be beaten and arrested for having the gall to stand her ground when she had permission from the owner to be there.
I've finally got my mind "right", and will join the ranks of the cop apologists here at FR.
You should use that as a tag line.
You've got half a story....not the whole story!
The only conclusion I can come to is that the woman is saying this happened. The veracity of said claim is, at present, unevaluated.
However, she used the standard "white cops looking for a woman of color to abuse" claim that increases my skepticism level considerably. Note that skepticism is not a conclusion. It is an opinion, and it may or may not be borne out by the facts.
No, its the only conclusion you will come to.
It is certainly possible that things transpired as you assume, but unlikely.
The woman was a drunken whore, and deserved to be beaten and arrested for having the gall to stand her ground when she had permission from the owner to be there fighting with cops.
There, that's better.
Nope.
Well, I guess we should all just wait for the "facts" to be verified by the police department before we come to any hard conclusions.
My opinion is that they (the police) were wrong, in this case.
But of course, I'm just one of "those folks who are one traffic stop away from serious prison time."
Nope. There is a chance that you aren't. But my experience tells me that said chance is well under 50%.
"Well, I guess we should all just wait for the 'facts to be verified by the police department before we come to any hard conclusions."
Now that's the smartest thing you've said on this thread! That's all I ask of....let all of the facts come out first before coming to a final conclusion. Now...that wasn't so difficult was it?
Either way, I really should take care of those unpaid patking tickets.
Where's the fun in that?
This thread has gotten ridiculous. Has there been any update with the cops side of the story?
I used to go to & work at after hours bars in the Virginia area many years ago. Those bars were usually frequented by folks who worked at regular bars & restaurants that got off work at 2. There was also one that mostly cops went to....another for navy guys.....and a few for the beach/college crowd. There was rarely a fight or problem at any of these bars.
I was only surprised by the fact that South Bend had a after hours bar and curious if the woman was intoxicated. From witness testimony, it seems like the cops over stepped in this case.
patking = parking
"Doneisha Jones, 20, of South Bend, also witnessed the incident."
What the hell is a Doneisha?
I have a vision of poor, little, oppressed Tanya....minding her own business....not being a nuisance to anyone....respectfully adhering to the officers' instructions....not using any inflammatory language herself....not resisting at all....and good ole Doneisha's telling exactly what happened with no subjectivity at all.....mmm hmmm....I know dat's right....
Anybody know where I'm going with this????
I suspect that the fact that the officer didn't ask nicely...in a calm, soothing, esoteric tone (and offer them money if they'd please comply...) constitutes a clear-cut case of "the man" holding them down again.
I'm just guessing though....
Hey, a cop tells me to do something -- I damn well do it!!!
Given that Tanya and is using the standard poverty-pimp line of "racist cops oppressing persons of color," I am extremely skeptical of her version of events.
Sounds like you've seen Chris Rock's "How to not Get Your A$$ Kicked by the Police" and absorbed the profound wisdom therein.
And I'm sure you were there to get an accurate depiction of the situation. And by the way, I also meant the safety of the women, if you would have read all my post instead of taking what you wanted out of it. Say, you could have a good career as a liberal news commentator - same tactics at least.
Yeah, about as much sense as a policeman pulling up to a perfectly legal establishment and on a whim deciding to commence beating up a poor helpless female without any reason or justification, then hatching a story so elaborate that you can't talk to the media until you have all your details straight, in order to cover it up.
Oh please, on the drama. We aren't talking about the exceptions, but the rule.
Cool Hand Luke, you aint.
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