Posted on 07/28/2004 4:43:05 AM PDT by Mulder
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A college student who took a cell phone call from her mother in a movie theater was pepper sprayed by an officer and charged with disorderly conduct, along with her boyfriend.
Warronnica Harris, 23, was at the Muvico theater at BayWalk Saturday night, watching the opening credits to Catwoman when her cell phone rang.
"It was my mom calling me," Harris said. "It was a family emergency."
Harris said she spoke so quietly that her mother couldn't hear her. Then Officer John Douglas shone a flashlight in her eyes.
He asked Harris and her boyfriend, Terrell "KC" Tolson, 25, to leave. He pushed Harris in the hallway, then pepper sprayed both of them in the lobby, the couple said. Neither Harris nor Tolson has a criminal record.
Police denied their account, saying Harris refused to end her cell phone conversation, yelled at the Douglas and refused to leave the theater. Her boyfriend also refused to leave and threatened the officer, police said.
Witnesses said the pair did nothing wrong.
Marcia Gray, a 49-year-old Tampa accountant, was in the lobby when the couple were pepper sprayed.
"The man turned and asked the officer why he was making them leave and the cop just maced him in the face," Gray said. "They weren't yelling or touching him. The man bent over and the girl asked why he maced her boyfriend. Then the cop maced her, and she dropped her soda."
Thank you. I (and a few others) tried to make that point yesterday but got drowned out by the other kazillion posts. Even the thread poster, bless his heart, never quite got the point. He seemed more appalled that mace had somehow slipped into the use-of-force continuum.
Shame on you!
U'mm...The impartial witness's agreed with the officer's account. Only their friends agreed with the perps.
No more Mr. Nice Guy!
You obviously missed post #5...
Having been in Law Enforcement, normal people do not realize that cops and even security officers (who are mostly LE types workin a second job) deal with violent morons ALL OF THE TIME! When a normal person comes into contact with them and gets frisky, the cop(s) are going to be one step ahead of them in dishing out pain. They don't get paid enough to take someone's bullshit and if they feel threatened, they're gonna act.
I carry a concealed weapon (with a permit) and I have been asked to leave establishments because the owner doesn't want guns on site. I LEAVE without hasseling them. Hence, I've never been maced, beaten, ASP baton'd, etc, etc. The two schmucks were wrong. And Judge Judy would light their asses up over it! HAHA!
Damn right Conan, these two got what they deserved. You shold try watching a film in South London. You can't even get through the opening credits before the first 'novelty' ringtone goes off.
Personally, I'd have lined them up and shot them in the foyer. Then perhaps their bodies could be strung up on th eoutside of the building as a warning to others.
Phones have no place in cinemas.
Let the revolution start here.
Oh, and don't even get me started on people who eat apples in public......
These people should be led to the library basement, where you and me would immediately destroy their phones with steel hammers, all the while grinning happily.
Libraries are about the last really quiet places where you can meditate and open your mind to knowledge.
I am not opposed to the mace.
I am opposed to excessive police force, no-knock searches (especially when they shoot the wrong man in the wrong house) and pepper spray for being a smart ass to a cop.
PS They were already OUT of the theater when they were pepper sprayed.
Another poster had the best idea... A law making it legal for others in the theater to dump their drinks on the offending cell phone user.
Cell Phone goes off in a Theater, get up leave the theater and answer it! Damn... common curtousey would have prevented this whole incident.
I hate cell phones, or more appropriately I hate ignorant people with cell phones... Ms. Manners need to teach almost everyone with a Cell phone some ettiquette.
I'm with you here.
PS They were already OUT of the theater when they were pepper sprayed.
That wasn't my reading, but I'll go back and look again. I think they were in the lobby (still the theater, by any definition).
Another poster had the best idea... A law making it legal for others in the theater to dump their drinks on the offending cell phone user.
LOL! Yes, I agree that cold drinks deserve a place on the force continuum!
There you go !
I agree with you; I think the policeman overreacted. How come we don't have independent witnesses? The ushers work for the movie house and might get sued-biased? No offence to all you law enforcement types, but ...the policeman's story sounds a bit odd. He offered to get their money back- sure! It sounds to me like he was on a power trip, hassled the couple and things got out hand. Also, everyone who aggravates a police officer gets charged with disorderly conduct. If you have nothing else to charge them with, that's the charge of choice.
Hell, I'm a big fan of quiet libraries and quiet book stores, where I can spend hours without being interrupted by a silly interpretation of "The Cucaracha" by my neighbor's phone, not to mention fascinating conversations where the guy states what he wants to eat the following evening or which of his clothes need laundry.
I'd also be in favor of executing on the spot every person engaging in a phone call in a theater. That's terrorism against the peace of mind to me ! LOL
LOL
I sometimes think that's what silencers were made for, so you could get rid of the varmint without bothering the rest of the audience.
The phone should have been off in the theatre & any time a policeman tells you to do anything you should comply but I am appalled at the casual use of mace too. The officer had gotten the couple out of the theatre into the lobby without mace. Were they giving him lip on the way to the door? He should have called for backup.
My friend was standing on the end of his driveway with his dog. The dog barked at a passing jogger. The jogger maced the dog & also my friend. My friend ended up in the emergency room. Mace is something, like a gun, that should be used only when absolutely necessary.
I carry mace on my key ring I would only use it if I was being attacked, not argued with or harrassed, but attacked.
I suspect the officer was tired of the couple & rightly so, but if he couldn't handle them, he should have called for back up.
The man started to take a swing at the officer, the woman hit him with her soda. Mace was the minimum defence. He should have used his stick.
Waiters should be required to carry mace and dispense same
at the moment the cell phone activates while dining.
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