Posted on 07/07/2007 3:40:24 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
'He really abused me,' resident says after arrest by Orem police officer
OREM - Two days after Independence Day, 70-year-old Betty Perry experienced an ordeal she said shouldn't be happening in America.
The retired military and U.S. government employee answered the door at her home Friday morning to talk with a police officer about her bone-dry lawn and ended up getting arrested and suffering a bloody nose. "What have I done?" she asked. "I'm old now. I can't believe this."
The Orem police officer, as yet unnamed by city officials, cited Perry for violating a city ordinance with her "sadly neglected and dying landscape," which resembles dry hay.
When Perry refused to give her name and tried to walk inside to call her son, the officer tried to arrest her, police say. According to a police news release, while she was struggling, she tripped and fell on her doorstop, cutting open the bridge of her nose. But Perry maintains the officer split her nose when he hit her with the set of handcuffs he was trying to restrain her with.
"As far as I'm concerned, he really abused me - he brutally abused me," Perry said. "For what?" The officer called for backup, because he was driving a truck, and the now-handcuffed Perry was taken to a holding facility in Orem. She was not given water or allowed to wash her hands or call her son, she said.
"After being booked, supervisors became aware of the circumstances and immediately released the woman and returned her to her home on the basis that there were other options available to handle this situation besides making an arrest and holding the woman in jail," Orem police Lt. Doug Edwards wrote in the news release.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
That's the cops take on it - maybe the demeanor of this guy frightened her - she turned to get her son - the article also says that =
I would have done the same thing if a blustering cop came to my door with the attitude it seems he had - I would have been afraid enough to try to get my son too -
Good Lord, In some states you get ticketed for watering (like when I lived in CA - there was a time when they measured your water and if you used more that alloted, they cut the flow down - did it again, cut our water off. And you better NOT be caught watering your lawn. Then other states you get a policeman (!) knocking on your door if you DON'T water??? Great use of police time.
Time to head for the woods - oh, I'm already living in the woods...no one can see my lawn from the road. Pheww
When Perry refused to give her name and tried to walk inside to call her son, the officer tried to arrest her,
Looked at your home page...you live in a beautiful area.
Yall aren’t going to like this but not all 70 y/o women are sweet little old ladies.
I think I saw on the news just last week, and the cop was found innocent...but the video was very disturbing.
It is my instinct to support the police, but I have known a few to be bad... they are human. In my situation they were dirty cops, protecting drup dealers. Sigh.
I think I saw on the news just last week, and the cop was found innocent...but the video was very disturbing.
It is my instinct to support the police, but I have known a few to be bad... they are human. In my situation they were dirty cops, protecting drup dealers. Sigh.
The officer needs to be fired, and Edwards needs his a$$ kicked off the payroll immediately. This is elderly abuse and should be reported to the local protective services office. If no relief, contact the ombudsman at the state level.
Yeah, I can imagine the old bitty doing her hysteric dance, and then falling down, hurting herself in the door of her own home.
What I can't imagine is, then slapping handcuffs on her and taking her to jail.
Wow.
That police officer attempted to kill him under color of law.So it should be a Federal Case.
Her "attitude" is the officers opinion on it - and he's trying to justify his actions as his as* is now on the line.
If a policeman had showed up at my door for the crime of having dry grass - and with the demeanor he seems to have had - I would have been scared enough to turn to get my son.
But what tells the real story of what went down is what was done at the station.
, supervisors became aware of the circumstances and immediately released the woman and returned her to her home on the basis that there were other options available to handle this situation besides making an arrest and holding the woman in jail," Orem police Lt. Doug Edwards wrote in the news release.
At least THEY had some common sense. Tells the story
Yeah, and to tune up her attitude, they ought to check to see if she's paid all her taxes, and check her home for city code compliance.
That'll teach Grandma!
:o
Too damn bad. She was on her own property, and she can take any kind of attitude she wants.
Lock her up for resisting arrest and teach her a lesson.
She was allegedly in violation of a city ordinance. What arrestable offense did she commit in the first place? Or do you advocate arresting citizens on their own property for bad attitudes toward government officials?
I know someone in California that solved the problem of their lawn = they cemented it over and painted it green -
This is an outrage. There’s a drought in places of the country, you know. Anyway, that was her private property. This is frightening!
It’s a lot cheaper just to put in decorative rock, a desert style garden etc. Less upkeep and the water bill almost evaporates.
Got it.
I was reading this to my husband and he’s still screaming from the background. You don’t even know what he’s saying!
I am not certain one needs to continue standing at the door talking to a police officer unless he has a warrant or suspicion of a felony. If the officer is serving a ticket, it can be mailed - many are mailed.
I don’t think an arrest for not talking to an officer is in order. I certainly don’t condone someone cheering during such an instant arrest.
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