Posted on 03/13/2003 3:43:49 AM PST by blondee123
Suzie Garza of Whittier sweeps up at the rebuilt 911 memorial on La Habra Boulevard . ( Staff photo by Leo Jarzomb.)
Arrest made at Memorial Police say woman accused in assault By Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
LA HABRA -- A 19-year-old Orange County woman is free today after La Habra police arrested her for allegedly assaulting a woman who maintains a patriotic display on a fence here.
Jennifer Quintana was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor assault Tuesday after police responded to a call that she had pushed and poked two women at the scene of a memorial display for Sept. 11, 2001, victims at Whittier Boulevard and Macy Street, according to La Habra Police spokesman Cindy Knapp.
Knapp issued the statement at a press conference Wednesday.
Parts of the incident at the memorial fence which was vandalized during the weekend were filmed by television news camera operators and shown on the late news Tuesday night.
News reports Tuesday of unknown vandals on Saturday burning and ripping American flags, destroying flowers and putting up antiwar signs to replace patriotic messages on the fence were picked up and disseminated by the Drudge Report on the Internet, triggering a massive, national e-mail reaction as well as a media frenzy.
Knapp reported that when Quintana came on the scene Tuesday evening she pushed one woman out of the way, then grabbed and poked Tracey Chandler, the Whittier mother of four who has maintained the memorial following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Knapp said Quintana was cited and released Wednesday morning and her court appearance was pending.
A police press release reported that witnesses said Quintana walked through the crowd making comments about her involvement in the vandalism including flag burning over the weekend. However, Knapp said that information at the time of the press conference was insufficient to arrest her for the vandalism.
The information from Tuesday night's incident will be added to the ongoing police investigation, said Knapp.
Press statements issued by Knapp Wednesday also reviewed how the incident began Saturday when police witnessed three individuals rearranging signs on the fence. The police came back a second time on Saturday. Sunday afternoon, police were dispatched back to the fence to take a crime report. This time, they said there was substantial damage, which they believe was done early Sunday morning.
"We are hoping to tie together all events and have it to the district attorney by the end of the week,' said Knapp.
Chandler said she was more shocked by Quintana's actions at the fence than by the original destruction of the memorial.
"She walked through the crowd saying 'They can't arrest me, they won't do (expletive) to me,' said Chandler. "To do that, to walk through a crowd of angry people, well she must be one hamburger short of a Happy Meal.'
Police offered no further information about Quintana and efforts to reach her Wednesday were unsuccessful.
In another development Wednesday, Jeff Collison, owner of the property the fence is on, went to the La Habra Police Station with Chandler and David Bisset, a Whittier resident who has contributed to the memorial. Collison wanted to lodge a formal complaint against the vandals.
He said he was told by police that he couldn't file the complaint because he was not the victim.
Collison and Chandler said they will continue talking to media people who have requested interviews since the story on the damaged fence was published.
"I will talk to the people who have called me,' he said, "because I want to see the people who did this prosecuted.'
Knapp said information from Collison also would be incorporated into the ongoing investigation into the vandalism.
As the investigation continues, the fence is again taking shape, true to Chandler's promise to make it bigger and better than before.
"It's great. There are more flags than ever now,' said Dusty Rhodes of Whittier.
La Habra Mayor Juan Garcia declined to comment.
ME TOO!
That is one violent pacifist.
A Garcia won't comment on the arrest of a Quintana?
No racism here, right?
The police in this little community seem to be going to great lengths to avoid prosecuting the vandals.
He said he was told by police that he couldn't file the complaint because he was not the victim.
Earlier in the week the police were saying the only way they could press vandalism charges was for the PROPERTY OWNER to lodge a formal complaint; now they're telling him they can't do that either.
I am REALLY NOT IMPRESSED with the police in LaHabra.
That's the case; here's what was said:
On Tuesday, Police Chief Dennis Kies stood behind the department's handling of the case."We did not observe anybody tearing flags or burning flags,' he said. "The first call we got on this was at 3 p.m Saturday. There were these cups stuck in the fence that spelled out something like 'We Love The USA,' and a woman was rearranging them to read something like 'No War.' She was not burning or tearing up anything at that time.'
Since the woman was not destroying anything, officers left without making an arrest or writing a police report.
Kies said his officers were called to the scene at Whittier Boulevard and Macy Street again at 5 p.m., Saturday and again at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Officers found damage to the display on both occasions but found no one but Tracey Chandler, who maintains the patriotic fence, and her friends near the location.
"On vandalism, a misdemeanor offense, we can't arrest anyone unless it happens in front of us,' Kies said.
Okay, vandalism is free speech, and confessions aren't evidence.
Got it now.
The true face of evil in this country is being exposed.
Saddam Hussein, the ayatollahs of Iran and the "Dear Leader" in North Korea are NOT our primary danger. The danger lies within.
We have quite a few people in this land that HATE us, hate our system, hate everything about America, and they seem willing to act on that hate.
God save the U.S.A.
Why? This was physical assault. I thought that was a felony. Since when are you ticketed and released for a felony?
"For this to be vandalism, there had to be an ill-will intent," Rees said. Collison must file a complaint for police to take action, he told the newspaper.
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