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| Tranell Stewart |
We reported earlier this week that traffic stops, once seen as routine encounters with police, are turning increasingly dangerous, even deadly -- especially for motorists of color. A prime example comes from the St. Louis, MO, suburb of Maryland Heights, where an alleged failure to use a turn signal led to a severe beating for a Black man -- and to a lawsuit against the city and its police department. From an Associated Press report:
A suburban St. Louis man alleges in a lawsuit that police officers punched, kicked and stomped on him before illegally searching the apartment he shared with his girlfriend after claiming he had committed a minor traffic violation.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court [on Oct. 25] on behalf of Tranell Stewart, 38, and his former girlfriend, Lisa Jones, against five Maryland Heights police officers and the city of Maryland Heights.
The city, the police department and the police union did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
How did an alleged minor traffic violation lead to violence? AP reports:
Stewart pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex on Oct. 26, 2016. Officer David Devouton pulled behind Stewart’s car and told him he had failed to use his turn signal, which Stewart denied, according to the lawsuit.
When Stewart tried to get out of his car to get to his infant son from the back seat, Devouton grabbed Stewart’s hair and tried to pull him to the ground, saying, “You’re going to die today,” the lawsuit says.
Another officer, Alex Waldroup, arrived and police threw Stewart to the ground, hit him and kicked him. After he was handcuffed, Waldroup stomped on his head and kicked him in the eye, according to the lawsuit.
Stewart said he initially pushed Devouton’s hand off him, then tried to ward off the blows from other officers, while screaming for them to stop. But he said he did not initiate any contact or strike the officers.
Jones and a neighbor witnessed the attack. When Jones went toward the car to retrieve her infant son, Officer Cliff House pointed a gun at her and told her to stop, the lawsuit says.
The incident somehow led to what appears to be a blatantly unlawful search:
Officers twice searched the couple’s apartment, at one point threatening to arrest Jones for a traffic warrant and to have her children placed in protective custody if she did not sign forms consenting to the searches. They also seized a weapon that Jones legally owned.
Stewart suffered a fractured nose and a black eye and emotional pain and fear, and the illegal searches also caused Stewart and Jones concern for the safety of themselves and their children, the lawsuit said. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages but does not name a specific amount.
Stewart said in a statement released by the ArchCity Defenders (ACD) public-interest law firm, which is representing him, that he wants police accountability. Jones is being represented by Kenneth Powell, of the Powell Law Firm.
“I want people to know how Maryland Heights police operate,” Stewart said. “I can’t say anything positive, I can’t say be safe because these are the people who are supposed to be protecting and serving us. It’s like we’re under attack.”
From an ACD news release about the lawsuit:
Today in federal court, ArchCity Defenders and the Powell Law Firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of Tranell Stewart and Lisa Jones, respectively, alleging that officers of the Maryland Heights Police Department (MHPD) used excessive force against Mr. Stewart and unlawfully searched Mr. Stewart’s and Ms. Jones’ home. On October 26, 2016, Tranell Stewart, a 33-year-old Black man and father was driving home with his infant son when MHPD officer Ryan Devouton pulled Mr. Stewart over as he was turning into his apartment’s parking lot. From there, Devouton escalated the encounter, taunted Mr. Stewart by telling him, “You’re going to die today,” pulled him by his hair, and punched him. When MHPD officer Alexander Waldroup arrived, he punched Mr. Stewart down to the ground. The two officers continued to hit Mr. Stewart while he was lying on the pavement, handcuffed, despite him yelling for them to stop. Waldroup stomped on Mr. Stewart’s head multiple times. Mr. Stewart sustained several serious injuries and trauma from the callous assault. Following that, Maryland Heights police unlawfully ransacked the home of Mr. Stewart and his son’s mother, Ms. Lisa Jones.
ArchCity Defenders, on behalf of Tranell Stewart, and the Powell Law firm, on behalf of Lisa Jones, have filed a lawsuit against the City of Maryland Heights and MHPD officers Alexander Waldroup, Ryan Devouton, Cliff House, Kevin Devine, and Shane Monnig, for violating Mr. Stewart and Ms. Jones’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. MHPD officers Devouton and Waldroup repeatedly assaulted Mr. Stewart after a bogus police stop. After brutalizing Mr. Stewart, the named MHPD officers coerced Ms. Jones, and unlawfully searched their home. Annual data published by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office contextualizes the allegations in the suit and details Maryland Heights’ pattern of racially discriminatory detention and search of Black drivers more frequently than white drivers.
"In every year for each of the past twenty years, officers of the Maryland Heights Police Department have stopped Black drivers at rates two to three times above their demographic representation in the city,” said Jack Waldron, Lead Attorney, with ArchCity’s Civil Litigation department. “These stops have consequences. Maryland Heights’ unlawful stop of Mr. Stewart led to his brutal assault at the hands of two police officers. We look forward to shining a light on these practices and seeking justice for Mr. Stewart.”
Alabama residents know the Birmingham Metro Area has a problem with excessive municipalities and the duplication of services they cause -- with 67 cities, towns, and communities in Jefferson County. But St. Louis has "The Magic City" beat in that regard. From the ACD news release:
Maryland Heights, one of 88 municipalities in St. Louis County maintains a custom of stopping and unlawfully searching and seizing of Black people traveling through or living in the city. Annual reports released by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office from 2011 to 2016 indicate Maryland Heights has had a racial “Disparity Index” above 2.00 for Black motorists. In 2016, the rate was 3.09, meaning the number of Black drivers pulled over was more than three times their demographic representation in the City. Additionally, Black drivers are searched at a disproportionate rate compared to white drivers, despite finding proof of illegal activity more frequently with white drivers. The lawsuit states that Maryland Heights knew of and has failed to remedy these systemic practices- and is deliberately indifferent and culpable for constitutional violations against Mr. Stewart and Ms. Jones.
ArchCity Defenders has filed 10 lawsuits alleging police brutality since 2015. The holistic legal advocacy organization is still litigating cases against St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and Ferguson, and has settled cases against Pine Lawn, Ferguson, Berkeley, and St. Louis County.
The string of violent and deadly police encounters currently gripping the nation -- leading some to call for defunding police departments -- started with the fatal 2014 shooting of unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO.
If a picture paints a thousand words . . . well, that picture is painful to look at. Somebody really roughed this guy up.
ReplyDeleteThese cops were loaded for bear. I wonder why. Probably the No. 1 reason was the color of this guy's skin. Maybe the guy didn't respond with the kind of respect the cops wanted, but that's no excuse for this kind of beating.
ReplyDeleteYou make a number of good points, @9:47. Perhaps Mr. Stewart got agitated and shouldn't have shown "disrespect of cop." It's also possible Mr. Stewart did, in fact, use his turn signal, so he knew the stop was a charade. It's not easy to keep your cool when a heavily armed cop accuses you of something you know you didn't do. I've been there.
ReplyDeleteMr. Stewart probably doesn't feel lucky, but I'd say he's lucky to be alive. The cops also are lucky he's alive. If Stewart had died, the repercussions could have been heavy for sure.
ReplyDeleteThe repercussions for the cops still could be heavy -- both civilly and criminally.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Maryland Heights could use new leadership in their police department.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth noting the NY Times story ran on Nov. 8, 2021. The Stewart lawsuit was filed on Oct. 25, 2021 -- two weeks apart. Props to the Times for being on top of an important story.
ReplyDeleteHere is a scenario worth considering: What if the cops had a hard-on against this guy for some reason, knew where he lived, and planted themselves near the apartment complex, and used the "turn signal" ruse as an excuse to stop him and beat him up?
ReplyDeleteWhat if the whole thing was a set-up? That might sound far-fetched to some, but I think it is a possibility with today's cops -- at least some of them -- especially in cities with poor PD leadership, as appears to be the case with Maryland Heights.
One of the cops said, "You're going to die today?"
ReplyDeleteGee, that's a great way to build connections with the community.
This is straight from the lawsuit:
ReplyDeleteWhen Mr. Stewart said that he had not failed to signal, Defendant Devouton
responded by stating, “Well I say you did."
Sounds like the cop was a smart-ass. Might have helped if that hadn't been the case.
ReplyDeleteThey stomped this guy's head while he was in handcuffs? That's a good way to kill somebody. Makes me wonder if they were trying to kill him.
ReplyDeleteThe brutality of this sounds about as bad as the George Floyd case. One victim just happened to live through it, while the other did not.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/AP/status/1452870333598470145
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/JZBleiberg/status/1453761456667828237
https://twitter.com/JimMustian/status/1455610319020118017
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1458173833110867976
ReplyDeleteTwo former Oklahoma police officers were convicted of murder for using their Tasers more than 50 times on an unarmed man who died in 2019, court records show.
Thanks for sharing. The cases of cops abusing people seem to be never-ending.
ReplyDeletehttps://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/201913820.pdf
ReplyDeletePER CURIAM:
Julius “JuJu” Goldring sued Officers Vladimir Henry and
Juan Restrepo for malicious prosecution under 42 U.S.C. section
1983 and Georgia law. She alleged that the officers falsely accused
her of jaywalking and trafficking in cocaine to obtain a warrant for
her arrest. The officers moved for summary judgment, arguing
that they were entitled to qualified and official immunity. After
careful review of the record and with the benefit of oral argument,
we affirm the district court’s denial of summary judgment.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Everyone agrees that, on the evening of October 10, 2015,
Goldring was walking in Midtown, Atlanta; Officers Henry and
Restrepo initially arrested her for jaywalking; they took her to the
police station; at the police station, Officer Henry field tested the
powdery contents of a stress ball found in Goldring’s purse; and the
officers got a warrant for Goldring’s arrest for jaywalking and
trafficking in cocaine. But beyond these undisputed facts, Goldring
and the officers had sharply conflicting accounts about what
happened that night.
According to Goldring, she was “walking up a sidewalk”
with her boyfriend, Darrell Ford, and two of his friends. They got
to an intersection and “stood on the corner” waiting to cross the
street. That’s when the officers stopped her group. The officers
detained Goldring and Ford but let the other two people go. The officers told Goldring they stopped her because she had jaywalked. Goldring protested because she was “standing on the sidewalk” when the officers seized her. She maintained that she “was on the sidewalk or in a crosswalk at all times while walking that evening.”
After the officers stopped Goldring, Officer Restrepo frisked
her, searched her purse—to which Goldring consented—and found
a stress ball. It was “a regular stress ball” with a metal clip.
Goldring told Officer Restrepo that it was just a stress ball and said
he could open it. Officer Restrepo cut the ball open, revealing a
white “powdery, sandy kind of substance.” The officers suspected
that this powder was cocaine but they weren’t sure—in Officer
Restrepo’s words, there are “a jillion powders that could be white.”
The powder inside Goldring’s stress ball was just sand.
https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/201913820.pdf
ReplyDeletePER CURIAM:
Julius “JuJu” Goldring sued Officers Vladimir Henry and
Juan Restrepo for malicious prosecution under 42 U.S.C. section
1983 and Georgia law. She alleged that the officers falsely accused
her of jaywalking and trafficking in cocaine to obtain a warrant for
her arrest. The officers moved for summary judgment, arguing
that they were entitled to qualified and official immunity. After
careful review of the record and with the benefit of oral argument,
we affirm the district court’s denial of summary judgment.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Everyone agrees that, on the evening of October 10, 2015,
Goldring was walking in Midtown, Atlanta; Officers Henry and
Restrepo initially arrested her for jaywalking; they took her to the
police station; at the police station, Officer Henry field tested the
powdery contents of a stress ball found in Goldring’s purse; and the
officers got a warrant for Goldring’s arrest for jaywalking and
trafficking in cocaine. But beyond these undisputed facts, Goldring
and the officers had sharply conflicting accounts about what
happened that night.
According to Goldring, she was “walking up a sidewalk”
with her boyfriend, Darrell Ford, and two of his friends. They got
to an intersection and “stood on the corner” waiting to cross the
street. That’s when the officers stopped her group. The officers
detained Goldring and Ford but let the other two people go. The officers told Goldring they stopped her because she had jaywalked. Goldring protested because she was “standing on the sidewalk” when the officers seized her. She maintained that she “was on the sidewalk or in a crosswalk at all times while walking that evening.”
After the officers stopped Goldring, Officer Restrepo frisked
her, searched her purse—to which Goldring consented—and found
a stress ball. It was “a regular stress ball” with a metal clip.
Goldring told Officer Restrepo that it was just a stress ball and said
he could open it. Officer Restrepo cut the ball open, revealing a
white “powdery, sandy kind of substance.” The officers suspected
that this powder was cocaine but they weren’t sure—in Officer
Restrepo’s words, there are “a jillion powders that could be white.”
The powder inside Goldring’s stress ball was just sand.