Post by WaTcHeR on Nov 27, 2006 16:16:31 GMT -5
11.27.2006 - South Bend -- An 81-year-old woman faces trial on battery charges this week, accused of hitting a police officer with her cane.
Betty Chambers' trial on felony battery and resisting law enforcement charges is scheduled to begin Thursday.
Chambers also is being sued by the St. Joseph County police officer and his colleague, who say they were injured when the woman and her caregiver resisted when the officers went to her home outside South Bend to check on her welfare on Feb. 11, 2005.
"I said, 'Suing us for what?' We're the ones that got injured," said Chambers, who is 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds.
The altercation began shortly after officers John Pavlekovich and Lonny Foresman, who were checking on Chambers' welfare at the request of Adult Protective Services, arrived at the home, a police report said.
When officers arrived, the woman's caregiver, Thomas Holleman, now 58, became argumentative and told the officers to leave, according to the report. Pavlekovich reported that Chambers began striking Foresman repeatedly on the neck and head with her wooden cane.
Pavlekovich suffered a separated shoulder while wrestling Holleman to the ground, and Foresman was diagnosed with a mild concussion, according to the lawsuit.
Holleman was charged with felony battery and resisting law enforcement and served 40 days in jail this year after he was convicted on a lesser charge.
Chambers said she hit Foresman once on the shoulder, not repeatedly on the head. She and Holleman said they were shocked with a stun gun. The police report said the officers used a Taser on Holleman.
www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061127/LOCAL/611270411/1006/LOCAL
Betty Chambers' trial on felony battery and resisting law enforcement charges is scheduled to begin Thursday.
Chambers also is being sued by the St. Joseph County police officer and his colleague, who say they were injured when the woman and her caregiver resisted when the officers went to her home outside South Bend to check on her welfare on Feb. 11, 2005.
"I said, 'Suing us for what?' We're the ones that got injured," said Chambers, who is 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds.
The altercation began shortly after officers John Pavlekovich and Lonny Foresman, who were checking on Chambers' welfare at the request of Adult Protective Services, arrived at the home, a police report said.
When officers arrived, the woman's caregiver, Thomas Holleman, now 58, became argumentative and told the officers to leave, according to the report. Pavlekovich reported that Chambers began striking Foresman repeatedly on the neck and head with her wooden cane.
Pavlekovich suffered a separated shoulder while wrestling Holleman to the ground, and Foresman was diagnosed with a mild concussion, according to the lawsuit.
Holleman was charged with felony battery and resisting law enforcement and served 40 days in jail this year after he was convicted on a lesser charge.
Chambers said she hit Foresman once on the shoulder, not repeatedly on the head. She and Holleman said they were shocked with a stun gun. The police report said the officers used a Taser on Holleman.
www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061127/LOCAL/611270411/1006/LOCAL