Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 24, 2007 14:40:37 GMT -5
01.24.2007 - Five Howard students were arrested over the weekend at University Towers Center (UTC) in Hyattsville, Md.
Chad Williams-Bey, a senior political science major, was charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing, second-degree assault of an officer and attempt to resist arrest.
Seniors accounting major Stanley Johnson, finance major Keith Barclay, fiance major Isha McCauley and history major Dale Cooper, were all arrested and cited with disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.
Williams-Bey was heading into the apartment building around 1 a.m. to spend the night at a friend’s room when an officer stopped him near the UTC driveway and told him to leave the property.
Williams-Bey said that after a dialogue the officer pushed him.
“I said ‘Don’t put your hands on me. It’s not your jurisdiction to do such,’” Williams-Bey said. He said that the officer then used obscenities to tell him to be quiet. While he was on the phone with a friend, Williams-Bey said the officer forced him to the ground and proceeded to arrest him.
Williams-Bey also said that he was hit three times with a taser gun while on the ground before he was handcuffed. “I was told that there were five to six cops on me. I was kicked in the neck area and punched in the face,” he said.
“The whole thing lasted about three to four minutes,” Johnson said.
Johnson, a friend of Williams-Bey’s, was removed from the incident along with Barclay, Cooper and a senior economics major Omari Williams, but was upset to witness what he saw as mistreatment of his friend and began voicing his outrage.
“Dale spoke his mind. We were not hysterical,” Johnson said. “They [the officers] were causing more [of] a disturbance than us.”
According to Johnson, the officers then proceeded to arrest the group of males, with the exception of Williams.
“They hit Keith with the baton four times and I was tazed twice while I was handcuffed,” Johnson said.
Williams was not arrested. “I just got lucky,” he said.
McCauley saw the original altercation begin with Williams -Bey from inside the building and went outside to capture footage of it on her camera phone. At that time an officer allegedly approached her and said, “If you don’t leave, you are going to end up handcuffed with them.”
McCauley verbally defended her right to be present and to tape the incident, at which time she said she was apprehended, taken to the cement and handcuffed by the officer.
“I was shocked at the treatment,” she said. “Everything happened so fast. My mind didn’t have time to process things. I was surprised at the amount of force and aggression he used,” she added.
All students were taken to a Hyattsville police department where they say they were not allowed phone calls and were never read their rights.
Johnson, Barclay and Cooper were released from the station around 3 a.m. with McCauley’s release following at 5 a.m. Willams-Bey was transferred to another facility, given a May 7 court date and released on pretrial around 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Williams-Bey plans to file suit against the officers for misconduct. He said that he believes his rights were compromised and that he was treated inhumanely.
According to a police report from the Hyattsville Police Department, Williams-Bey was tazed to subdue him after he returned to the premises after being asked to leave.
The Hilltop is still seeking comment from the police department, which was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
All students are shocked at the brutality of their treatment and are ready to take action to ensure it does not happen again.
“It’s 2007, not 1957,” Johnson said. They accuse the officers of abusing them both mentally and physically and doing so with enjoyment. “It’s almost like they had something to prove,” he said.
“They can write on a piece of paper that Chad assaulted an officer and suddenly that’s what happened when clearly that is not what happened,” McCauley said.
A total of six officers were involved in the altercation. The students are in the process of finding attorneys.
Patricia Williams, mother of Williams, is from the area and has taken on the role of making sure all students are fine.
“What I find so objectionable is the excessive use of force that they used. To respond to a complaint is one thing, but to use excessive force the way they did is another. To tase a student three times as they did is unconscionable and then to tase a student when he’s in hand cuffs, its outrageous and irresponsible,” she said.
media.www.thehilltoponline.com/media/storage/paper590/news/2007/01/23/Campus/Hu.Students.Arrested.At.Utc.After.Feud.With.Police-2668872.shtml?sourcedomain=www.thehilltoponline.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com
Chad Williams-Bey, a senior political science major, was charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing, second-degree assault of an officer and attempt to resist arrest.
Seniors accounting major Stanley Johnson, finance major Keith Barclay, fiance major Isha McCauley and history major Dale Cooper, were all arrested and cited with disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.
Williams-Bey was heading into the apartment building around 1 a.m. to spend the night at a friend’s room when an officer stopped him near the UTC driveway and told him to leave the property.
Williams-Bey said that after a dialogue the officer pushed him.
“I said ‘Don’t put your hands on me. It’s not your jurisdiction to do such,’” Williams-Bey said. He said that the officer then used obscenities to tell him to be quiet. While he was on the phone with a friend, Williams-Bey said the officer forced him to the ground and proceeded to arrest him.
Williams-Bey also said that he was hit three times with a taser gun while on the ground before he was handcuffed. “I was told that there were five to six cops on me. I was kicked in the neck area and punched in the face,” he said.
“The whole thing lasted about three to four minutes,” Johnson said.
Johnson, a friend of Williams-Bey’s, was removed from the incident along with Barclay, Cooper and a senior economics major Omari Williams, but was upset to witness what he saw as mistreatment of his friend and began voicing his outrage.
“Dale spoke his mind. We were not hysterical,” Johnson said. “They [the officers] were causing more [of] a disturbance than us.”
According to Johnson, the officers then proceeded to arrest the group of males, with the exception of Williams.
“They hit Keith with the baton four times and I was tazed twice while I was handcuffed,” Johnson said.
Williams was not arrested. “I just got lucky,” he said.
McCauley saw the original altercation begin with Williams -Bey from inside the building and went outside to capture footage of it on her camera phone. At that time an officer allegedly approached her and said, “If you don’t leave, you are going to end up handcuffed with them.”
McCauley verbally defended her right to be present and to tape the incident, at which time she said she was apprehended, taken to the cement and handcuffed by the officer.
“I was shocked at the treatment,” she said. “Everything happened so fast. My mind didn’t have time to process things. I was surprised at the amount of force and aggression he used,” she added.
All students were taken to a Hyattsville police department where they say they were not allowed phone calls and were never read their rights.
Johnson, Barclay and Cooper were released from the station around 3 a.m. with McCauley’s release following at 5 a.m. Willams-Bey was transferred to another facility, given a May 7 court date and released on pretrial around 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Williams-Bey plans to file suit against the officers for misconduct. He said that he believes his rights were compromised and that he was treated inhumanely.
According to a police report from the Hyattsville Police Department, Williams-Bey was tazed to subdue him after he returned to the premises after being asked to leave.
The Hilltop is still seeking comment from the police department, which was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
All students are shocked at the brutality of their treatment and are ready to take action to ensure it does not happen again.
“It’s 2007, not 1957,” Johnson said. They accuse the officers of abusing them both mentally and physically and doing so with enjoyment. “It’s almost like they had something to prove,” he said.
“They can write on a piece of paper that Chad assaulted an officer and suddenly that’s what happened when clearly that is not what happened,” McCauley said.
A total of six officers were involved in the altercation. The students are in the process of finding attorneys.
Patricia Williams, mother of Williams, is from the area and has taken on the role of making sure all students are fine.
“What I find so objectionable is the excessive use of force that they used. To respond to a complaint is one thing, but to use excessive force the way they did is another. To tase a student three times as they did is unconscionable and then to tase a student when he’s in hand cuffs, its outrageous and irresponsible,” she said.
media.www.thehilltoponline.com/media/storage/paper590/news/2007/01/23/Campus/Hu.Students.Arrested.At.Utc.After.Feud.With.Police-2668872.shtml?sourcedomain=www.thehilltoponline.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com