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NC police grabbed 66-year-old librarian by hair and badly injured her, lawsuit alleges ( All of the arresting officers were white)

Morrison71

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Nov 10, 2006
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The woman, Stephanie Bottom of Atlanta, who is Black, said she was driving to a funeral and posing no threat to the officers when they stopped her on Interstate 85 for driving 80 mph in a 70 mph zone and failing to heed blue lights. Once officers stopped her car, they approached her with guns drawn, she said.

She contended in the lawsuit that the officers from the Salisbury Police Department and Rowan County Sheriff’s office used excessive force, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The suit was filed in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina.
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Bottom said she was driving to Raleigh for her great aunt’s funeral on the night of May 30, 2019. She said she was playing loud music inside her car and initially didn’t realize that police were trying to stop her. Once she did realize police were behind her, she said, she tried to find a place to pull off the road — “somewhere safe where I’d be around lights and people.”
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While following Bottom, Officer Barkalow referred toBottom by several derogatory terms that were recorded by his body camera, according to the sui

“Within five seconds of arriving at her drivers’ side door with guns drawn, Defendants Benfield and Barkalow grabbed Plaintiff by her arm and hair and threw her from her Toyota Sequoia to the ground,” the lawsuit alleges.
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Once Bottom was face down on the ground, officers tried to twist her arms behind her back. Bottom “shouted with pain” and told the officers to stop hurting her, saying that a previous injury prevented her from putting her arms behind her back, according to the complaint.

“Eventually the force applied by Defendant officers caused Plaintiff’s shoulder to “pop,” tearing her rotator cuff and causing severe injury,” the lawsuit states.

Officers searched Bottom’s car and her purse, but found nothing. All of the arresting officers were white, Bottom said.
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Another Salisbury police officer involved in the stop said “That’s good police work, baby,” according to comments recorded on his body cam. Barkalow, meanwhile, “bragged about ‘grabbing a handful of dreads,’ and said ‘at that point she earned it,’“ the lawsuit states.
 
One of the things I would like to see is insurance companies increase the pressure on those that they insure, or mechanisms to punish officers and departments that do stuff like this. She has a pretty good case. 80 in a 70 is borderline to begin with. Salisbury is the department with the guy that was just fired for abusing his K-9 dog, and where several other officers joked about turning off their cameras while he abused the dog.
Don't be afraid to connect dots. As I said back in the thread about the dog, a cop who will so openly abuse a dog is a cop who will take that small step to abusing people.
 
I see you have abandoned the Columbus 15 year old shooting thread, since it no longer fit the racist police agenda
I have kept up on the news and I have no interest in seeing the viewpoints of certain posters here. I will say you are crazy if you don’t think a white girl lives in that situation. It could go the other way too but I would be betting on white girl living.
 
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I have kept up on the news and I have no interest in seeing the viewpoints of certain posters here. I will say you are crazy if you don’t think a white girl lives in that situation. It could go the other way too but I would be betting on white girl living.
Tell that to the families of the 50 white people killed by police this year. Police kill people of all skin tones and ethnicity.
 
I have kept up on the news and I have no interest in seeing the viewpoints of certain posters here. I will say you are crazy if you don’t think a white girl lives in that situation. It could go the other way too but I would be betting on white girl living.
You mean you like to stay in your bubble, and don’t like being called out for being flat out wrong. Keep pushing that narrativr, pussy.
 
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You mean you like to stay in your bubble, and don’t like being called out for being flat out wrong. Keep pushing that narrativr, pussy.
Why don't you just defend the cops' actions in this case, instead of going off on a normally anticipated response? What did the motorist do to deserve this kind of response? Guns drawn? For what? Multiple cops chasing a black lady down the interstate in NC. Maybe they mistook her for an escaped slave????

Please explain your post.

tia
 
Why don't you just defend the cops' actions in this case, instead of going off on a normally anticipated response? What did the motorist do to deserve this kind of response? Guns drawn? For what? Multiple cops chasing a black lady down the interstate in NC. Maybe they mistook her for an escaped slave????

Please explain your post.

tia
Wtf are you even talking about.
 
I have kept up on the news and I have no interest in seeing the viewpoints of certain posters here. I will say you are crazy if you don’t think a white girl lives in that situation. It could go the other way too but I would be betting on white girl living.
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“Defendant officers became frustrated with Plaintiff when she did not pull over quickly enough,” the lawsuit alleges. “While following behind Plaintiff, Defendant [Devin] Barkalow made statements recorded by his body camera that Plaintiff was a ‘****ing retard’ and ‘douche bag.’ He exclaimed that this was an ‘exciting chase,’ and he was ‘at the edge of my seat.’”
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The lawsuit also notes that Bottom is “an elderly woman” and that all of the officers involved in the arrest “were aware” of her general age “based on their radio communications.”
“Benfield, Barkalow, and Bouk placed [Bottom] in handcuffs and secured her at the front of her vehicle prior to commencing their search of [Bottom’s] vehicle and purse. At the time of the search, [Bottom] was at the front of her vehicle and unable to reach her vehicle or purse,” the lawsuit alleges. “At no time did [the officers] request, nor did [Bottom] give, consent to search the vehicle and purse.”
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Docket action in the case was quick, however, and there may not be much of any precedent as a result of the lawsuit.

On the same day Bottom’s case was filed, it was automatically referred to mediation under local court rules due to the subject matter concerning an alleged Civil Rights violation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
 
10 miles going 80 in a 70 and you don’t think they are trying to pull you over with multiple units in pursuit, lights and sirens on? Oh that’s right, I was playing my music loud so that’s why I didn’t think you were trying to pull me over. Talk about dumb.
 
10 miles going 80 in a 70 and you don’t think they are trying to pull you over with multiple units in pursuit, lights and sirens on? Oh that’s right, I was playing my music loud so that’s why I didn’t think you were trying to pull me over. Talk about dumb.
Music was too loud, she couldn’t see.
 
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