Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 10, 1993 TAG: 9306100016
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A two-page news release, signed by both Chief M. David Hooper and Sheriff Alvin Hudson, disputes Holt's account of his May 29 arrest.
"Our review of what occurred, before, during and after the arrest of Holt, reveals that what he alleges did not happen," the release said.
Holt, a transvestite who frequents Salem Avenue Southwest, said the officers hit him with a flashlight, kicked him and spit on him after he was arrested outside a nightspot on Salem Avenue early that morning.
Holt obtained criminal summonses for Sheriff's Deputy D.K. Bell and police officers G.L. Brown, R.L. Hague and J.M. Donaldson after his arrest. He also has requested a federal civil rights investigation into the incident.
Last week, Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell cleared Hague and Donaldson of wrongdoing in the death of Eric Lee, who died last month after being grabbed around the neck by police in a Southeast Roanoke residence.
Holt could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The release said police were called to the Back Street Cafe because Holt would not allow another patron to leave the business. When officers arrived, Holt kept the caller from talking to police by coming between them and exhibiting "loud, profane and insulting" behavior, police said.
Police said Holt challenged them to arrest him and threatened to sue them if they did.
Police said he had to be forcibly handcuffed, but he was not struck by anyone at the time. The only injury Holt suffered was a slight bruise to his leg when he went down during a struggle.
Police said an officer who Holt said hit him with a flashlight was not involved in the struggle. Police said Holt was at no time struck or cursed by a sheriff's deputy.
Some witnesses who saw Holt's allegations on television were so incensed by the inaccuracy of his account that they came forward to dispute his claims, police said.
Earlier this month, Holt said police officers told him he was under arrest, Holt said. He said he told them to be careful with his left arm, which recently had been broken.
He said one of the officers reached to grab his left arm, and he pulled away. Then the rest jumped on him, he said. Holt said he was hit in the head and shoulder with a flashlight. He said his wrist was cut by handcuffs applied too tightly.
He said he was taken to jail, where he was left bleeding and handcuffed while sitting on a bench. He was chewing gum and had to spit it out because he was winded from the scuffle, he said.
"Don't spit at me, faggot," he quoted Bell as saying. "He backhanded me and left me hanging off the bench by my broken arm," Holt said.
After about 10 minutes, he said, he was taken back to a cell by Bell and two other deputies. He said he was having trouble walking and fell. Bell then kicked him in the chest and put his foot across his throat, Holt said.
He said one of the other deputies had to pull Bell off him.
by CNB