Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 28, 1994 TAG: 9404280227
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
By night's end, Davidson was facing charges from the incidents and undergoing surgery for a badly battered leg that he claims police gave him during the arrest.
"I cried out and said to ease up, but [the officer] slammed down on my body," said Davidson, 41, as he recounted the night of April 16. "I heard a bump in my leg and I said, 'Man, you broke my leg.' They handcuffed me. Then they sprayed me, they opened my right eye and sprayed it with pepper mace. Then they said, 'Come on, you're going to jail.'"
The police took Davidson to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, instead. He's been there since that night, recuperating with a pin in his leg.
Davidson's attorney, Thomas B. Dickenson, alleges that city police officers used excessive force with his client and has asked them to investigate. Dickenson has also threatened a civil rights lawsuit against the police department.
City officials say an internal investigation is underway by police. Chief M. David Hooper said he would not release the names of the officers involved, but that they remain on patrol.
"We will do a thorough investigation and leave no stone unturned," said City Attorney Wilburn C. Dibling Jr. "But there are two sides to every story."
According to a police news release of the incident, Karen Maxine Penn called for police at about 6 p.m. April 16, saying that Davidson was at her home and had just hit her on the head with a candlestick.
Police say that when they arrived at Penn's home in the 900 block of Van Buren Street Northwest, they found Penn bleeding from the head and screaming. Davidson was gone from the residence.
Police found him walking along the street, a few blocks from Penn's home. They took him into custody. But, they say, he jerked away, running down a hill. An officer ran after him, and they fell.
According to the release, "the man complained of leg pain" at the time and was brought to the hospital.
In a telephone interview, Penn said that Davidson did hit her and that she called police. She said she agreed to take out a warrant against him for a malicious wounding charge. But when police called from the hospital, an officer told her that police would be filing the charges against Davidson.
Davidson denies ever hitting or shoving Penn during the argument. He claims that he was going outside to plant in the garden and that she said she was calling the police. Davidson said he left to buy a pack of cigarettes at a Melrose Avenue convenience store. As he walked down the street, the police stopped him, saying that he was going to be arrested for drinking in public.
Davidson said he did not have any alcohol. One of the officers then hit him, causing him to fall in a ditch, he said. A knee went into his back, his head was pushed into the ground and something kept beating on his leg, he said.
According to his attorney's letter to city officials, Davidson recalls hearing one of the officers say to the other, "Don't you think he's had enough?"
Davidson, who speaks with a thick Jamaican accent retained from his native town of St. Mary, said he is not expecting monetary damages.
He expects to be released today from the hospital and plans to turn himself in to the Roanoke City magistrate on the pending charges against him.
"I just want to know I'm free," he said. "I just want [the city] to pay for my medical bills, I don't want nothing to put in my pockets."
by CNB