Posted on 03/30/2005 1:40:52 PM PST by NormsRevenge
VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) - When Melvin Ainsworth went for his routine stroll on the Carquinez Bridge, the last thing he expected was to end up with six stitches above his left eye, a swollen lip and a sprained wrist.
Without warning, a Vallejo police officer tackled the 77-year-old Crockett man from behind on Saturday morning, he says. "They ruined my 227th trip across the bridge," Ainsworth said. "The second half of the trip, I rode in an ambulance."
Ainsworth later learned that a tipster called police to report that a man in his 20s or 30s wearing a San Francisco 49ers jacket was about to jump or had a baby dangling over the edge of the bridge.
Ainsworth was wearing a 49ers jacket - but he was armed only with a camera and he's at least 40 years older.
After he got up, Ainsworth said he told Vallejo police Officer Jeremie Patzer "Mister, you don't know how sorry you're going to be before I'm through with you."
Patzer, 31, who apologized, declined to discuss the incident Tuesday. The department is investigating Ainsworth's complaint, said Lt. Lori Lee, department spokeswoman.
Ainsworth said he has filed a complaint with Vallejo police and met with civil rights attorney John Burris on Tuesday to discuss a possible lawsuit.
Officers said they yelled at Ainsworth to stop, but he didn't respond. The next thing Ainsworth knew, someone knocked him down from behind, Burris said.
"There wasn't anything he did that dictated that kind of use of force," Burris said. "He wasn't acting aggressively in any way. He wasn't running. He's 77 years old. He looks his age."
Lee conceded police could have handled the situation differently but added, "an officer can only make that decision based on what he sees and feels and interprets in the moment."
Ainsworth was treated at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Vallejo. He said he's since suffered from dizziness and vomiting and has visited a doctor twice.
Well, at least he didn't get tasered.
I wonder if the dizziness and vomiting are from the treatment he got from Kaiser or the assault from the policeman?
< /sarcasm>
A cop who can't tell the difference between someone 27 and 77?
My guess is that they will be VERY sorry.
To be fair, how much reliability can the cop assume the reporting witness has? "Eyewitness" reports are notoriously unreliable. How many times must they get reports of, say, a 40-year-old short blond woman who ultimately turns out to be a 25-year-old 6-foot black man? Cops probably figure if they have a 25% match on a description then that's ballpark. That said, executing a flying tackle on someone who's not exhibiting behavior that would justify it is reason for disciplining the officer.
Who was the "tipster"?
How about charges of false reporting to the police?
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