Allegedly maced, roughed up
Of the St. Louis American
A 69-year-old African-American woman alleges that she was sprayed in the face with mace and manhandled by St. Louis Metropolitan police officers who were looking for her grandson.
Ruby Harriel of 4439 Cote Brilliante alleges that the incident began when police forced their way into her home at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday.
She demanded that police produce a search warrant, and police responded by spraying mace in her eyes, according to Harriel.
In a press release from the city NAACP, Harriel claims that she was then handcuffed and thrown to the ground. She alleges that police picked her up by the wrists and then arrested her.
The American attempted to reach Harriel at her North St. Louis home, but calls were not returned as of press time.
A police spokesperson said Wednesday afternoon that Police Chief Joe Mokwa was out of town on Wednesday and was scheduled to return to work today (June 9).
Harold Crumpton, city NAACP director, is calling for an FBI investigation of the alleged attack.
“If they can enter a citizen’s home without probable cause and injure them when questioned, none of us is safe,” Crumpton said.
“We need an impartial mechanism to validate or prove such charges are false.”
Crumpton said the alleged incident again underlines the importance of Mayor Francis Slay and the Board of Aldermen breaking the deadlock over proposed elected seats on a civilian Police Review Board.
Scores of citizen claims of police brutality prompted the idea to create a Police Review Board that would hear and resolve such complaints. The argument is over how board members should be chosen.
Slay will not back down from his resistance to having any elected members on a citizen’s review board and Alderman Terry Kennedy’s bill, which is stalled in committee, calls for four of seven members to be chosen though the ballot box.
“Something must be done,” said Crumpton.
“We don’t want police to stop doing their job. We need the police. There may be a need for more training or there may be a need to change police procedure.”