Neosho man says his race spurred arrest

The Joplin Globe

October 08, 2006 01:04 am

— By Mike Dwyer
mdwyer@joplinglobe.com
WEBB CITY, Mo. - Charlie Smith says he was targeted by a Webb City police officer and charged with assaulting a law-enforcement officer for one reason: He is black.
Smith, 40, a model and singer from Neosho, said he has never been treated like he was on Sept. 17, when he was arrested on the parking lot at the McDonald's restaurant in Webb City. Smith said he was just trying to help a couple of motorists in distress, but he ended up being charged with third-degree assault.
"I've never had this happen," Smith said. "With this policeman saying I attacked him. I was just saying, 'What in the world?'"
An incident report obtained by the Globe shows that Smith was arrested shortly after midnight on the McDonald's parking lot at MacArthur Drive and Madison Street. It states that Smith approached Webb City police officer Joseph Moore in an aggressive manner and raised his right hand - Smith told the Globe he's left-handed - leading Moore to arrest Smith and charge him with third-degree assault.
Smith is claiming that he was stopped only because he is black. He has brought his complaint to the attention of Webb City Mayor John Biggs.
Biggs has asked the city attorney and city prosecutor to begin an investigation into the arrest. He said the city officials could decide to call in officials from Jasper County to look into the matter.
He said he would rather not talk about the specifics of the incident until he knows more. He said Moore is still on duty.
The incident
Smith said he was on his way home after performing at an "American Idol" singing competition in Pittsburg, Kan. He stopped at the McDonald's, he said, because he saw two black people on the curb across the street, and he thought they were in distress and needed assistance.
Smith said that as he crossed the road to check if the people needed help, he began to hear sirens and realized that the people were waiting for the police, so he turned around to return to his car.
On the way back to his car, Smith said, Moore approached him and said that another officer had seen someone running from the scene across the street.
"They said they had seen some black guy running," Smith said.
A narrative of the arrest obtained from the Webb City Police Department says that Moore got out of his car and saw Smith walking into the McDonald's parking lot. Moore wrote that he began to run toward Smith, drawing his Taser as he crossed the road.
Moore, believing that Smith was the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident and that he was attempting to flee the scene, ordered Smith to the ground.
Moore wrote that when Smith did not comply, he asked him if he had been in the vehicle that was in the accident. According to Moore, Smith became "defensive and belligerent," and balled up his fist. Moore said that Smith said: "You're only stopping me because I am black."
Smith said he never approached the officer aggressively, and that his hands never left a "rested position" at his side.
Moore then asked Smith for his driver's license or identification card.
After looking through his wallet, Smith told Moore that his license was in his car.
According to the report, Smith began to walk toward his car when he again was asked for identification. Moore's account states that Smith then began yelling and turned toward Moore in an aggressive manner, with his right arm raised. The report says Moore felt threatened, so he took control of Smith and "captured his right arm at the wrist with my left hand."
The report says Smith tried to pull away from Moore after he was grabbed, but Smith said that is not true. He said his face was pressed into the hood of a police car and a Taser was pressed up against his back almost as soon as Moore grabbed him. The Taser was not activated, although, according to the report, Moore kept the weapon between Smith's shoulder blades.
Smith said the handcuffs were too tight. On Monday, more than two weeks after the incident, he had scars on each wrist that he said were from the handcuffs.
"The handcuffs were so tight they cut into my skin around both my wrists," Smith said.
The report states that Smith was pushed over toward the parking lot in the struggle with Moore. It says another officer, Jeanne Moser, pulled into the lot during the struggle, and assisted Moore in detaining Smith and placing him in handcuffs.
Smith said Moore was putting the handcuffs on him as Moser drove up.
The aftermath
Smith said unfair treatment continued when he was at the police station. He said he was forced to sign paperwork that he was never given a chance to read before he was released on $500 bond.
"Officer Moore brought paperwork into my cell and asked me to sign it," he said. "He refused to allow me to read it, saying he thought I would tear up the ticket."
Smith said that upon his release, Moore asked if the shoes Smith was wearing were the same ones he had on when he came in. Smith said he told Moore, "Do I look like I had time to go to the department store?" He said Moore responded that he needed a "yes" or "no" answer or Smith would not be released.
Smith said he didn't know why Moore asked him about his shoes.
The police report doesn't mention either of the incidents in the jail, but it says that it was later determined that Smith was not involved in the accident across the street from the McDonald's.
Another portion of the incident report says Smith was not suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Smith said he has contacted several attorneys, but he didn't say whether he plans to file a lawsuit against the city or the Police Department.
Smith disputes many elements of Moore's report, and he said his first goal is to get the charge against him dismissed.
"First and foremost, I have to get these crazy charges dropped," he said.
He said he will appear before the City Council at 6:30 p.m. Monday to air his grievances.
Interim police Chief Don Melton said the incident is under investigation, and that he did not want to go into the specifics of the incident.
"I wouldn't want to comment any further on it until we get all the information gathered or finalized," Melton said.
Melton said the department has not received a formal complaint from Smith about the incident, which would make an investigation mandatory, but that the city decided to look into Smith's complaint anyway.
Third-degree assault on a law-enforcement officer is a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Smith is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 18.
Biggs, the mayor, said he wants the city's investigation into the incident to be completed before Smith's day in court.
"We're looking at everything," Biggs said. "We're looking at what motivated the arrest, whether the arrest was justified, whether Charlie Smith contributed or not to the arrest ... some of the statements that were made during this period by both police officers and Mr. Smith."
Even though Smith said, and the incident report confirms, that he never struck Moore, Missouri law says a person can be charged with third-degree assault of a law-enforcement officer if the person "purposely places a law enforcement officer... in apprehension of immediate physical injury."

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