Complaint #200106902,
September 26, 2001

Summary

On 9/26/01, [redacted] who is friends with [redacted] went to [redacted]'s residence at [redacted] after [redacted] had a fight with her neighbor and police responded. Inside [redacted] was upset and [redacted] was talking with police. Because [redacted] was having a panic attack and was having problems breathing, an ambulance was called, and officers encouraged [redacted] to go to the ambulance to be examined. She was accompanied by [redacted]. After [redacted]'s examination, she and [redacted] started to walk the short distance from the curb to [redacted]'s front door. They were approached by Sgt. Lopresti, whom [redacted] knows from several other incidents over the summer. Sgt. Lopresti asked [redacted] if she was going to the hospital, and when she said no, he informed her she was under arrest for [redacted].
There were several other officers present at the time, including a female officer who, at Sgt. Lopresti's direction, handcuffed [redacted] near the curb, without incident. While [redacted] was being handcuffed, [redacted] began walking to the house to tell [redacted]'s husband that she was under arrest and to retrieve her keys. By the time [redacted] got to the door, [redacted] was already inside the police car. There were about seven officers in the area between the door and the street.
[redacted] attemped to open the front door, but a dark-haired white male officer extended his arm to prevent her and told her "this isn't your house, go home." They argued for a few seconds, but made no physical contact, and [redacted] did not try to get inside the apartment again. The officer did not tell her to leave again, instead reiterating that she couldn't enter. [redacted] began to scream for [redacted]. She did not see the officer who then came up behind her, though she was later informed by the lieutenant on the scene that it was PO Novins whom she'd had the physical interaction with. PO Novins came up behind her, grabbed her under her arms, lifted her up, and threw her, so that both her feet left the ground... Read report for details.