I was working afternoons with Russ Peterson, with Diane on a Ride-a-Long. We were working 2B6 when we were sent to Memorial Hospital on an unknow trouble call. When we arrived, we were contacted by one of the nurses in the Hospital. She outside the Hospital with her boyfriend, a male Black subject, standing nearby.
She told us that her Ex-boyfriend had a key to her house, and she wanted it back as they had broken up, but he refused to give it to her. We found that he had an old warrant in the amount of $250.00 for his arrest. I Informed him of his warrant and told him if he would give back the key we wouldn’t take him to jail.
He told us that he had thrown the key in the nearby bushes. It was early evening and dark outside. Using our flashlights we spent many minutes looking for the key but were unable to find it. I asked him to show us where he threw the key, and he led us to where he thought it had landed. We looked for a few more minutes. After concluding that he was lying to us about what he had done with the we decided to arrest him on the warrant for his arrest.
We put him in the back seat of our police car. This was before we had a partition between the front and back seat in our cars, we put him in the back behind the front passenger seat. Russ sat behind the driver’s seat with Diane being moved to the front passenger seat.
When we arrived at the Police Station I drove into the tunnel beneath the building. I waited for the front gate to open before driving inside. After driving past the gate, it closes behind us and locks. We are essentially in the jail as the exit gate is closed and locked so no one can escape.
I parked in the second space from the door and the large picture window to the booking area. Russ got out of the back seat to lock his gun in one of the lock boxes near the front door. Diane also got out of the car and was standing near Russ. I remained in the driver’s seat and began to fill out the police log that Chief Larry Binkley demanded that we complete before leaving our car.
Before I was able to complete the log entry the subject in the back seat kicked me in the back of the head. I immediately jumped between the bucket seats and jumped on top of him before he could kick again. Russ and Diane had their backs to me and did not see the scuffle between me and the subject in the back seat.
The officers in the booking room who were looking out of that big picture window saw what was taking place and piled out of the booking room to my defense. The first officer to my back door opened it and me and the subject fell out and onto the concrete floor. They then began sticking the subject with their batons. A few of them missed the subject and hit me. To escape their blows, I rolled under my car as far as I could.
After the subject was taken into the book room I rolled out from under the car. I first thing I saw was the key. I appeared that the subject had it in his mouth the entire time. Why he refused to give to us, I don’t know. Why he kicked me in the head while in a secured jail, I don’t know. Later that evening Diane asked me why he had kept the key and kicked me in the head. All I could say was, I don’t know.
I went into the booking room to assist in completing the booking process. He was booked for theft of the key and battery on a police officer. He went from being book on a $250.00 warrant to two felony counts, theft of the nurse’s key and battery on a police officer. Why? I’m not sure anyone knows why crooks do what they do.
