‘They Brandished Shields’ and Pointed Rifles ‘Directly at Innocent Citizens’ — and That Was Just the Start: Lawsuit Details Shock Case of Alleged Fourth Amendment Violation
Police in Colorado brazenly violated the Fourth Amendment rights of dozens of motorists when they illegally detained them and searched their vehicles while attempting to locate a bank robber in 2012, a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court late last week alleges.
Individuals
had their Fourth Amendment rights violated when officers detained them
for over an hour in 2012 during a search for a bank robber, a new
lawsuit alleges. (Image source: Complaint filed in U.S. District Court)
“…more-than-two-hour mass roundup of innocent men, women and children at a traffic section…”
Share:
Police then descended on the location and “immediately surrounded and barricaded all nineteen vehicles stopped at the red light at that intersection,” the lawsuit alleges, noting that officers “had no description of the vehicle in which the robber fled” and “could not even pinpoint from which vehicle the transmitter’s signal was emitted.”
Individuals
had their Fourth Amendment rights violated when officers detained them
at gunpoint for over an hour in 2012 during a search for a bank robber, a
new lawsuit alleges. (Image source: Complaint filed in U.S. District
Court)
“They brandished shields and pointed assault rifles directly at innocent citizens, including children under ten years old. Officers with police dogs were at the ready. No one was free to leave,” the lawsuit says.
“[T]hey pointed assault rifles and other weapons at close range … toward innocent drivers.”
Share:
As the lawsuit notes, “Banks throughout Aurora are open on Saturdays and, thus could be robbed on Saturdays.”
As officers continued to wait for the handheld beacon, the lawsuit claims officers were ordered to identify individuals who appeared “overly nervous or anxious.”
“Officers, weapons still drawn, proceeded to each vehicle,” the lawsuit says.
Such actions are depicted in several photos contained in the lawsuit, where officers can be seen pointing firearms at cooperating individuals from a very close proximity.
Eventually, officers instructed all the individuals to exit their vehicles after “more than an hour later the device had not arrived on scene,” the lawsuit says. This was done “despite having no probable cause or reasonable suspicion that any particular individual had committed any offense,” it adds.
“APD officers … ordered all occupants to exit their vehicles, upon which they patted down most of the individuals for weapons and handcuffed them,” the lawsuit says. “They commanded that every individual sit on the curb for yet another hour, still handcuffed. They searched each vehicle without consent.”
Individuals
had their Fourth Amendment rights violated when officers detained them
for over an hour in 2012 during a search for a bank robber, a new
lawsuit alleges. (Image source: Complaint filed in U.S. District Court)
Individuals
had their Fourth Amendment rights violated when officers detained them
for over an hour in 2012 during a search for a bank robber, a new
lawsuit alleges. (Image source: Complaint filed in U.S. District Court)
That didn’t quell officers’ concerns, according to the lawsuit.
An officer “continued to scream at Mr. Olson to do so while waving his shotgun near Mr. Olson’s face,” it says. “Mr. Olson complied, and the pain in his lower back caused him to fall face forward onto the pavement.”
When he “attempted to get up” an officer “yanked Mr. Olson’s arm so violently behind his back while cuffing him that he inured Mr. Olson’s shoulder,” the lawsuit alleges.
Another defendant told officers she was experiencing severe anxiety and was on the verge of a panic attack. Officers entirely ignored her, the lawsuit says.
The tool needed to find the GPS device arrived on scene, but officers apparently did not understand how to operate it.
“At 5:28 p.m. — nearly ninety minutes after the initial roundup — an officer broadcasted over his radio that he observed a money band in the passenger seat” of a vehicle, the lawsuit says.
Individuals
had their Fourth Amendment rights violated when officers detained them
for over an hour in 2012 during a search for a bank robber, a new
lawsuit alleges. (Image source: Complaint filed in U.S. District Court)
Ultimately, individuals were permitted to leave, after being detained for about two-and-a-half hours.
According to the lawsuit, police chief Dan Oates “publicly defended the officers’ actions and affirmed” that they acted in accordance with policy.
“We had a virtual certainty that the bank robber was in one of those cars,” Oates told the Aurora Sentinel at the time.
However, the lawsuit notes, “In the days following the roundup” he personally called each individual “to apologize for the ordeal.”
A spokesperson for the APD did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheBlaze Tuesday.
One law professor reacted to the controversy online, contending that “protecting the public from armed bank robbers is certainly very important,” but “handcuffing dozens of innocent people — in a situation where it was certain that the great bulk of the people were indeed innocent — for over an hour as part of this sort of blanket seizure strikes me as much too high a price to pay for this sort of law enforcement.”
The defendants are seeking compensation for “emotional distress, humiliation, loss of enjoyment of life, and other pain and suffering.”
No comments:
Post a Comment