Lawyer for 12-year-old shot with a beanbag shotgun by Portland police sues the city

[MrScorpio]

By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian

March 22, 2010, 6:16PM

An attorney for the 12-year-old Portland girl who was struck by police with a beanbag shotgun round on a MAX platform in mid-November on Monday filed a notice to sue the City of Portland.

The notice called the force police used "excessive," said at least one of the officers involved knew the girl was only 12 and faults the city for improperly training and retaining the officers.

City Attorney Linda Meng said she had not seen the claim and could not comment. An internal police investigation is still pending.

According to the tort claim filed by attorney Gregory Kafoury, Transit Officer Aaron Dauchy had cited the 12-year-old a month earlier for trespass from TriMet, and had a lengthy discussion with her, involving the fact she was only 12 years old. That encounter resulted from her involvement in a purse-snatching on the transit system in Clackamas, police said.

"At that time, he told her that if he ever saw her again, he would 'find a reason' to arrest her and put her in jail," Kafoury wrote in the notice to sue.

The encounter in question occurred at 10:47 p.m. Nov. 14, and was caught on video, which was distributed by the police to the media.

"Video of this incident has been widely disseminated. Suffice it to say that a reasonable person who observed a child's parents punching, battering, beanbagging and shoving a child's face to the pavement while her hands were held behind her might think that the parents should be put in jail, and that someone should call the police," the tort notice says.

The girl had struck Dauchy in the face when he tried to take her into custody on a TriMet exclusion violation. Dauchy took her to the ground.

During testimony in juvenile court, Dauchy said he feared she might fall into the westbound lanes of Burnside Street, reached for her and grabbed her hair. Dauchy said the girl then turned and punched him. Dauchy said he responded with punches of his own, including an open palm slap, striking the girl in the face and upper torso three or four times as he attempted to gain control. He then forced the girl to the ground. As she continued to struggle with him, Officer Christopher Humphreys circled the girl with his beanbag shotgun, and shot her at close range in the thigh.

The girl was convicted in juvenile court this month of resisting arrest and interfering with public transportation, and ordered to spend a year on probation, and perform 24 hours of community service. She is now 13. The Oregonian is not naming her because of her age.

A police internal investigation is under way into whether Humphreys' use of force was justified, and if it followed policy. Humphreys, facing two weeks of unpaid suspension stemming from his role in the James P. Chasse Jr. death-in-custody case, has been assigned to the bureau's emergency management, pending the outcome of the beanbag inquiry.

--Maxine Bernstein


http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/03/lawyer_for_12-year-old_shot_wi.html

[virgogal]

1. A twelve year old out at 10:45? Sounds like a sweet little thing.

[GKirk]

2. Could have been worse...

She's lucky they didn't use a tazer. It's the one year anniversary of that happening in my area.

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2010/03/brett_elders_story_to_be_featu.html