Post by Dine'Luvlee on Oct 17, 2005 17:57:47 GMT -5
Man on life support after arrest in Duluth
Minneapolis, Mn
Paul Levy, Star Tribune
Last update: October 14, 2005 at 8:58 PM
As David Croud lay in a Duluth hospital on life support Friday, two days after witnesses say police twice slammed his face against a stone wall, Croud's
brother questioned the validity of an investigation of the officers involved.
Eight Duluth police officers have been interviewed
by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) to "see if there was hands-on contact" when they confronted an apparently intoxicated Croud on
Superior Street in downtown Duluth on Wednesday, said David Bjerga, a BCA agent in Bemidji.
"The neurologist told us that there's absolutely no hope for my brother, that he's pretty much been dead since Wednesday," James Croud said.
Croud, 29, had fallen to the sidewalk when police were summoned at 5:51 p.m. Police were told that Croud was harassing customers at the Fond-du-Luth Casino, according to witnesses who work at a computer store down the block.
Police intended to take Croud, a native of the White Earth Reservation who lived most of his life in Duluth, to a detoxification center, according to police reports. The police say that 5-foot-10-inch, 233-pound Croud became "belligerent" when they attempted to handcuff him. Officers, witnesses differ But two witnesses say Croud was passive, and that the two police officers confronting him were the aggressive ones.
"They had him pinned up against the stone wall of our building and they slammed him a couple times while trying to draw his hands back to put cuffs on," said Mike Mancini, 55, owner of Downtown Computer, who said he was 10 to 15 feet away from Croud and the officers.
"Then the two of them flung him to the pavement, putting all their weight on him, their knees to his back," Mancini said. He said when they lifted Croud, his face was bloody and there was a pool of blood on the sidewalk.
The police then tried to force Croud into a squad car, "and he was not going in that car," recalled Dan Kienbaum, a Downtown Computer technician. Croud was eventually "pushed" into the squad car without further resistance, Mancini said.
Duluth Police Chief Roger Waller and other department officials declined to comment on the case Thursday, referring all inquiries to the BCA. Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson, a former Superior, Wis.,police detective, did not return calls from the Star Tribune on Friday. But Bergson told the Duluth News Tribune, "The police department and those officers, some of them I know personally, can be free of guilt in what happened. And I am willing to put my reputation, my career and my life on the line and stand behind them."
Croud was taken to the St. Mary's Medical Center emergency room, not the detox center. According to police reports, Croud became combative with police officers and medical personnel upon his arrival and had to be medicated by St. Mary's staff members. He slipped into unconsciousness and stopped breathing, then was placed on life support and remained in intensive care, listed in critical condition.
The eight officers under investigation have been placed on administrative leave, the BCA's Bjerga said. An investigation could take seven to 10 days, said Bjerga, who did not name any of the officers involved. The St. Louis County attorney's office will then decide if charges are to be filed.
"Is that fair?" Dr. Robert Powless, chairman of Duluth's American Indian Commission, called the incident "a tragedy," but said he would have no further comment until he receives more information.
James Croud, 42, talked about losing a younger brother. "The cops may have known him already," he said. "My brother wasn't perfect. He's got four kids, the oldest one 11, and wasn't working. The bulk of his arrests were related to drinking."But should he die because he may have been drinking? Is that fair? And is it fair for people of authority to issue statements
vindicating the police of wrong doing? Aren't they being premature to do that when my brother just lays there and the investigation has just started?"
Paul Levy • 612-673-4419
Osd'guyelu!
Native American Rights Fund
www.narf.org/index.html,
National Congress of American Indians
198.104.130.237/ncai/index.jsp,
American Indian Movement
www.aimovement.org/,
Indigenous Environmental Network
www.ienearth.org/,
United Nations Environment Network
www.unep.net/
Minneapolis, Mn
Paul Levy, Star Tribune
Last update: October 14, 2005 at 8:58 PM
As David Croud lay in a Duluth hospital on life support Friday, two days after witnesses say police twice slammed his face against a stone wall, Croud's
brother questioned the validity of an investigation of the officers involved.
Eight Duluth police officers have been interviewed
by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) to "see if there was hands-on contact" when they confronted an apparently intoxicated Croud on
Superior Street in downtown Duluth on Wednesday, said David Bjerga, a BCA agent in Bemidji.
"The neurologist told us that there's absolutely no hope for my brother, that he's pretty much been dead since Wednesday," James Croud said.
Croud, 29, had fallen to the sidewalk when police were summoned at 5:51 p.m. Police were told that Croud was harassing customers at the Fond-du-Luth Casino, according to witnesses who work at a computer store down the block.
Police intended to take Croud, a native of the White Earth Reservation who lived most of his life in Duluth, to a detoxification center, according to police reports. The police say that 5-foot-10-inch, 233-pound Croud became "belligerent" when they attempted to handcuff him. Officers, witnesses differ But two witnesses say Croud was passive, and that the two police officers confronting him were the aggressive ones.
"They had him pinned up against the stone wall of our building and they slammed him a couple times while trying to draw his hands back to put cuffs on," said Mike Mancini, 55, owner of Downtown Computer, who said he was 10 to 15 feet away from Croud and the officers.
"Then the two of them flung him to the pavement, putting all their weight on him, their knees to his back," Mancini said. He said when they lifted Croud, his face was bloody and there was a pool of blood on the sidewalk.
The police then tried to force Croud into a squad car, "and he was not going in that car," recalled Dan Kienbaum, a Downtown Computer technician. Croud was eventually "pushed" into the squad car without further resistance, Mancini said.
Duluth Police Chief Roger Waller and other department officials declined to comment on the case Thursday, referring all inquiries to the BCA. Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson, a former Superior, Wis.,police detective, did not return calls from the Star Tribune on Friday. But Bergson told the Duluth News Tribune, "The police department and those officers, some of them I know personally, can be free of guilt in what happened. And I am willing to put my reputation, my career and my life on the line and stand behind them."
Croud was taken to the St. Mary's Medical Center emergency room, not the detox center. According to police reports, Croud became combative with police officers and medical personnel upon his arrival and had to be medicated by St. Mary's staff members. He slipped into unconsciousness and stopped breathing, then was placed on life support and remained in intensive care, listed in critical condition.
The eight officers under investigation have been placed on administrative leave, the BCA's Bjerga said. An investigation could take seven to 10 days, said Bjerga, who did not name any of the officers involved. The St. Louis County attorney's office will then decide if charges are to be filed.
"Is that fair?" Dr. Robert Powless, chairman of Duluth's American Indian Commission, called the incident "a tragedy," but said he would have no further comment until he receives more information.
James Croud, 42, talked about losing a younger brother. "The cops may have known him already," he said. "My brother wasn't perfect. He's got four kids, the oldest one 11, and wasn't working. The bulk of his arrests were related to drinking."But should he die because he may have been drinking? Is that fair? And is it fair for people of authority to issue statements
vindicating the police of wrong doing? Aren't they being premature to do that when my brother just lays there and the investigation has just started?"
Paul Levy • 612-673-4419
Osd'guyelu!
Native American Rights Fund
www.narf.org/index.html,
National Congress of American Indians
198.104.130.237/ncai/index.jsp,
American Indian Movement
www.aimovement.org/,
Indigenous Environmental Network
www.ienearth.org/,
United Nations Environment Network
www.unep.net/