Tranell Stewart
We reported earlier this week that traffic stops, once seen as routine encounters with police, are turning increasingly dangerous, even deadly -- especially for motorists of color. A prime example comes from the St. Louis, MO, suburb of Maryland Heights, where an alleged failure to use a turn signal led to a severe beating for a Black man -- and to a lawsuit against the city and its police department. From an Associated Press report:
A suburban St. Louis man alleges in a lawsuit that police officers punched, kicked and stomped on him before illegally searching the apartment he shared with his girlfriend after claiming he had committed a minor traffic violation.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court [on Oct. 25] on behalf of Tranell Stewart, 38, and his former girlfriend, Lisa Jones, against five Maryland Heights police officers and the city of Maryland Heights.
The city, the police department and the police union did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
How did an alleged minor traffic violation lead to violence? AP reports:
Stewart pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex on Oct. 26, 2016. Officer David Devouton pulled behind Stewart’s car and told him he had failed to use his turn signal, which Stewart denied, according to the lawsuit.
When Stewart tried to get out of his car to get to his infant son from the back seat, Devouton grabbed Stewart’s hair and tried to pull him to the ground, saying, “You’re going to die today,” the lawsuit says.
Another officer, Alex Waldroup, arrived and police threw Stewart to the ground, hit him and kicked him. After he was handcuffed, Waldroup stomped on his head and kicked him in the eye, according to the lawsuit.
Stewart said he initially pushed Devouton’s hand off him, then tried to ward off the blows from other officers, while screaming for them to stop. But he said he did not initiate any contact or strike the officers.
Jones and a neighbor witnessed the attack. When Jones went toward the car to retrieve her infant son, Officer Cliff House pointed a gun at her and told her to stop, the lawsuit says.
The incident somehow led to what appears to be a blatantly unlawful search:
Officers twice searched the couple’s apartment, at one point threatening to arrest Jones for a traffic warrant and to have her children placed in protective custody if she did not sign forms consenting to the searches. They also seized a weapon that Jones legally owned.
Stewart suffered a fractured nose and a black eye and emotional pain and fear, and the illegal searches also caused Stewart and Jones concern for the safety of themselves and their children, the lawsuit said. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages but does not name a specific amount.
Stewart said in a statement released by the ArchCity Defenders (ACD) public-interest law firm, which is representing him, that he wants police accountability. Jones is being represented by Kenneth Powell, of the Powell Law Firm.
“I want people to know how Maryland Heights police operate,” Stewart said. “I can’t say anything positive, I can’t say be safe because these are the people who are supposed to be protecting and serving us. It’s like we’re under attack.”
From an ACD news release about the lawsuit:
Today in federal court, ArchCity Defenders and the Powell Law Firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of Tranell Stewart and Lisa Jones, respectively, alleging that officers of the Maryland Heights Police Department (MHPD) used excessive force against Mr. Stewart and unlawfully searched Mr. Stewart’s and Ms. Jones’ home. On October 26, 2016, Tranell Stewart, a 33-year-old Black man and father was driving home with his infant son when MHPD officer Ryan Devouton pulled Mr. Stewart over as he was turning into his apartment’s parking lot. From there, Devouton escalated the encounter, taunted Mr. Stewart by telling him, “You’re going to die today,” pulled him by his hair, and punched him. When MHPD officer Alexander Waldroup arrived, he punched Mr. Stewart down to the ground. The two officers continued to hit Mr. Stewart while he was lying on the pavement, handcuffed, despite him yelling for them to stop. Waldroup stomped on Mr. Stewart’s head multiple times. Mr. Stewart sustained several serious injuries and trauma from the callous assault. Following that, Maryland Heights police unlawfully ransacked the home of Mr. Stewart and his son’s mother, Ms. Lisa Jones.
ArchCity Defenders, on behalf of Tranell Stewart, and the Powell Law firm, on behalf of Lisa Jones, have filed a lawsuit against the City of Maryland Heights and MHPD officers Alexander Waldroup, Ryan Devouton, Cliff House, Kevin Devine, and Shane Monnig, for violating Mr. Stewart and Ms. Jones’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. MHPD officers Devouton and Waldroup repeatedly assaulted Mr. Stewart after a bogus police stop. After brutalizing Mr. Stewart, the named MHPD officers coerced Ms. Jones, and unlawfully searched their home. Annual data published by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office contextualizes the allegations in the suit and details Maryland Heights’ pattern of racially discriminatory detention and search of Black drivers more frequently than white drivers.
"In every year for each of the past twenty years, officers of the Maryland Heights Police Department have stopped Black drivers at rates two to three times above their demographic representation in the city,” said Jack Waldron, Lead Attorney, with ArchCity’s Civil Litigation department. “These stops have consequences. Maryland Heights’ unlawful stop of Mr. Stewart led to his brutal assault at the hands of two police officers. We look forward to shining a light on these practices and seeking justice for Mr. Stewart.”
Alabama residents know the Birmingham Metro Area has a problem with excessive municipalities and the duplication of services they cause -- with 67 cities, towns, and communities in Jefferson County. But St. Louis has "The Magic City" beat in that regard. From the ACD news release:
Maryland Heights, one of 88 municipalities in St. Louis County maintains a custom of stopping and unlawfully searching and seizing of Black people traveling through or living in the city. Annual reports released by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office from 2011 to 2016 indicate Maryland Heights has had a racial “Disparity Index” above 2.00 for Black motorists. In 2016, the rate was 3.09, meaning the number of Black drivers pulled over was more than three times their demographic representation in the City. Additionally, Black drivers are searched at a disproportionate rate compared to white drivers, despite finding proof of illegal activity more frequently with white drivers. The lawsuit states that Maryland Heights knew of and has failed to remedy these systemic practices- and is deliberately indifferent and culpable for constitutional violations against Mr. Stewart and Ms. Jones.
ArchCity Defenders has filed 10 lawsuits alleging police brutality since 2015. The holistic legal advocacy organization is still litigating cases against St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and Ferguson, and has settled cases against Pine Lawn, Ferguson, Berkeley, and St. Louis County.
The string of violent and deadly police encounters currently gripping the nation -- leading some to call for defunding police departments -- started with the fatal 2014 shooting of unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO.
