Man, 73, hospitalized after police encounter

Jeffrey Libby

Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

A 73-year-old man was hospitalized last week with three broken ribs and cuts and bruises on his face, arms and legs after a confrontation with Boulder City Police, officials said Monday.

Robert Parker, a retired union pipefitter from Las Vegas, was still bedridden and under medical supervision Monday at a care center.

Parker sustained the injuries after Boulder City Police stopped his Chevrolet Suburban in connection with an alleged hit-and-run accident near the Strip reported by Metro Police in late July.

A Boulder City officer made the stop late Thursday afternoon, ordering Parker out of the vehicle. The order most likely came at gunpoint because hit-and-run is a felony charge, Boulder City Attorney Dave Olsen said.

Parker refused an order to drop a cigarette, Olsen said, and a struggle ensued. Police threw Parker to the ground and pinned him there before successfully cuffing him, Olsen said.

After being put in a patrol car, Parker complained of chest pain and said he thought he broke some ribs. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

No charges had been filed against Parker as of Monday night, Boulder City Police Chief Bill Turk said.

Parker's family plans to file a complaint, Parker's nephew, Kenneth Arnold, said.

Toni Marks, Parker's caretaker, called the injuries -- three broken ribs, a lump on his face, bruises on both forearms, bruises from his thighs to his shins and marks around his wrists where the handcuffs were -- "totally outrageous."

"He could not have posed a threat," said Marks, who said Parker shuffles when he walks. "You can tell. He's an old, frail man. He has to hold on to things when he gets up. He has a hard time opening a bottle of soda pop."

It was the second police incident involving an elderly man in a month. Charles Grant Walker, 84, was hospitalized July 21 after an encounter with two Henderson Police officers near the Rainbow Club. That incident is being investigated by the FBI, as well as internally. Turk said Monday he plans to file a written request to convene a use-of-force board to investigate the arrest. The board will include two Boulder City residents and three police employees, Turk said.

"Any time an officer uses force and a person is injured in any way, shape or form, we convene a use-of-force board," Turk said.

Turk declined to release the names of the two officers involved in restraining Parker or to release police statements or photographs taken by police at the scene. He said the officers are still on duty.

Three other officers and the Boulder City constable also showed up to the scene, Olsen said.

A video camera in the patrol car of the officer who stopped Parker's Suburban was inadvertently turned off, and thus unable to capture the incident, Turk said.

Olsen called the whole incident unfortunate.

"Nobody likes to see an elderly person with Alzheimer's injured by police," Olsen said. "But it's clear from the reports that his resistance is what precipitated what happened."

The city would not release police reports of the incident, citing an ongoing investigation, but Olsen read from police reports to describe the incident.

Boulder City police stopped Parker's black 1988 Chevrolet Suburban around 5 p.m. Thursday after matching the license plates to the alleged hit-and-run. The truck was headed west along Adams Boulevard, a main thoroughfare.

Parker was returning home from a trip to the Boulder City Credit Union, his nephew, Kenneth Arnold, said. A friend of Arnold's, Larry Maes, was driving the vehicle, which Parker had purchased for $400 about two months earlier.

Maes was ordered out of the car, but told police the doorhandle was jammed, police say. Police then ordered Parker out of the passenger side. There was also a woman in the car, a friend of Parker from Colorado Springs, Colo.

"As (Parker) came back toward the officers, the driver yelled out that he had Alzheimer's," Olsen said.

Maes told police to be careful, that Parker was "a sick, old man," Arnold said.

The officer that pulled the Suburban over ordered Parker to drop his cigarette, but Parker said he wouldn't, police say. The officer tried to put Parker's arm behind his back and a struggle ensued, police say. A second officer arrived to help.

"We pulled Parker from the hood of the patrol car and pushed him to the ground. We got the cuffs on him and assisted him standing up again," Olsen said, reading from the report. "We placed him face down in the vehicle, with his legs out of the vehicle."

Parker complained of pain in his ribs. He was taken to Boulder City Hospital for an evaluation, then to Desert Springs Hospital before being transferred to a third facility, where he remained a patient today.

Parker took a phone call from his bed Monday, but he had difficulty recounting the events that led to his hospitalization.

"They took me out and worked me over with the things they got, they had their damn 'persuader' cuffs," Parker said. "I guess I fought against it." Marks also says Parker does not have Alzheimer's disease, and before the police incident, "forgot no more than any other person."

In the days following the incident, he has seemed more disoriented, she said.

"He knew who I was when I came in to see him, but he couldn't remember my name. And he didn't know what day it was or what month it was," Marks said.