Excessive force alleged in arrest of 84-year-old

Thursday, July 25, 2002 | 10:58 a.m.

The Henderson Police Department is investigating two officers accused of using excessive force against an 84-year-old Henderson man on a traffic stop Sunday night outside the Rainbow casino, Deputy Chief Monty Sparks, head of internal affairs, said Wednesday.

A minor traffic violation landed Charles Grant Walker in the hospital after he refused to sit down on the ground as ordered by police because of a disability, his lawyer Leo Flangas said. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound man was in St. Rose Dominican Hospital with five broken ribs, a fractured hip, a sprained wrist and multiple contusions, Flangas said.

"He's a good guy. He didn't deserve this," said Stephanie Fox, a family friend and regular Rainbow customer.

Flangas maintained that all of Walker's injuries came from the traffic encounter with police. He alleges that police ignored the man's injuries at the Henderson Detention Center and forced him to "lie on the concrete in his own blood" before someone realized how badly he was hurt. Paramedics had to remove Walker from the jail cell on a gurney because he couldn't get into a wheelchair, Flangas said.

Henderson Police Chief Michael Mayberry said he had seen photos of Walker in the hospital and was very concerned about Walker's well-being and the reputation of the Henderson Police Department.

"As police chief, I have directed Internal Affairs to give this investigation the highest priority," Mayberry said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. "This investigation will be thorough, it will be comprehensive, and we will leave no stone unturned."

Police officials refused to comment further on the case, except to add that the officers involved, David Tomlinson and W. Seekatz, remain on active duty.

The officers wrote in the police report that they used only necessary force to arrest Walker after he refused to follow direct orders, then resisted arrest.

According to police reports, Tomlinson first flashed his lights when Walker was stopped in the intersection of Army and Market streets waiting for a parking spot to open up. Walker pulled into the parking space, exited his car and began shouting angrily at Tomlinson, the report said.

Tomlinson used pepper spray and an arm bar to force Walker to the ground after the elderly man repeatedly refused his orders to stop in front of the patrol vehicle, the report said. Once on the ground, Walker continued to resist arrest by refusing to turn onto his stomach and hiding his left arm, the report said. Seekatz responded to the scene and helped Tomlinson handcuff Walker, the report said.

Walker continued to scream at officers after he was handcuffed and refused to get into the police car, the police report said, quoting witnesses.

"I observed the officers helping the suspect," one witness said, whose identity was blacked out on the police report. "The officers couldn't have been more gentle with the suspect. The suspect was being very uncooperative, and cussing and screaming when the officers were only trying to talk to him."

Another witness said that Walker was being combative and that police used "easy force" to restrain him.

Tomlinson reported that Walker was bleeding slightly over his right eye and on his left hand, but that he was cleared at the scene by emergency personnel. He was booked for parking in an intersection, resisting a public officer and obstructing a peace officer and is scheduled to be arraigned in Henderson Justice Court Aug. 7.

"He's a happy-go-lucky guy. He never yells at anybody," said Fox, who added she and her mother have been visiting Walker daily at the hospital. "I've seen people say mean things to him, and he just let it slide off his back.

"I think he was just trying to them know he's disabled, that he has trouble getting down on the ground," she said. "He had a bad hip and he's an 84-year-old man, and 84-year-old men have trouble getting around."

Walker has lived in the Henderson area for 30 years, Flangas said. A widower, he was visiting the Rainbow on Sunday night for dinner, where he eats most of his meals.

"He goes there three times a day -- breakfast, lunch and dinner," Flangas said. "The ritual makes him feel better. There is a close-knit family of senior citizens at the Rainbow Club."