|
|
|
Uploaded: Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 7:36 PM
Police draw ire for public drunkenness arrests
|
|
by Daniel DeBolt
Mountain View Voice Staff
Police and a handful of local residents hold divergent opinions about what happened on a recent Friday night after officers responded to a noise complaint at 242 Bush Street and wound up arresting three people.
Spokesperson Liz Wylie says the visit by police was routine, and that the arrests were necessary for officers to maintain control of the situation. But those who attended the gathering of about 20 people around a fire pit in the driveway of their apartment complex say it appeared to be "pre-planned" when about 10 officers "swooped in" and arrested three people without much discussion or warning.
The incident occurred just before midnight on Friday, Sept. 4, when the friends, most of whom live there in the small complex, were having some beers and talking — not too loudly, they say. That's when a group of officers arrived, looking like a "Roman phalanx, a wall of armed guards" in the words of Thomas Lear, who claims he didn't say anything to police before being taken away.
Wylie said arrestees were taken in because they had not complied with orders to sit down.
"If you are trying to impede our work then, yeah, we stop being super-polite," she said. "We've got to gain control of the situation."
Three people were arrested for public drunkenness but not charged: Lear, 36, and Galen Wolf, 29, both of Mountain View; and Pooya Shai, 29, of San Jose. Though the three spent the night in jail, none was officially charged with being drunk in public. Wylie said that's standard police practice for non-repeat offenders.
The complex is largely occupied by friends and members of a heavy metal band called Raising the Dead, and is used for occasional parties and band practice every Friday night. Though their activities and appearance are unusual, resident Owen Johnston said, he and his friends have earned the respect of their neighbors by keeping their complex clean and ending band practice every Friday at 10 p.m. Johnston said neighbors had not called police about noise problems for two years.
Unlike a similar incident with Mountain View police last summer at 122 E. Middlefield Road, which led to allegations of police brutality, police had not repeatedly warned partygoers to keep the noise down throughout the evening. This was their first visit to the group on Bush Street.
Ellen Wheeler, a school board member and lawyer, is Johnston's mother. She met with several witnesses last week and e-mailed some comments to the Voice.
"My son and his friends may look unconventional to the police, but I know them to be good people, with good jobs, good educations and good hearts," she wrote. Wheeler added that she hoped this would lead to a "teachable moment" for all involved.
Two perspectives
Upon arrival, Wylie said, police found "approximately 20 people outside the front drinking and talking loudly. Officers asked them to sit down and asked them why they were there. Two subjects didn't comply and began shouting obscenities at officers, refusing to be quiet," she said.
"One of them basically began using the F-word, began screaming and refused to provide identification. One jumped into an officer's face."
Basically, she said, those people were being "uncooperative and belligerent" while everyone else was cooperative.
In separate interviews, Shahi and Lear said there was no shouting before or during the first two arrests and that everyone spoke calmly.
"After the arrests, yeah, maybe they were angry," said Shahi. "Before the arrests, no."
"The way they came in, they were not there to talk," he said. "They were there to arrest us."
Shahi said he was taken aside by police 20 seconds after returning to the party to ask questions about why officers were there out of "genuine concern" for his friends. "I was pretty much arrested immediately," Shahi said. "I guess I didn't move as fast as they were telling me to move."
According to police procedure, "We ask them to sit down so we can have some control over the situation," Wylie said. Police then make sure that someone present at the gathering actually lives there. Then police ask them to move the party inside. It usually works, she said.
"But if people right off the bat refuse a simple command like 'sit down' we stop asking them to listen and we begin ordering them to listen. We have to keep control of the situation for people's safety," Wylie said.
Drunk tank
The "public drunkenness" charge puzzled Shahi and other partygoers who thought they were safe to drink on private property.
Wylie said the charge applies to any space accessible to the public, which includes private driveways and front yards. The charge also applies to a certain behavior, not a specific blood alcohol content level, she said.
"You have to be so intoxicated you have to be incapable of caring for yourself" or "are making poor decisions for yourself," Wylie said.
"I had four beers in a matter of three hours," Shahi said. "I was pretty sober in the drunk tank, I'll tell you that." He added that police refused his requests for a breathalyzer test.
Lear, Shahi and Johnston all said they were disappointed with the general conduct of the police officers, which they thought was unprofessional. For example, all three reporting hearing an officer humming Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries." They said it appeared that "rookies" in white uniforms — actually community service officers — were taking notes and learning "bad behavior" from the other officers, one of whom, they said, referred to the group of friends as "crazy" as police arrived.
Wheeler suggested that police and those who were at the party sit down, talk and learn from it.
"It's important to look outside ourselves to see that we are all the same and then we can look inside ourselves to treat each other the same," Wheeler said. "This is what I'd like to happen as a result of this police incident."Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
|
|
| Comments
|
Posted by USA, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 15, 2009 at 10:48 pm
USA is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online Drunk, uncooperative, and back talking police officers from a trashy apartment complex in an otherwise nice neighborhood. What could go wrong there?
|
|
Posted by earlytorise, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Sep 15, 2009 at 11:21 pm
The band ends their practices at 10pm? That's neighborly indeed.
This situation sounds like a bit of a misunderstanding that got out of hand. I'm glad no one was charged.
I sure wish the local shopping centers would be so neighborly and stop scheduling the use of leaf blowers and other noisy cleaning equipment, in their parking lots near residences, after 10pm! I've been woken up after midnight a number of times by that racket. I wish there was some way to stop them from "disturbing the peace".
|
|
Posted by Ned, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 7:40 am Since when is it a crime to ask why you should sit down when a police officer tells you too? Especially if you've done nothing wrong. Typical MV police attitude. Terrible example of effective policing. Welcome to MV.
|
|
Posted by L, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 10:24 am Humming "Ride of the Valkyries"? Sounds like someone in uniform wanted to push around some punks on a Friday night. Who knew one of said punks would have a lawyer for a mother. Uh oh.
|
|
Posted by Concerned Citizen, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 10:27 am Another example of the boys in blue's "do what I say, not what I do" mentality. The officers in our cities that think "they are the law", are the ones who give the good officers a bad name. You are not the law, you are servants of the law and should act accordingly. I want criminals to be locked up too, but there needs to be more acountability from our public servants. Take a look at how much money is wasted every year in our country by cities settling lawsuits brought against the police, it's astounding! If an officer steps over the line just one time, he or she should be fired instantly.
|
|
Posted by close reader, a resident of another community, on Sep 16, 2009 at 12:10 pm USA's assumption of the young men being "drunk, uncooperative, and back talking" is disputed by the arrestees. But he gives himself away by noting that among the reasons they were arrested is the fact that they lived in a "trashy apartment complex in an otherwise nice neighborhood." This is classic rich man's elitism: only people who live in nice places in nice neighborhoods deserve respectful treatment by the cops.
|
|
Posted by USA, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 2:00 pm
USA is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online close reader -- If you don't like "trashy apartment" drive down Bush and pick you own descriptive phrase.
As far as "classic rich man's elitism", I cannot help you there. In the last 25 years, the police have not had one call from our neighborhood. I suppose that is due to our lack of drunk, uncooperative, and back talking people living in a trashy apartment complex in our otherwise nice neighborhood.
|
|
Posted by close reader, a resident of another community, on Sep 16, 2009 at 2:11 pm I'm fine with the phrase "trashy apartment." My point, which you missed, is that people in this country deserve respectful treatment from police no matter how nice or trashy the place they live.
I'm glad you live in a nice neighborhood free of police intrusion -- or even the need for it. Good for you! And thanks for agreeing me, or anyway for underscoring my point.
|
|
Posted by reader, a resident of another community, on Sep 16, 2009 at 2:30 pm All this Voice article does is state that "these guys said this" and "those guys said that" and since NONE of us were there to see what actually DID occur between the police officers and the residents, the ONLY thing people can say on this forum is what they THINK happened based on their prior biases towards or against police officers and "young people who drink in their front yard, play music, and have unconventional appearances." If there is a photo of the "detainees" in the newspaper tomorrow, then we can all form opinions about them based on their appearance!
|
|
Posted by JYU, a resident of another community, on Sep 16, 2009 at 2:40 pm If you don't like police behavior, take it up with the Mountain View City Council. I have communicated with them before and they are conscientious, responsive, people. Documenting such police behavior with a cell-phone (or other) video works wonders.
|
|
Posted by Owen Johnston, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 3:18 pm I'm glad that this issue is being discussed publicly, as well as privately. We are setting up a camera and microphone, so if this happens again we will have a recording of it. There will be no more "he said, she said." We are, however, getting written statements about the event from people who witnessed it all. Some of the witnesses were sober at the time.
Check out the nice garden we have in front of the place. We can do things with the dirt, not the building we don't own.
|
|
Posted by USA, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 4:01 pm
USA is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online close reader -- I am in no way agreeing with you. You and a few others seem to have a problem with police and I assume other authority figures "dissing" you. This is not about respect. It is about law.
If you are loud, drunk, and obnoxious, the police are going to come down on you. You don't like that? Then, don't be loud, drunk, and obnoxious.
|
|
Posted by out of towner, a resident of another community, on Sep 16, 2009 at 4:26 pm "Some of the witnesses were sober at the time."
Even the article suggests some people were not cooperative. Not everyone was arrested. As usual with drinking involved, some individuals have a tough time figuring things out like swearing, loudness, cooperating etc. This will go nowhere.
|
|
Posted by DP - former neighbor, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 4:39 pm We used to live near the complex and they are nice guys. It's true they had band practice and it usually stopped at 10:00. They are actually a tight community and looked after each other. Sure, you needed to accommodate a bit of noise from them during some of their parties, but it was rarely on work/school nights so it wasn't a problem. But they worked hard to be good neighbors and still have fun. Too bad about the arrests.
|
|
Posted by kanan k, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 5:06 pm I never had any issue with MV police and my encounters with them is atleast a decade old. They were definitely nice to me. I am sure they are responsible for maintaining the safety and security of this town/city. Not sure why they go there and arrests people if none complained..Ofcourse . they definitely have the right to go and check if they hear something when they are driving by. Every citizen needs to be respectful to the officers when they are questioned anything. I wish one of the police had video taped the whole thing since there were 10 of them..so that everyone can understand on what happened. It is also important that police officers understand that the citizens have civil rights and don't use their powers to trample and undermine those rights. Because the police officers are ordinary citizens themselves when they are not in their uniforms.
|
|
Posted by suzie, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 5:43 pm If you're caught drinkin' beer and partying, just call your lawyer mom to get you out of trouble. Yeah, right.
|
|
Posted by Owen Johnston, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 7:52 pm You should read through, and process the information from the article before posting. I was there and what the police said, is not quite the truth. The police wrote it up to not sound as if there was "misconduct."
Once we iron out the details, we will see.
|
|
Posted by Lupita Villador, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 8:29 pm I live next door to everyone involved and I can tell you for a fact that the police over-reacted to a very peaceful gathering, for a friend that was recently admitted to UC Davis. The police were WAY too ready to arrest people without probable cause. The people involved were all willing to cooperate with the police up until the moment the police became belligerent with all parties involved. No one actually shouted obscenities up until the moment that they were arrested.
|
|
Posted by Katherine Shur, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 9:02 pm I did not witness the event, but as a character witness I can say that I know everyone who was arrested is a likable, contributing member of our community. I suspect that no obscenities were shouted at the officers prior to the arrests, and this is what residents have said.
I am glad that the charges have been dropped.
I resent the comment about calling lawyer mother to get off the hook; perhaps that's how it reads, but the lawyer's son was not arrested, actually, but a concerned resident of the apartment complex.
I have always known said complex to be safe and respectful.
I thank the community for giving this attention. The only thing between freedom and a police state is the peoples' voice.
|
|
Posted by Jack, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 9:20 pm Pathetic. And I'm not talking about the cops.
|
|
Posted by close reader, a resident of another community, on Sep 16, 2009 at 9:54 pm USA - you're being dense, so I'll repeat myself: your assumption of the young men being "drunk, uncooperative, and back talking" is disputed by the arrestees.
Scroll back up and read the first-person accounts of non-stakeholding witnesses, like Lupita Villador, and you'll see how very thoroughly and convincingly disputed I mean.
Or you won't! because you see only what you want to see. Some people wouldn't believe the time of day unless a cop told them.
Naturally, you assume the motives behind all my opinions here are because I have some childish problem with "authority figures." Again, you assume wrong. I AM an authority figure. Literally, I am friends with cops. They're just people. Sometimes people screw up.
"This is not about respect, it is about law." It is about both, friend. Kanan K got it right.
|
|
Posted by Katherine Shur, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 10:01 pm Oh? Then that are you talking about, please, Jack, resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood?
|
|
Posted by Lupita Villador, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 16, 2009 at 10:11 pm Obviously Jack doesn't know what he's talking about. I have lived in my complex over sixteen years and in all that time I have only had positive experiences with the parties involved. In my point of view, the police obviously over-reacted to a "noise complaint" and should have shown much better judgement. Jack needs to read all comments before posting such an asinine remark. By the way, the incident occured on September 4, 2009 not September 11, 2009.
|
|
Posted by Don Frances, Mountain View Voice Editor, on Sep 17, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Don Frances is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online Thanks for the correction on the date. I'll change it in this story and run a correction in print next week.
|
|
Posted by Owen Johnston, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 18, 2009 at 1:59 pm I would like to know about Ms.Wylies' statement of "making poor decisions for yourself." Who gets to decide what decisions are poor for whom? If my friend likes Pepsi and I order a Sprite, they might think that I made a poor decision. Do the police get to determine when someone is making poor decisions for themselves? That is exactly how it sounded to me. We are all individuals with our own individual preferences.
|
|
Posted by Tom Lear, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 19, 2009 at 11:55 pm I'd like to point out that in the other incident referenced by the author the story says the party "had drawn three noise complaints" and that "two officers responded to the final complaint", which seems reasonable... In this case there were 9 police vehicles blocking the street before a single officer stepped on our property for the first "theoretical" complaint.
|
|
Posted by Bush Street Resident, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 20, 2009 at 7:32 pm Ever notice that any time a story comes up about the police abusing their power it always involves someone complaing that was intoxicated? Just an observation.
But maybe the arrestees need some re-training themselves:
1) Obey the Law
2) Use Common Sense
3) Stop immediately if contacted by the Police
4) Turn that S#%* Off
5) Be Polite
6) Don't roll with a crazy friend
7) Shut the F#*% up
8) If two thru seven don't work try starting at rule one again.
|
|
Posted by Eshan, a resident of the Rex Manor neighborhood, on Sep 20, 2009 at 8:02 pm Ellen Wheeler just loves to let everyone know she's lawyer. It gets a little old after a while. Maybe she needs to go find a practice to start practicing law at rather than getting involved here. There are much better causes worth fighting for.
|
|
Posted by Sue, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Feb 3, 2013 at 2:30 pm Ironic that Ms Lupita Villador who defended her neighbors in the comment section above is now in prison (see Drug Bust - Mountain View, 11/2012). Thank you MVPD for doing a great job!
|
|
|
| |
|
Send this story
Print this story
