A grandmother has filed charges after reportedly being pepper-sprayed and dragged from her car by a police officer for attempting to deliver cupcakes to her grandchildren, despite an alleged restraining order against her.
Mary Poole, 78, merely wanted to give the baked treats to her
grandchildren while they were attending class at Kastner
Intermediate School in Fresno, California. For several years,
Poole was the legal guardian of her son’s two daughters, but a
custody dispute between the girls’ parents left her unable to see
the girls.
“I hadn’t seen my granddaughters for some time and I wanted
to see them, and so I baked some cupcakes and bought some cookies
for my granddaughters’ classroom,” Poole told reporters with
a local ABC affiliate about last year's incident.
A police officer from Clovis Unified School District approached
Poole outside one of the classrooms, informing her of a
restraining order that had been filed against her and she “had to
leave” the school grounds.
READ MORE: Florida police officer suspended after slapping homeless man
Poole obeyed the officer and drove her car off the school campus,
parking on the street in front of the school where she placed a
telephone call her son to explain the situation. At this point,
the officer reportedly became aggressive and eventually
pepper-sprayed the 78-year-old, who is less than 5 feet tall
(1.5m) and weighs about 110lbs (50kg).
“He wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say, period. Every
time I tried telling him anything…I mean, I was even telling him,
‘I’m 78 years old,’ before he grabbed me. He sprayed me with mace
twice,” Poole said.
Poole said she was very frightened and told the officer to call
the police, to which he responded, “I am the police.”
“He jerked me out of my car with my left arm with such great
force, and then threw me on to the pavement. From there he
dragged me by my left arm up to the school grounds,” she
added.
Poole said she suffered more than $180,000 in medical bills as a
result of her injuries, and has filed a lawsuit alleging police
brutality and elderly abuse.
“The amount of force it took to inflict these injuries is
testament to what happened that day,” Mark Coleman, Poole’s
attorney, told an ABC affiliate.
Clovis Unified has not publicly commented on the lawsuit.
READ MORE: Shocking video shows police tasering elderly man in Florida
Such incidents of excessive force at the hands of US police
officers are gaining greater attention. On Sunday, a YouTube
video surfaced of a Fort Lauderdale police officer slapping a homeless man outside a bus
terminal.
The police officer, Victor Ramirez, has been suspended with pay
as investigators review the case.