Mesa family wants police held accountable after grandmother injured
Feb 22, 2018, 9:03 AM
PHOENIX — Police in Mesa making a welfare check that led to scrapes and bruises on an elderly woman have released body-cam video of the house call.
Police Chief Ramon Batista said in a Facebook post Wednesday that the 84-year-old grandmother was not following instructions to walk to them and away from the house near McKellips and Gilbert roads on Feb. 14.
An officer eventually lowered the woman to the street and handcuffed her. When she rose, scrapes on her face were visible.
Her granddaughter disputed the department’s version and demanded they be held accountable for their actions.
Ashlee Hahn wrote on a social media account the next day that her grandmother was recovering from a number of strokes and had a hard time staying still, as the officers had instructed.
She described the physical encounter as police having slammed the older woman’s head on the ground and grabbed her hard enough to leave bruises.
Batista said officers had received a phone call from someone in the family asking that they check on her son, who was possibly suicidal.
Officers went to the house, asked a young man matching the description they’d been given to come out to talk. Instead, the grandmother came out.
Batista said the woman was taken to the ground after she tried to go back to the the house.
An officer in the video told the woman, “We need to get this figured out. We’ll talk about it real quick and get it all sorted out.”
When she reached the handful of officers standing near their vehicles, one of them took hold of her and dipped her facedown to the damp street. She began screaming as a policeman put her hands behind her back and another cuffed her.
Meanwhile, another officer was on a bullhorn talking to the man in the house, trying to persuade him to either come out or answer the phone because they were calling.
Hahn wrote she was livid and that no had apologized.
Batista wrote, “Please know that I understand why this situation was alarming. It’s critically important that our department symbolizes trust and faith, and that our residents know officers will do our very best, no matter the circumstances.
“We all have a mother and a grandmother who we love very much; their safety and well-being are always a priority.”
He also said the department had since been in contact with the family.