Woman claims cops assaulted her after arriving at hospital
An Aurora woman says after she rushed her shot boyfriend to the hospital, a police officer threw her to the ground, choked her and stomped on her head, according to a federal lawsuit.
OyZhana Williams on Tuesday sued the officer and two others in U.S. District Court in Denver claiming the officers used excessive force.
Williams seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and injunctive relief, according to the lawsuit, which was filed by Denver attorneys Adam Frank and Faisal Salahuddin.
The lawsuit says Officer Jose Ortiz, one of the three defendants, also filed a false affidavit claiming Williams assaulted the officers.
Faced with a video offering “irrefutable evidence,” prosecutors later dismissed all charges, the lawsuit says.
Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz placed Sgt. Michael Hawkins on desk duty after learning about the allegations, but Ortiz and the third defendant remain on patrol. The chief also released a statement saying he didn’t know about the allegations before the lawsuit was filed and has ordered an immediate investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau. The statement says the department initiated a number of changes to address similar accusations including moving its IAB office out of the main office, implementing a bodycamera policy and forming the Force Review Board to review excessive force claims.
“We take these allegations seriously,” Officer Bill Hummel, a department spokesman, said Wednesday.
In the early hours of Dec. 22, 2015, Williams drove her boyfriend, Blake Newton, who was suffering from a bullet wound, to the emergency room at University of Colorado Hospital, 15300 E. Mississippi Ave.
The police officers arrived at the hospital shortly after to investigate the shooting. Williams was calm, but Hawkins was increasingly agitated, the lawsuit says. Hawkins told Williams the car would have to be towed so it could be searched for evidence, and they walked outside, the lawsuit says.
“Under duress from Sgt. Hawkins’ threats, Ms. Williams held out the keys and dropped them for Sgt. Hawkins to catch. Sgt. Hawkins made no attempt to catch the keys. He let them hit the ground,” the lawsuit says.
Williams climbed into the back seat of the police car. Hawkins reached into the car, grabbed her and then pulled her out of the car, the lawsuit says. She ended up bent backward over the trunk of the car.
“Sgt. Hawkins, grabbed Ms. Williams, threw her, choked her and used his leg as a tripwire against her. (Officer Jordan) Odneal then tackled Ms. Williams over Sgt. Hawkins’ leg, slamming her head into the ground. Once Ms. Williams was on the ground, Sgt. Hawkins stomped on Ms. Williams’ head.
The officers were not wearing body cameras. The scene was captured on a hospital video camera. The officers arrested Williams and held her on $50,000 bond on a charge of second-degree assault on a police officer.
Ortiz and Hawkins falsely wrote in their affidavits that Williams’ fingernails cut into Hawkins’ forehead causing him to bleed, the lawsuit says. Odneal falsely claimed Williams swung her arms in an attempt to pull away from Hawkins and tried to strike him, it says.
Williams had ringing in one of her ears for multiple weeks, had a headache for a week and migraines for several months, the lawsuit says.
“Then she had to fight for her life,” Frank said Wednesday morning.
For nearly 11 months, Williams faced a potential penalty of 10 years in prison before the district attorney’s office dismissed the charges against her, Frank said. She lost her job and was excluded from another based on a criminal background check that found pending criminal charges, he said.