Woman’s lawsuit claims OKC police broke her arm
Grandmother the latest to challenge tactics, training
“It’s unconscionable what happened to her. It’s just unbelievable that they can take a person, a nonviolent grandmother, and treat her and talk to her the way that they did. It’s infuriating ...”
Damario Solomon-Simmons, an attorney representing Jones
In the sanctuary of a north Oklahoma City church Tuesday, a Black grandmother who has accused police of breaking her right arm wiped away tears as she talked about her encounter with officers in the heat of August, and being handcuffed and escorted to a patrol car.
“I know it was God that spared my life,” Ruby Jones, 74, said. “I won’t forget this. The pain, the agony.”
While the nation is on edge over deadly police interactions in Minnesota, in an excessive force lawsuit filed in Oklahoma County District Court against the city of Oklahoma City and three police officers, Jones is the latest to challenge police tactics and training.
Jones claims the officers, without a proper warrant, forced their way into her house in the 6200 block of N Drexel Boulevard and further violated her rights by handcuffing her during a search for her mentally ill son.
Named in the suit are officers Dan Bradley, Ryan Staggs and James Ray.
Master Sgt. Gary Knight told The Oklahoman the police department will not comment on pending litigation. The officers remain on duty, Knight confirmed.
Damario Solomon-Simmons, an attorney representing Jones, told reporters Tuesday Jones is a mother, grandmother and community servant.
Jones was “brutalized in her home by the Oklahoma City Police Department,” Solomon-Simmons said.
“It’s unconscionable what happened to her,” Solomon-Simmons said. “It’s just unbelievable that they can take a person, a nonviolent grandmother, and treat her and talk to her the way that they did. It’s infuriating, actually, every time I think about it.”
Police account of incident
The following is a police account of what happened around 2 p.m. on August 24:
Officers were dispatched to Red Rock Behavioral Health Center at 4400 N Lincoln Blvd. when a woman reported someone had called in a bomb threat.
Police said caller ID showed Chauncey Jones, 43, was the man who issued the threat.
“Jones spoke with the transfer center and stated that he hated President Trump and was going to blow up white people,” police said in a report. “Jones also stated that he was going to blow up 4400 N. Lincoln like the Murrah Building. Jones did not give a method nor did he give any indication on where a device might be inside or outside the building.”
The police report said when the calltaker was going to transfer Jones to someone else, “he hung up the phone and stated he wasn’t going to blow anything up.”
Officers then went to Jones’ home. Around 2:30 p.m., an officer said he saw Chauncy Jones at the door yelling at him.
Police say Ruby Jones came to the door and asked why they were there.
Police say Ruby Jones allowed an officer into the house.
When the officer entered the home, a police report says, a “kitchen knife was thrown from the other end of the hallway” toward the officer who entered the home.
Chauncey Jones was found in a bedroom near where the knife was thrown, the report says, and the officer saw him throw the knife. Police say the officer was assaulted during his first contact with Chauncey Jones.
“The knife was thrown with such force it sounded like a gunshot had
gone off inside of the house,” police reported.
Chauncey Jones transported to the Oklahoma County jail. Records show he was released Aug. 30.
In 2008, he previously pleaded guilty to three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and received a 10-year suspended sentence to run concurrently.
Lawsuit claims no consent provided
Solomon-Simmons said Ruby Jones tried to explain to police that her son was having a mental health crisis. The lawsuit says Chauncey Jones locked himself in a bedroom when police entered the home.
The lawsuit, which doesn’t specify the amount of money being sought, says Ruby Jones “provided no such consent” for officers to enter her home. Officers said they had a warrant but provided no evidence of such, according to the lawsuit.
Solomon-Simmons showed reporters edited video from police body-worn cameras that show an officer pushing past Jones.
“Lemme see your (expletive) hands,” can be heard in the scene.
Officers were in the house with their weapons drawn as Ruby Jones can be seen and heard pleading with them to not harm her son.
“You’re fixin’ to go sit in the car,” an officer tells her.
Officers pulled her from a bedroom, moved her toward the front door and handcuffed her.
The lawsuit says an officer pulled Jones’ right arm upward and at an angle “beyond its physical capabilities,” and Jones cried out that they were hurting her arm.
Police can be heard telling Jones she resisted.
Handcuffed, Jones collapsed to the floor, the lawsuit says. Officers pulled her up and an officer tightened her right handcuff as they led her out the door, according to the lawsuit. In the video, Jones complained of heart problems and an officer told her “you can walk,” as she appeared to struggle in the heat to make it to a patrol car.
An officer told Jones she “didn’t have to yell” at him.
Resignation calls echo similar complaints
“We know for a fact that would not have happened to a white grandmother,” Solomon-Simmons said. “We know for a fact that would not have happened in a white neighborhood.”
Marquise Miller, pastor of Reach Out Ministries and grandson of Jones, said the ordeal has been difficult on the family and he cannot watch any more video of his grandmother being placed in handcuffs and walked to a patrol vehicle.
“We just want justice for my grandmother,” he said.
The family and their supporters called for the officers to be fired, for Police Chief Wade Gourley to step down, and for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Oklahoma City Police Department.
Those demands echo similar complaints stemming from recent police use-of-force scenarios here.
The family of 15-year-old Stavian Rodriguez, who was suspected of robbery and was shot fatally by five Oklahoma City police officers, filed a lawsuit against the city, the police chief and the five officers, who face first-degree manslaughter charges.
In another case, Sgt. Clifford Holman was charged with first-degree manslaughter for shooting Bennie Edwards, a mentally ill man, in the back on Dec. 11.
“Our police departments are out of control at this point,” Garland Pruitt, Oklahoma City NAACP president, said Tuesday.
Pruittt and others spoke the same day a white police officer and a white police chief in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, resigned in the aftermath of protests over the officer fatally shooting 20year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop.
About 10 miles south in Minneapolis, tensions are high as former police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for murder in the death of George Floyd.
In Oklahoma City, Pruitt, the NAACP president, demanded police officers be held accountable for their actions.
“We’ve got to take it to the next level, and the next level is prosecution. The next level is arrest. The next level is you lose your job. Until they become liable and responsible, we will continue to have this problem.”