SBI IS INVESTIGATING ARREST BY FORSYTH SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES

Officers Off Beat During Probe

Two Forsyth County sheriff's deputies who witnesses say used
excessive force during the arrest of a man have been reassigned until
the State Bureau of Investigation completes an investigation of the
incident.

Deputies S.D. Wells and G.L. Simpson will work in the sheriff's
office radio room instead of on the department's Highway Interdiction
Team until further notice, said Undersheriff Robert Joyce.

The decision came after sheriff's officials met Monday with members
of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, who said they were concerned that officers used
excessive force in the arrest of Nakia Miguel Glenn, 20.

Glenn, of 619 Mount Vernon Ave., was stopped about 3 a.m Aug. 19 at
Cleveland Avenue and 21st Street by the deputies who said he was
driving erratically.

Witnesses say that the traffic stop was unwarranted and that the
deputies beat Glenn in the head with their flashlights. Glenn
suffered a head wound, which required staples, according to friends
and relatives. He also swallowed or choked on a small bag of cocaine
during the incident.

A press release issued earlier this week by Forsyth Medical Center
and signed by Deana Mitchell, Glenn's mother, says that Glenn is no
longer on life support and that his vital signs are stable. No other
information is being released.

The arrest has drawn a firestorm of criticism from the black
community and people who know Glenn, and the NAACP has started its
own investigation into the arrest, said Bill Tatum, the president of
the local chapter.

The organization asked that the deputies be removed from their
regular duties until the investigation is finished. Members also want
more information about the sheriff's office's arrest policies and the
weapons that deputies are allowed to use.

SBI agents are expected to arrive in Winston-Salem next Tuesday, Joyce said.

No excessive-force complaints against the sheriff's office have
warranted being sent to the SBI in the past 10 years, said Joyce. The
complaints usually are reviewed by Sheriff Ron Barker or by the
department's internal-affairs division, and there is no policy
requiring that a deputy under investigation be assigned different
duties.

But after hearing the NAACP's concerns and reviewing the case, the
department temporarily reassigned Wells and Simpson, Joyce said.

"It was discussed and we decided this was a good idea," he said.

Simpson has been with the sheriff's office since 1995. Wells, who has
been with the department since 1997, was accused of using excessive
force during the arrest of a man in January, and was cleared by
Barker of any wrongdoing.

Neither deputy has been disciplined while working for the department,
according to the Forsyth County human-resources office.

The SBI was called to investigate Glenn's arrest after sheriff's
officials reviewed videotapes of the arrest.

The sheriff's office has refused to release tapes that were recorded
by cameras in the two sheriff's patrol cars that initially responded
to the incident, saying that the tapes are part of the investigation.

One deputy was driving a Camaro, and the other was in a Crown
Victoria with a drug-sniffing dog in the back seat. Both deputies,
who are white, are part of the department's Highway Interdiction
Team. Deputies in the unit spend most of their time patrolling
Interstate 40 and U.S. 52, and have received special training in
spotting safety violations on tractor-trailers.

During a meeting Monday of the Forsyth County commissioners, Joyce
told the board he didn't know why the deputies were on 21st Street.

According to the sheriff's office, the deputies stopped Glenn and
asked for permission to search his car after smelling alcohol on his
breath and watching the passenger making motions around the seat.

Glenn initially agreed to the search but then began resisting
commands, according to the sheriff's office. When deputies attempted
to detain Glenn, the passenger got out of the car and left the area.
He has not been identified.

Witnesses said that Glenn cooperated with the deputies, but they
began to "rough him up" when Glenn asked why he was being handcuffed,
a witness said.

The deputies sprayed Glenn with pepper spray, but Glenn, who was
partially handcuffed, continued to resist, according to the sheriff's
office.

The police dog was released and charged Glenn. Glenn bit the dog in
the face and a deputy on the hand during the scuffle, the sheriff's
office said.

Glenn got away from the deputies and ran to the passenger seat of the
car, according to the sheriff's office.

But witnesses said that Glenn was trying to crawl away from the
deputies, who hit him several times in the head with their
flashlights.

Witnesses also said that the deputies kept wiping blood from Glenn's
mouth to keep it from making a pool on the sidewalk.

A witness said that while he was next to the car he heard a deputy
say that Glenn was trying to get his gun. But witnesses said that at
the time Glenn had both hands behind his back and deputies were
holding him down.

At the request of the Winston-Salem Journal the Forsyth County
attorney's office released two tapes of radio communications between
sheriff's deputies, paramedics and dispatchers for each department.

On one tape, a deputy yells, "get down ... get down." Moments later
the deputy calls for backup. There is a long pause in the tape while
dispatchers send additional sheriff's deputies and Winston-Salem
police officers to the scene.

A deputy then calls a "signal 25," in police code, a call for
immediate assistance. The deputy then says "get me some backup,
please get me some backup," according to the tape.

An ambulance arrived and was initially dispatched to Forsyth Medical
Center without sirens.

But shortly after the ambulance crew signed off, paramedics issued a
"10-18" call, which means that the ambulance will use lights and
sirens. According to the tape, a firefighter and a sheriff's deputy
were riding in the ambulance with the paramedics and Glenn.

Glenn had a seizure in the ambulance and was resuscitated several
times. The bag of cocaine was found by emergency-room doctors who
tried to clear his airway, according to the sheriff's office.

Tatum said he has not seen the patrol-car videotapes but that there
are some questions about whether the incident was completely captured
by the cameras, which are supposed to begin recording when a patrol
car's blue lights are turned on. A button on the deputies' duty belt
turns on the sound for the videotape.

"It is a very volatile situation," Tatum said. "People are just
rallying with prayer, hoping this young man's condition improves."