LAUDERDALE PASTOR RIPS POLICE ACTION IN ARREST

A church pastor on Wednesday criticized Fort Lauderdale police for pursuing
a drug suspect onto the church parking lot and scuffling with him in front
of schoolchildren.

Michael Arthur, 22, of Fort Lauderdale, is charged with battery on a law
enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, carrying a concealed
knife, possession of marijuana and possession of cocaine, Reed said.

Police said they chased the suspect on foot for a block, catching up with
him at Mount Bethel Baptist Church in the 900 block of NW 12th Avenue.

The suspect, who is six-feet-two and 260 pounds, punched an officer who is
5-feet-10 and 150 pounds, and snatched the radio off another officer,
police said.

``[The first responding officer] was getting beat up by this guy,'' police
spokesman Mike Reed said of the officer. ``He was calling for help.''

Police did not identify the officers because they frequently work undercover.

The Rev. C.E. Glover, senior pastor at the church, called a news conference
to accuse police of being overzealous -- kicking and hitting Arthur -- in
the course of subduing him.

``I understand that they have a tough job [but] it was totally
inexcusable,'' said Glover, who said his wife witnessed the arrest. Beulah
Glover is administrator of Mount Bethel Christian Academy.

The school teaches kindergarten through eighth grade.

Glover said the church, in the predominantly black northwest section of the
city, will consider a lawsuit after conferring with its attorney and
community leaders.

Rescue personnel treated an officer for scrapes and bruises, but the
suspect did not need medical attention, Reed said.

Glover recalled an Oct. 11 incident in which Rodrick Wright, a 12-year-old
student at the church school, was killed and a little girl seriously hurt
after a stolen car fleeing police plowed through an intersection next to
the church.

Police said the October incident did not result from a chase because even
though a patrol car followed the suspect at a slow rate of speed, it did so
with its lights and sirens off.

Herald staff writer Susan Ferrechio contributed to this report.