ARRESTED WOMAN SAYS COPS USED EXCESSIVE FORCE; SCLC WANTS OFFICERS FIRED

A Police Spokesman Says the Woman, Charged with Resisting Arrest, May Have
Received a Scrape as She Struggled

ST. PETERSBURG - A 40-year-old woman charged this week with marijuana
possession says police officers used excessive force during her arrest.

Tonya Marie Sanders plans to file a formal complaint after consulting with
an attorney, Sanders said during a Friday news conference organized by the
Florida chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Besides the marijuana charge, Sanders was charged Tuesday with resisting
arrest without violence and driving with a suspended license.

She said officers did not strike her but tackled her and slammed her head
on the hood of a squad car.

"We can't understand if the lead charge was resisting arrest without
violence, how can somebody end up looking like this?" asked Sevell Brown,
president of the SCLC Florida chapter, referring to photos of Sanders.

A Pinellas County jail photo taken when Sanders was booked at 1:59 a.m.
Wednesday shows a bruise under her right eye.

Police administrators said Friday that Internal Affairs detectives
contacted Sanders after learning she appeared at the news conference, but
she declined to make a complaint at the time.

"This came to our attention through the media, and we responded," said
police spokesman Bill Doniel.

Sanders said Friday she was harassed "because I'm African-American."

Sanders' arrest stemmed from a traffic stop at 11:40 p.m. Tuesday.

Police pulled over Sanders' 1989 white Cadillac DeVille because the car was
stopped on 50th Avenue S, "as if whomever was in it was watching us on the
call" of fruit being thrown at homes in the area, a police report said.
Police suspected the woman inside the Cadillac was throwing the fruit.

Sanders pulled into the front yard of 720 50th Ave. S, and police pulled in
behind her. She told officers she just started caring for a 94-year-old
woman at the address. As she got out of the car, police said they asked
Sanders to stop several times, but she started jogging toward the door.

She told police she ran toward the house because she knew her driver's
license was suspended, the police report said.

In his report, Officer James D. Lofton said he "ran up behind her and
grabbed her as she was opening the door." Sanders tried to "jerk free from
me and I was forced to tackle her, causing us both to fall into the house,"
he wrote.

Police handcuffed Sanders and searched her on the hood of the squad car
before putting her in the car. Officers searched her purse and found 0.5
grams of marijuana and learned her driver's license was suspended June 5
for not paying traffic fines, the police report said.

"When she was trying to pull away from the officer, it's reasonable to
believe that she could have received a scrape on the face," said Doniel.
"Certainly, we would have preferred that she would not have not resisted
the officers and cooperated."

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference called on Mayor Rick Baker and
police Chief Chuck Harmon to fire the officers involved in the arrest.