PHOENIX POLICE SUED OVER BEATING

Black Resident Says Race Profiling At Fault

A Black Phoenix man contends that he is a victim of racial profiling
and that he was beaten so severely by police that his left arm is
permanently damaged.

David Calvin James, 47, a tool-and-die maker for 25 years with no
criminal record, filed a lawsuit last week against the Phoenix Police
Department, seeking more than $100,000 in damages.

James, who now works as a volunteer at a Phoenix junior high school,
said he does not know why police jumped him in December 1998, but he
believes his arrest and beating were a result of mistaken identity.

Police spokesman Jeff Halstead said he is prohibited from discussing
the case.

But he provided police reports that show officers suspected that James
was carrying illegal drugs and, when confronted, resisted. To restrain
James, officers beat him with a flashlight and fists, and sprayed his
face repeatedly with pepper spray, the police reports said.

James was taken to jail. But he was released after prosecutors
dismissed the charges for lack of evidence. No drugs were found.

In his lawsuit, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, James claims
he was a victim of excessive police force, assault, false arrest and
racial discrimination. His lawyer, Jamie McAlister, said it's a
classic case of racial profiling.

"His only sin was that he was in a drug area, walking alone and he was
Black," she said.

The beating, James says, cost him the use of his left arm, leaving him
in so much pain that he can't pick up a book, much less his work
tools. He says the pain makes it impossible to sleep more than a few
hours at a time.

He has undergone five surgeries to repair damage to his arm, and he
has a continuing infection, he said.

According to police reports, the beating occurred near 17th Avenue and
Roosevelt Street, just a few blocks north of the State Capitol. Police
had been receiving complaints about drugs in the area.

Officers noticed James walking out of an alley known for drug deals.
He appeared to have something clenched in his hand, according to the
report.

When ordered to stop, he put something in his mouth. A struggle
ensued. James broke away and ran. He also took fighting stances, the
reports said.

James and a witness said they believe the reports were falsified by
police to justify the injuries police inflicted. James suspects police
were in the middle of a stakeout and mistook him for someone else.

With his car in the garage for repairs, James said he was walking from
the home of a friend with whom he had just had dinner. He was looking
for another friend in the area before returning home when he was
stopped by police.

He never stepped foot in the alley, James said. His hand was in his
mouth because he was picking food out of his teeth. When he told
police there was nothing in his mouth, he was attacked, he said.

One officer began to punch him repeatedly in the stomach. He deflected
blows but did not fight back, he said. When they continued to put
pepper spray in his face, he started to flee but stopped himself.

"I thought I was going to die. I thought they was gonna kill me," said
James, a father of four.

At one point, he fell, and was handcuffed. That's when his shoulder
was injured, he said.

Ginger Mattox was driving by at the time and saw police beating a
handcuffed man on the ground. She stopped her car, jumped out to
protest and realized the man was James, a close, longtime friend. As a
middle-aged White woman, she felt brave enough to try and intervene,
she said.

"If I would have been a Black woman, I would have been on the ground
right next to him," said Mattox, a visual-communications specialist
for a Tempe firm. She filed a complained about how police handled the
incident to the local chapter of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People.

James said he has never had any problems with the law, not even a
traffic ticket. With $90,000 in medical bills, he is one step from
homelessness.