WOMAN, 65, SAYS SARASOTA DEPUTY KNOCKED HER DOWN

SARASOTA -- A 65-year-old Arkansas woman is suing the sheriff, saying
a deputy slammed her to the ground during a raid at the Sarasota house
where she was staying.

Patsy Croom came to visit her son in Sarasota when his wife died in
2004, and she was sunning herself in the yard when the raid started,
the federal lawsuit filed this week states.

Earlier in the day, an undercover U.S. Postal Service investigator
came up to her as she watered flowers and asked her to sign for a
package, Croom's lawsuit states.

During the conversation, Croom told him the sunning made her
rheumatoid arthritis feel better and she showed him scars from past
surgeries for the disease.

About 30 minutes later, deputies wearing masks and carrying guns
descended on her, yelling at her to get on the ground. She told them
her arthritis prevented her from getting down quickly.

A deputy then put his foot on her back and pushed her to the ground.
Croom said she suffered a torn rotator cuff and herniated disc, the
lawsuit claims.

She says the deputy who knocked her down was the one who planned the
raid and directed all the law enforcement on the scene.

Croom is asking for more than $75,000 in damages.

The raid led to the arrest of Tashko Dinev, 32, another resident of
the house, on charges of possession of illegal prescription drugs.