Pregnant Woman Cuffed, Arrested For Talking Too Loudly

[Kadie]

Pregnant Woman Cuffed, Arrested For Talking Too Loudly

POSTED: 9:51 am EDT September 28, 2004

WHEATON, Md. -- A pregnant woman said she feared for her unborn child's safety -- after a transit police officer forced her onto her stomach while trying to arrest her for talking too loudly on a cell phone.

She said the officer forced her to the ground and pushed his knee into her back.

Sakinah Aaron, 23, said the incident occurred at a bus station in the Washington suburb of Wheaton, Md., earlier this month.

"I'm thinking between the ground and his knee, my water is going to break and I'm going to have a miscarriage or something," she told the Montgomery Journal of the Sept. 9 incident.

Aaron said a doctor later said her 5-month-old fetus was not harmed.

more...
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/3766132/detail.html

[ret5hd]

1. you wanna see sumthin' funny?

just wait for those here that think it's a GOOD thing she was arrested.

[Tom Kitten]

11. It is funny

you sure called this one...

[northzax]

16. I'll sign up on that list

I don't want to ride on a train with someone who can't obey a reasonable, lawful request from a police officer without screaming obscenities. and that's HER side of the story.

[donhakman]

2. I am from Wheaton

It must be frustrating for the Transit cops.
They have yet to apprehend a single rapist who prey upon women leaving the Metro stations.



Perhaps the rapists are Transit cops?

[Phillycat]

3. I don't think we are getting the full story here.

The story as it is presented says the woman was cursing loudly into her cell phone and was abusive and uncooperative.

Now. I have had very few interactions with police officers in my life, but I assure you that in the few I have had, I have been exceedingly polite and well-mannered. What makes people think they can scream at and curse out police officers? In my opinion this woman deserved to be arrested.

As far as the manner of the arrest, we only have this woman's word for what happened, a woman who tends to scream obscenities into her cellphone in public. And a doctor said her baby is going to be just fine, so my thought is, CTS--consider the source.

[el_gato]

5. Next you're gonna say if the baby died it deserved it

[Phillycat]

8. I'm sorry? I don't understand.

Your post seems to have no connection to my post. Please explain.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

9. No, I am sure we are not

1. Black in public is a crime in Montgomery Co.

2. She is most likely hormonal.

3. I don't blame her for cursing, she was concerned for her baby at that point.

[Phillycat]

15. Does the article state she is AfricanAmerican?

[miss_kitty]

19. no

but her photo, accompanying the article, leaves little doubt.

[Phillycat]

21. I apologize, the article I read did not have an accompanying photo.

[ChoralScholar]

27. as I understood it,

the cursing was taking place on the cell phone, before the officer subdued her. Or did I misread that?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. I want to know what "uncooperative" is.

Sounds to me like the woman was having serious hormonal issues and needed someone to help her get a grip, not necessarily via handcuffs. This is an area where many police lack expertise where it's sorely needed.

I agree, though, that the details need to be presented before anyone can judge.

[Phillycat]

17. Where does the assumption of hormonal come in?

I am not trying to be insensitive, but for a variety of reasons, I have been absolutely surrounded by pregnant women for the past 6 months, and not once did any of them scream or curse into their cellphone in public. Is this normal "hormonal" behavior for a pregnant woman? I am honestly asking, not trying to be snide. I have never witnessed that type of behavior.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

25. It was for me on occasion...

I vividly recollect during my first pregnancy a confrontation with an irate bus driver. I'd pulled into what I thought was a parking space which was, in fact, a poorly marked bus stop on a miserable rainy evening. Fortunately, a friend was in the car with me, and he helped calm things down.

This was by no means the "norm" for either of my 2 pregnancies; but I've not experienced these negative emotional "rushes" in the 44 years of my life when I've not been pregnant.

As the incidents seem to require a form of incitement (from my experience, anyway), it's perfectly feasible that you haven't encountered crazed pregnant women at the office.

It's highly possible that the woman who was arrested in this case was suffering from an overreaction to the person with whom she was speaking on the phone. The article doesn't mention the gist of that conversation, or why she was cursing so loudly to begin with. I can imagine any number of scenarios that might cause her to lose control while on the phone...and people tend to become oblivious to others when conversing via cellphone.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

28. It is not abnormal for some

That's for sure

[miss_kitty]

12. so when did screaming and cursing at police become against the law?

or talking loudly into a cell phone? hey! I hate cell phones and people who use them in public, but i don't think anyone should be arrested for talking too loudly or cursing into one. what a load.

[northzax]

14. she wasn't arrested for that

she was arrested, not for talking to loudly, but for resisting a lawful request from a Police Officer. She wasn't on a street corner, she was in an enclosed publictransit system. He asked her to lower her voice, obth sides agree on that. She responded by cursing at him. both sides agree on that. He tried to excort herout of the system, she resisted. That's what she was cited for. If you resist a citation, say, not signing a traffic ticket, and combine it with cursing at the officer, you are likely to get arrested, don't you think?

[fishwax]

18. Both sides agree she was cursing?

I don't see where both sides agree to that. Where did you read it?

I didn't see it in the original link or in the Washington Post article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55325-2004Sep27.html). In the 2nd article she denies cursing.

And the transit authority apparently has a history of overreacting.

[northzax]

23. read the article, she admits to cursing at the officer

not to cursing on her phone.

And Metro has a history of enforcing the law, not overreacting. Sure, it looks awful to arrest a 12 year old for eating, but the law specifically says that the police cannot cite a minor without a guardian present. So if they cannot reach a guardian, they have to arrest the person. It's the law. In that case, they tried to reach the parents of the young girl to take her home, but were unable to. so they had to hold her. it's the law.

poor guys, everyone complains about people talking too loudly, eating or drinking on the Metro or whatever, believe me, in DC everyone complains, and when they try to enforce the rules, everyone says they are overreacting. The Media has a history of overplaying the actions of the Metro police who work really hard, quite frankly, to avoid citing or arresting people. but when you respond by cursing them and resisting their efforts to remind you of the rules, everone says they overreact.

[fishwax]

26. I read the article

I still don't see it in there. She says she was trying to get away. The police officials said she was cursing. I don't see her saying she was cursing. Maybe it said that in an earlier version of the story.

[northzax]

30. the version I read in the paper this morning

included (paraphrase) a comment that she was cursing, and that this was listed in the facts that both sides agree to. The Metro cops said she was cursing on the phone, she said she cursed at the cop, but both sides agree there was cursing.

at least that's what I read.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

29. We are still talking about pinning a pregnant woman down to

the pavement roughly.

I have no problems with enforcing the rules on a transit system. It has to be done....

but...

[northzax]

31. perhaps she should not have resisted

when the officer tried to escort her out of the station. Frankly, they can't take the chance, and being pregnant, or upset, or hormonal is no excuse. If you are acting crazy, (and I consider loudly using obscenties to a police officer who was trying to enforce the law without arresting you to be crazy) then they must employ some reasonable force, for their own protection.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

32. No, they should isolate her until she calms down

and if she is not assualting anyone, don't go near her until she is calm.

If she lost the baby, what would be your position?

[markdd]

4. Transit station??

Ya know there's a great chance there's a video somewhere of this incident. Most transit stations have cameras aimed at the platform. No audio, but the video ought to be informative.

[Endangered Specie]

6. How about just arresting her for the cell phone?

I hate those things :grr:

[HEyHEY]

7. Hey stupid remark of the day is in this story!!

"This is not the first incidence of police being accused of going too far."

WELL NO FUCKING DUH!!!!!

[northzax]

13. well speaking as someone who actually uses Metro

What I heard is that the officer aaked her to lower her voice. Her response was along the lines of "You can't """"""" tell me how loud I can talk." Actually, on Metro, they can. It is community property, and there are accepted standards of behaviour, they include not disturbing other passengers. Frankly, if this woman was next to me, I might ask her to speak lower as well. Just as I'll remind people that there is no eating or drinking on the Metro.

Frankly, you cannot curse at a cop who is doing his job and notexpect ot be removed from Metro. Next time, try screaming obscenities at a bus driver, or a flight attendant. See what happens.

Metro has a zero tolerance policy for disturbing the peace, if there is a person screaming at an officer, he is well within his rights, and obligations, to escort this person from the station. And if that person resists the attempts of the officer to remove her, she needs to be arrested. deal with it. If a police officer (metro cops are, in fact, police, not rent a cops) makes a lawful request of you, and you resist physically, expect to get arrested.

In six years of riding metro, I have seen only two people escorted out of a station or even cited for misbehaviour. I have seen police officers ask people to stop drinking, eating, smoking, listening to radios without earphones, fighting, screaming, everything. Only twice has the officer asked someone to stop and been resisted. Those people went away (I certianly didn't follow them, but I assume they were arrested or escorted out of the system after being cited.

I am no metro apologist, there are many problems in the system, but I think the Metro Transit Police, given their responsibilities, do a pretty good job.

[BlueJazz]

22. I agree...I've got a friend who takes the Metro

..and he tells me the other people in the car were glad to see her go and that the officer did NOT try to use excessive force. Frankly, it just sounds like another nasty, loud mouth, abusive person getting what they deserve.

On Edit: I'd also bet that she had Lawyer/civil suit/Big Money on her mind.

[JVS]

20. "May I suggest using the nightstick officer"- Billy Ray Valentine

[SotarrTheWizard]

24. Some other interesting details have popped up. . .

. . .seems the incident happened on Sept 5th. . .and she's reporting it to the media NOW, after getting a lawyer and NOT contacting Metro to try and resolve the issue, get officer disciplined, etc. . .

Additionally, turns out the arresting officer was black as well: so much for the racism angle.

It SMELLS like someone who wants to sue Metro, and raise such a ruckus that Metro will settle out of courts. . .