http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/09/02/39495.htm

Quote :

"RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) - A man who was eating a taco at a Raleigh bus stop says a cop swept-kicked him to the ground, broke his leg and arrested him, then hauled him before a judge who sentenced him to 30 days in jail for contempt, because he could not stand on his broken leg. Lynwood Earl Artis sued Raleigh police Officer James Rollins, Wake County and its sheriff, and others, in Federal Court. Artis said that after buying his dinner at the Armadillo Grill, he "quietly began to eat his taco, waiting for the bus," when Rollins "approached Artis on foot ... and asked if a beer was his." "Artis leaned forward and saw what appeared to be a discarded can of beer that had been concealed from his view" by a newspaper rack. He says he told Rollins, "'Why, Officer, if that beer were mine, I would be enjoying it with my meal.'" And he resumed eating his taco. He says Rollins asked him for ID, then "Without either warning or being told he was under arrest, Rollins grabbed Artis by his still taco-laden arm, and spun Artis around with great force, which pivoted Artis on his left leg and sent the hapless taco flying. "Rollins twisted Artis' arm behind his back and then swept-kicked Artis' legs from the side and threw him to the ground. "All of Artis' weight was still on his left leg from being spun by Rollins, and Artis felt and heard his lower left leg sicken[ing]ly crack when Rollins swept-kicked him." Artis adds that he "was not in possession of a deadly weapon; he was, however, in legal and actual possession of a taco, which Artis did not wield in any threatening manner." Artis was taken to the Wake County Detention Center, where, unable to get out of the car on his own, and at his own insistence, he was put into a wheelchair. He was charged with "misdemeanor open container malt beverage and disorderly conduct," then wheeled before a magistrate at 10:10 p.m. It was Sept. 11, 2010. He says sheriff's deputies "continued to heckle" him as he was wheeled into court - they told him there was nothing wrong with him. Artis told the judge that "he could not stand because his leg was broken." He was "in serious and intense pain because of his shattered leg, was confused as to why he had been arrested, was extremely frustrated by the heckling, that no one believed he was seriously hurt, and that he was not getting urgently needed medical attention." It took Magistrate Bostrom 4 minutes to find Artis in contempt of court and sentence him to 30 days in jail, with no bond, Artis said. Eleven minutes later, Bostrom agreed to set bond at $1,000, according to the complaint. Artis spent the night in jail without medical attention and, says that "several times during Artis' stay in the holding cell he had to urinate on the floor where he lay" because jailers would not bring him a wheelchair. Nearly 12 hours after he was arrested, a nurse finally inspected his leg and "observed ... that Artis' left leg could not bear weight; that his left knee and lower leg area was swollen and deformed; and that parasthesia was noted." The nurse ordered him to be sent immediately to a hospital emergency room. Artis had pins inserted in his leg and "awoke from surgery to find his belongings next to his hospital bed and a nurse informed him that he was no longer in custody." He says that Officer Rollins refused to testify at the trial and all charges were dropped, "with a note in the file stating that 'Rollins said he will not testify b/c he does not recall incident.'" Artis seeks punitive damages for false arrest, false imprisonment, battery, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He is represented by Eric Doggett and Gregory Kash of Raleigh and Billy Strickland II of Goldsboro."

9/3/2011 12:14:44 AM

Dude's about to get paid (assuming this is true)

9/3/2011 12:17:27 AM

yeah, there are usually 2 sides to a story, but if that's how it went down, i hope he demolishes everyone concerned in civil court.

9/3/2011 12:46:23 AM

I guarantee that is not how it went down.

9/3/2011 2:40:12 AM

^^, ^ ok . . . I'm with you fellas.

9/3/2011 4:16:55 AM

Quote :

""'Why, Officer, if that beer were mine, I would be enjoying it with my meal.'""

9/3/2011 8:32:35 AM

Quote :

"He says that Officer Rollins refused to testify at the trial and all charges were dropped, "with a note in the file stating that 'Rollins said he will not testify b/c he does not recall incident.'" "

Really? Doesn't recall the incident? This one seems like a pretty easy paper trail to follow back. If those are the charges filed it seems pretty hard to explain away a suddenly shattered lower leg. Hell, he wasn't even charged with every officer's favorite justifier bullshit use of force "resisting arrest" or "assaulting an officer."

We as tax payers are probably going to have to shell out a lot of money for this asshole cop's behavior.

9/3/2011 12:03:30 PM

Considering he was in jail for 12 hours without any sort of medical attention, yea, it doesn't really matter if that's exactly how it went down, mother fucker is going to get paid. AND RIGHTFULLY SO.

9/3/2011 12:22:53 PM

Just a hunch, but I bet if someone did some digging into the criminal history of the complainant, they would find a long sordid history. I am willing to bet a lot of money that the complainant is not the credible angel some of you are taking him for.

9/3/2011 12:25:47 PM

^ Assuming events happened as described, how is Artis' criminal past relevant?

[Edited on September 3, 2011 at 12:52 PM. Reason : Or, for that matter, even if they didn't happen as described.]

9/3/2011 12:49:03 PM

^^ he could be a scumbag piece of shit - how is that relevant? His story doesn't even matter.

Fact is they hauled his ass into court with a shattered leg, found him in contempt because he wouldn't stand, and refused him medical attention.

9/3/2011 1:53:34 PM

somebody owes this man a taco

9/3/2011 2:54:27 PM

^ +1

9/3/2011 2:59:49 PM

Quote :

"Assuming events happened as described, how is Artis' criminal past relevant?"

Its relevant for the very fact that if he does have a long criminal history, it makes his credibility in testifying to said events questionable.

9/3/2011 3:04:09 PM

^ well that wouldn't be assuming the events happened as described now would it?

9/3/2011 3:14:43 PM

red baron 22 thinks it’s okay to mistreat people he perceives as lesser than himself.

9/3/2011 4:20:29 PM

Looks like the police officers in this case

puts on sunglasses

don't have a leg to stand on.

YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

9/3/2011 5:04:29 PM

Good Work cops "protect and serve" my ass. No reason a cop should have gotten that bent out of shape even if it were his beer under the chair.

9/3/2011 7:06:24 PM

you all are really going to believe the account stated is the absolute truth huh, I guess critical thinking is lost on some people

9/4/2011 1:48:32 AM

I don't believe much of it, but only a few facts really matter.

Did he break his leg before he was arrested? Was he denied medical treatment and for how long? Was he held in contempt of court for not standing on his broken leg?

None of those facts rely on his telling of the story. His leg was obviously broken when he was arrested. The other two questions can be determined pretty easily.

9/4/2011 3:13:18 AM

Quote :

""'Why, Officer, if that beer were mine, I would be enjoying it with my meal.'""

Quote :

"I guarantee that is not how it went down."

9/4/2011 4:29:54 AM

I looked him up. He was incarcerated as a habitual felon for over 7 years, and since he got out over three years ago, he hasn't been arrested at all. And they found no weapons on him. If true, this:

Quote :

"He says that Officer Rollins refused to testify at the trial and all charges were dropped, "with a note in the file stating that 'Rollins said he will not testify b/c he does not recall incident.'""

...is some unacceptable, childish nonsense. And I hope Mr. Artis, who may have spent his day drinking and pestering passers-by, gets PAID.

[Edited on September 4, 2011 at 6:42 AM. Reason : Rollins needs to go.]

9/4/2011 6:35:31 AM

Quote :

"yeah, there are usually 2 sides to a story..."

Quote :

"He says that Officer Rollins refused to testify at the trial and all charges were dropped, "with a note in the file stating that 'Rollins said he will not testify b/c he does not recall incident.'" "

Apparently in this case, there is only one.

Rollins better do something to jog his memory of this incident!!

[Edited on September 4, 2011 at 8:49 AM. Reason : .]

9/4/2011 8:49:25 AM

Wait, isn't it the job of police to drag the wino trash off the street so the rest of us don't have to deal with them?

9/4/2011 10:40:51 AM

I imagine something like this went down:

9/4/2011 11:35:13 AM

Quote :

""He says that Officer Rollins refused to testify at the trial and all charges were dropped, "with a note in the file stating that 'Rollins said he will not testify b/c he does not recall incident.'""

Nope, still only getting one side here. But since it paints the police in a negative light, it's automatically true right?

9/4/2011 11:35:38 AM

To bad we will never know the officers side...he simply does not remember what occurred...

9/4/2011 12:38:49 PM

9/4/2011 4:13:33 PM

I appreciated the extra attention to taco detail

9/4/2011 4:58:16 PM

Quote :

"To bad we will never know the officers side...he simply does not remember what occurred..."

lol, this thread is funny.

Quote :

"Nope, still only getting one side here. But since it paints the police in a negative light, it's automatically true right?"

Ok, so there's this thing called sterotypes. It happens when lots of people in a certain group frequently behave a certain way. If people are prone to take the word over a felon, as opposed to assume the best about the cop, then maybe there's a problem with the social dynamic between cops and society today.

The person you should really be attacking the credibility of is the reporter. The felon's account stands uncorrected. If I choose to assume the best about reporters, then he did due diligence and prodded the authorities for another account of the story, or at least the status of investigation, or at least whether the cop said he didn't remember.

So if he's not assuming the right things about cops, then maybe you aren't assuming the right things about reporters.

9/4/2011 5:41:42 PM

Quote :

" TACO- LADEN ARM "

9/5/2011 9:26:48 PM

Are the tacos at the armadillo grill that good?

9/5/2011 11:13:58 PM

^^goddamnit, came in here to post that

Quote :

"HAPLESS TACO FLYING"

9/6/2011 7:04:28 AM

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0011243&searchLastName=Artis&searchFirstName=Lynwood&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

[Edited on September 6, 2011 at 9:14 AM. Reason : Bridget already mentioned it.. Oh well]

9/6/2011 9:13:39 AM

i don't care what you say, this is awesome:

Quote :

"Without either warning or being told he was under arrest, Rollins grabbed Artis by his still taco-laden arm, and spun Artis around with great force, which pivoted Artis on his left leg and sent the hapless taco flying."

Quote :

"Artis adds that he "was not in possession of a deadly weapon; he was, however, in legal and actual possession of a taco, which Artis did not wield in any threatening manner.""

9/6/2011 6:41:31 PM

The guy is a fraud, cheat, and thief.

That being said, if that's how it went down, he's going to take some your tax money when the county has to (and should) pay him.

I'm a little surprised he didn't get this guy to represent him:

9/6/2011 6:51:20 PM

Are those tears or raindrops?

9/6/2011 7:16:28 PM