Alabama wheelchair user files complaint against Mobile police, saying he was Tasered and hit

From The Press-Register:

MOBILE, Ala. -- A wheelchair-bound Mobile man filed a complaint Sept. 7 with police, alleging that officers Tasered and hit him as they took him into custody Sept. 2.

In the complaint, filed with the department’s internal affairs division, 32-year-old Ronnie Dwayne Williams accused at least one officer of getting rough with him after he recorded a video of a woman whom he knew being taken into custody, police confirmed.

According to police, a patrol officer spotted Williams’ 20-year-old companion, Emily Faye Butler, standing beside a vehicle parked along Rosedale Road, in the Brookley area, with her pants below her knees.

Police Chief Micheal Williams said that by the time the officer approached the woman, she had "pulled her pants back on." Ronnie Williams, the chief said, was seated inside the vehicle.

Chief Williams declined to describe what followed.

"We are in the process of determining the validity of the allegations he made," Chief Williams said. "I don’t want to speak before the investigation is complete."

In an interview with the Press-Register today, Ronnie Williams said that the officer walked Butler from his Chevrolet Impala to a patrol car, where she sat down in the back seat, her feet dangling outside the door.

"I saw him reach for her and snatch her out of the car," Ronnie Williams said.

Ronnie Williams said that the officer threw the woman against the trunk and pushed her down, but she wriggled away and ran. The officer tackled her, Ronnie Williams said, and Tasered her. And, Ronnie Williams said, the officer continued to hit Butler as he called for backup.

Ronnie Williams said that he dialed 911 on his cell phone. "I said, ‘Ma’am, I’m witnessing an officer beat a young girl.’"

When he hung up, Ronnie Williams said, he began to videotape the officer and Butler struggle on the ground.

Minutes later, "Backup came and they ran over to her and the officer said, ‘Go get him,’" Ronnie Williams said.

Officers approached Ronnie Williams’ car from both sides, he said, and an officer on the passenger’s side hit him several times in the back of the head. He said another officer pulled him partly out of the car, and he was Tasered from behind.

"I was holding up my hands the whole time," Ronnie Williams said. "I was yelling, ‘I’m paralyzed. My wheelchair is in the back.’ But it didn’t make a difference."

Finally, he said, the officers dragged him out of the car and handcuffed him. Officers also took his phone, Ronnie Williams said. Police spokesman Officer Christopher Levy would not confirm whether the phone was taken.

Butler was charged with indecent exposure, second-degree assault, failure to obey a police officer, giving false name to an officer, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest, according to online records.

Ronnie Williams was charged with falsely reporting an incident, failure to obey and resisting arrest.

Mobile County District Court Judge Bob Sherling dismissed the charges against Butler on Wednesday because authorities never signed paperwork supporting the charges, the judge said.

Levy said that an officer failed to file a warrant during the holiday weekend.

Butler spent six days in jail, records show. In her jail photograph, Butler’s right cheek appears swollen and bruised.

Chief Williams declined to describe the basis for the false-reporting charge. Ronnie Williams told the Press-Register that the only report he made that day was his call to 911.

Ronnie Williams described at least five officers on the scene. Chief Williams would not say how many officers would be questioned as part of the internal investigation.

According to online court records, Ronnie Williams has a history of drug-related arrests. He is currently on probation for a possession of cocaine conviction from 2008.

Ronnie Williams told the Press-Register that he was shot seven times and paralyzed in 1997 following an argument with another man.

Online court files do not show an arrest record for Butler.