Pubdate: Mon, 14 Nov 2005
Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Copyright: 2005, Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371
Author: Fernando Quintero and Alan Gathright

PHOTOS SHOW INJURIES

Police deny claims about altercation; kin may end life support

The family of a man who police say got into an altercation with them 
said Sunday that they are considering taking him off of life support 
and claimed officers severely beat him because of his brother's 
crusade against police brutality.

Officials at University Hospital, where Thomas Charles Armstrong, 37, 
was taken after the incident early Friday, would not comment on his condition.

Photographs taken by Armstrong's mother, Rebecca Romero, showed him 
with both eyes blackened and bleeding, and breathing with the aid of 
a ventilator. He also had a laceration and bruising on his right arm 
below the biceps.

His brother, Earl Armstrong, said Sunday that Thomas also had swollen 
testicles and was bleeding from his rectum. "They obviously kicked 
him while he was down," he said.

Earl Armstrong said he believes his brother was beaten by police in 
retaliation for a complaint that Earl Armstrong filed against Denver 
police in 2003.

Earl Armstrong has been an outspoken critic of the department after 
past shootings of civilians and other instances of alleged excessive 
force by police.

"T.C. (Thomas Charles) was not the kind of person who would purposely 
get into a fight with police," Earl Armstrong said. "If he saw them 
coming, he would run in the opposite direction.

"I knew they were coming to get us for speaking out against (police). 
I didn't think it would come to this."

A Denver police spokeswoman said those allegations aren't true.

"Members of the Denver Police Department are not going to respond to 
outlandish allegations from those that are pursuing their own agenda 
and are driven by emotion and speculation," Virginia Lopez said at a 
news conference Sunday.

Meanwhile, detectives and a new independent police monitor are 
continuing to unravel what occurred during the incident, in which 
police say Thomas Armstrong, who was unarmed, attacked a police 
officer stepping from his patrol car to question him about 
unspecified "suspicious" activity at East 11th Avenue and Xenia Street.

Lopez said the initial investigation found that the officer obeyed 
all department rules and procedures.

Police said that Armstrong stopped breathing twice at the scene, and 
was revived once by the officer he allegedly assaulted and a second 
time by paramedics.

"Let me reiterate the very important fact that here we have an 
(officer) who was just attacked by the suspect and his immediate 
concern now is making an attempt to save this person's life," Lopez said.

Lopez offered few details about the alleged struggle between 
Armstrong and the officer, except to say that the suspect rushed the 
officer as he stepped from his patrol car to speak with him. She 
wasn't sure how long the struggle occurred or if the pair fell to the 
ground. She said that neither the officer nor Armstrong used weapons.

Asked if the officer was injured, Lopez said: "I don't think so."

A resident near the scene where the altercation took place said she 
heard a man yell "Help me, please help me," about the time of the 
incident. She asked not to be identified because she said her family 
are illegal immigrants.

Neighbors of Syrita Henderson, Thomas Armstrong's girlfriend, who 
lives a block from the scene of the incident, described Armstrong as 
"a good man" who drank occasionally but did not abuse drugs.

"He is sweet and sensitive. He never carried any weapons. He was 
happy as can be," said Penny Lujan, who said that Thomas had been 
over earlier to borrow the movie Land of the Dead.

Henderson, who cried as she waited for news of her boyfriend's 
condition at University Hospital, said tests that police said 
revealed Thomas had cocaine in his system were false.

"They lied to us," she wailed.

Lopez said that Armstrong's family and other supporters were not 
considering "an individual being held responsible for his own 
actions, such as illegal use of extreme narcotics . . . and what we 
all know they can do to a person's rational actions and thinking."

Denver CopWatch, a community group that monitors potential abuse 
cases, is calling for an independent investigation of the incident 
and for the immediate suspension of the officers involved pending the 
outcome of the investigation.

"After reviewing photographs provided by the Armstrong family of the 
injuries sustained by T.C. Armstrong, Denver CopWatch believes that 
this is a case of excessive force," said a statement from the police 
watchdog group.

Armstrong's family urged community members "to support their call for 
justice and answers" by joining them at a 6 p.m. protest today 
outside the District 2 Police Station in northeast Denver, according 
to a Denver CopWatch statement.

Police released documents Sunday showing that Armstrong had a 19-year 
criminal record with at least 20 convictions, including disturbing 
the peace, a weapons violation, interfering with police and marijuana 
possession. He is in custody at the hospital for investigation of 
assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

Earl Armstrong said that Thomas drank alcohol and smoked marijuana 
occasionally. He said his brother had gotten into a fight with his 
girlfriend and had left her home shortly before 1 a.m. Friday.

Lopez said the officer who encountered Armstrong was headed to an 
unrelated alarm call when he happened upon Thomas Armstrong behaving 
"very suspicious."

She wouldn't describe the behavior, but said the officer would not 
have acted without reasonable suspicion that the man was possibly 
engaged in criminal activity.

"It's more than likely that these officers did not even know who this 
person was," said Lopez, referring to the first officer who clashed 
with Armstrong and a second officer who arrived after the fracas began.

She would not identify either officer, who both remain on duty 
because she said no evidence of wrongdoing has been raised in the 
initial probe.

"For anyone to say that they knew they were going to meet up with 
this person on this date, at this time, in this intersection to 
retaliate is just ludicrous," Lopez said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth