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CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS UPD'S ARREST OF STUDENT

Claims of alleged police brutality made by a student charged with drug possession have sparked arguments in regards to the true nature of the incident. 

First-year electrical engineering major [Name Redacted] was arrested on Thursday, Nov.  6 in Bouton Hall for possession of marijuana after his roommate, [Name Redacted], told Bouton Residence Director ( RD ) Chanel Ward that he suspected [Name Redacted] of selling both marijuana and LSD.  When Police Officers ( POs ) Williams and Ritayik responded to a call from Ward, [Name Redacted] claims he was forced to sign a waiver allowing a search of his room. 

Police Chief Ray Bryant expressed disbelief over [Name Redacted]'s claims, saying that they are contradictory to the true details of the incident, as outlined in the police report. 

However, [Name Redacted] disagreed saying that the way in which he was treated by University Police Dept.  ( UPD ) officers that night was "completely illegal" and that Chief Bryant was "trying to cover his own ass" by supposedly encouraging him not to report the unnecessary force he claims was used against him. 

Bryant was shocked at the student's accusations, saying, "what ( [Name Redacted] ) is saying is not how the situation went down at all," adding that he never threatened [Name Redacted] to not complain about the alleged case of brutality. 

[Name Redacted] said that the incident occurred when he and [Name Redacted] had one of their multiple disagreements concerning "typical roommate things," in this case music volume.  [Name Redacted] then purportedly left the room with a slam of the door, leaving to talk with RD Ward about all of the disagreements the two were having, in addition to reporting his suspicions that [Name Redacted] was, as [Name Redacted] said, "dealing acid and weed out of the room."

Ward declined comment on the issue in order to protect the confidentiality of the students involved.  [Name Redacted] said that she made the call to UPD after he told her of his suspicions.  Chief Bryant confirmed that the Dept.  was called that night because of a "roommate dispute" and the possibility of a student possessing illegal substances. 

[Name Redacted] said that the alleged brutality occurred when POs Williams and Ritayik got angry with him because he refused to sign a search waiver they had brought when responding to the call, prompting the officers to supposedly follow him into a bathroom and push him against a wall. 

"I told them I knew that it was my right not to sign it, and that I wanted to talk to my mom or a lawyer or something," said [Name Redacted].  "When they didn't let me, I went to the bathroom and they followed me in and that's where it happened."

[Name Redacted] claims that PO Williams grabbed him by the neck, wrestled him to the wall and handcuffed him while PO Ritayik kept watch at the bathroom entrance.  It is then that [Name Redacted] said the officers told him that he was "resisting arrest" and "demanded" him to sign the waiver, which [Name Redacted] then said he did because he was now afraid of what the officers were going to do.  After searching the room, the officers found $30 worth of weed but [Name Redacted] said the officers "threatened to mace me if I didn't tell them where the acid was."

However, the police chief denied all of these accusations, insisting that the violent action [Name Redacted] described is nowhere to be found in the police report. 

"The only thing I can say is that I'm very disappointed, because this is the farthest thing from the truth about what happened," said Bryant. 

[Name Redacted], who was told to leave the room when the police arrived also doesn't believe his former roommate's allegations He said he believes that when [Name Redacted] went to the bathroom he was "probably flushing all of the stuff down the toilet."

Bryant said that if the officers believed this were the case, they had every right to follow the student into the bathroom.  Bryant also said that under no circumstances would violent action by the police be condoned in this situation. 

"If this were ever the case, officers would definitely be brought up on disciplinary charges," he said. 

Bryant noted the police report confirms that [Name Redacted] voluntarily signed the search waiver and that forcible means of arrest in a case similar to this one would be completely inappropriate. 

However, [Name Redacted] claimed otherwise after having a meeting with the chief on Nov.  7, in which he was given a copy of the police report.  The student said it was then that Chief Bryant "insisted that the officers did nothing wrong," supposedly telling him not to argue or think about pressing any kind of criminal charges against the members of UPD. 

The Chief, however, remained in disbelief about the claims that he said [Name Redacted] failed to make at their meeting, in which he said the student left with a better grasp of why the room was searched. 

"I spent quite a bit of time with him, and he seemed very understanding of everything that happened," said Bryant.  "While he was in my office, he never even made any complaints."

Bryant also disagreed with [Name Redacted]'s claims that a lawyer told him that it would be illegal for a police officer to threaten search and arrest because a student has drug paraphernalia on them, saying that "in some cases, that can be reason for search which could then lead to arrest."

[Name Redacted] feels that Bryant's account of their meeting and the incident are slanted because the police chief does not want to deal with the trouble these accusations would bring about for UPD. 

"Bryant told me what he wanted me to say that day, and I listened then because I didn't want to get in more trouble because I have my own court dates to deal with now," said [Name Redacted]."Besides, I know the odds of cops getting in trouble are unlikely anyway.  But Bryant is trying to cover his own eyes to the problem."

After a discussion with his lawyer about the incident and his meeting with Bryant, [Name Redacted] is still unsure if he will press charges against PO Williams because he wants to "clear [his] own name first," since the student has court dates because he was found to have marijuana by the officers that evening.  Bryant offered no comment in regards to the way UPD would react if [Name Redacted] does pursue legal action. 

When in court, [Name Redacted] hopes to prove that that [Name Redacted] "framed" him of being a drug dealer because they had never gotten along while living together.  Livosris also said that the accusations against him made to RD Ward by his former roommate were a part of a "premeditated" attack against him. 

[Name Redacted] still insisted that the only reason he spoke to the RD about [Name Redacted]'s supposed drug dealing was because "if that stuff is in the room, we could both get in trouble," adding "I have seen him selling acid from our fridge and pot, too.  I could have called someone the first day I saw him with stuff in the fridge, but I gave him a rope to hang himself with."

The former roommates are not allowed to go near each other at present, with [Name Redacted] having moved into another residence hall, being unable to go near [Name Redacted] or into Bouton Hall.