It turns out that Jason Shelton, anti-speed-camera activist, was assaulted by a Scottsdale police detention officer in jail is true, after all.
We just received a copy of the notice of claim filed against the city of Scottsdale by anti-speed-camera activist Jason Shelton, who's suing over his bogus 2008 arrest. As mentioned in our earlier blog post today about the new lawsuit, Scottsdale's finest arrested Shelton for failing to give police his true name while being questioned at a small protest of a speed-camera van.
Shelton had been doing nothing but videotaping two activists, neither of whom were arrested or charged with anything, yet cops hauled him to jail when he told them he didn't have to give his name.
The claim states that Shelton seeks $134,944.09 for his pain and troubles.
But of even more interest is what's attached to the claim: A copy of a 2009 discipline report against Scottsdale police detention officer Alan Hale.
Hale had, indeed, stepped on Shelton's foot during the jail booking process, just as Shelton had alleged.
According to the "Disciplinary and Corrective Action Form" dated January 4, 2009, Hale -- an 18-year veteran of the department -- was attempting to fingerprint Shelton when:
The inmate refused to be fingerprinted, but did not display any physical resistance to you. You then "stomped" on the inmate's bare foot, causing the inmate to become agitated. When asked by your supervisor why you stepped on the inmate's foot, you stated that you used it as a distraction technique, in order to fingerprint him.
Your actions were found to be excessive and will not be tolerated in the future.
Hell, yeah, the actions were excessive. This is exactly the type of rogue behavior that you'd think could get a cop fired. (Point of clarification: Hale's not a sworn officer). But get this: Hale's superiors just gave him a written reprimand -- a slap on the wrist that surely hurt a helluva lot less than a stomp on a bare foot.
Shelton's claim makes other disturbing accusations against Hale. Shelton says that while Hale was booking him, he "repeatedly yelled non-relevant political terms at Shelton," who wouldn't engage in a debate. Hale accused Shelton of being -- gasp -- a Democrat and demanded to know who Shelton planned to vote for in the November 2008 election, Shelton's claim states.
The claim also states that Hale had also been reprimanded in 2004, this time for misuing a police computer.
Shelton, who now lives in Kansas, saw a doctor for his foot and took some pain pills. It doesn't sound like his injury was serious, but clearly, it shouldn't have happened to begin with.
