Opinion ID: 495206
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Stevens' account

Text: 14 According to Stevens and the other two occupants of the car--Stevens' aunt, Mary Ella Stevens, and cousin, Johnny Bush, Jr.--Stevens sat patiently in the stalled traffic at a red light. She had imbibed only a small glass of wine that evening and was not intoxicated. Stevens heard car horns blaring but did not sound her own; she noticed an MPD officer apparently conversing with people in a car three or four car lengths ahead of hers. Stevens and her passengers state that this officer, whom the parties agree was MPD Officer McKinstry, did not speak to Stevens. 15 When the traffic light turned green and cars began to move, Stevens proceeded apace with the other vehicles towards Sousa Bridge. She then heard a siren, which she guessed was an emergency vehicle en route to an accident; as quickly as was possible in the heavy traffic, Stevens pulled to the right-hand curb. A car swerved to a stop in front of her, and a man dressed in blue jeans, a plaid shirt, and a painter's cap jumped out, sprinted to Stevens' car, and shouted, You're locked up. 7 Reaching for her purse, Stevens tried to identify herself as a police officer, but the man opened her car door, dragged her out of the vehicle, and struck her in the face. He then handcuffed her, brutally grinding her body and face onto the trunk of her ... vehicle, while hysterically screaming to a companion: She's got a gun. 8 Her assailant's companion, Stevens remembers, stood by with his hands in his pocket[s], doing nothing to intervene. 9 Stevens did not in fact have a gun on her person or in her vehicle. 16 Stevens' assailant forced her into his car, throwing her on the back seat by her hair and arm, and dispersed all onlookers. After rolling up the car windows, he began punching Stevens in the chest and abdomen. She turned over to protect herself, but he continued to beat her. During this attack, the man said to Stevens, as she recalls his words: You are one black bitch we don't have to worry about anymore, and ... guess what I am going to do for you. I'm going to charge you with assaulting a police officer. 10 17 Stevens next remembers being placed on the cold metal of what she believes was a police van; she recalls little else until she awoke in severe pain on the floor of a cell. The cell was in the Anacostia Station of the United States Park Police, and the man who had arrested and battered her, she learned, was Park Police Sergeant David H. Stover (since promoted to lieutenant). Stover's companion at the Bridge, the man who had not come to Stevens' aid, was Park Police Officer John Harasek. Eventually, Stevens was moved to a holding cell at the District of Columbia Superior Court where U.S. Marshals informed her that she was charged with assaulting a police officer and driving while intoxicated (DWI). 18 After her release on bond, Stevens was treated at Providence Hospital for renal failure, which necessitated catheterization. She had also suffered a concussion and multiple contusions and abrasions on her face and body. Stevens spent eight days in the hospital. The concussion caused partial amnesia, and Stevens is undergoing psychiatric care as a result of the incident. 19 The DWI charge was dropped and, on April 10, 1985, after a grand jury refused to indict Stevens for assaulting a police officer, all charges were dismissed. Stevens was later discharged from the Metropolitan Police Department because of the events of June 22, 1984.