Three witnesses to the stun gun arrest of a University student in May are calling for the Lane County District Attorney’s Office to investigate whether two arresting police officers should face criminal charges.
Samantha Chirillo, Josh Schlossberg and Amy Pincus Merwin are officially requesting that Officer Jud Warden and Sergeant Bill Solesbee’s conduct be investigated because the community members claim the amount of force used against University student Ian Van Ornum was unnecessary and unlawful.
“This is a serious assault,” said Brian Michaels, the attorney representing the community members requesting an investigation. “If I Tased another human being I would be in jail. That’s not the case here.”
Van Ornum was arrested and hit twice with a Taser stun gun at a May 30 pesticide rally in Downtown Eugene’s Kesey Square.
Michaels said that though police officers are allowed to use a Taser in certain situations, this specific case was a violent violation of Van Ornum’s rights.
According to a Eugene Police release, Van Ornum was blocking traffic near Kesey Square and spraying an unknown liquid on the sidewalk at the protest.
“Three people were arrested, and I know enough to know that there was probable cause to arrest all of them,” said Lane County District Attorney Douglass Harcleroad, investigating Van Ornum and the two other individuals arrested at the protest.
Michaels said he fears this is a turning point in Eugene, where the right to peaceably assemble and protest is at stake.
“This needs to stop,” Michaels said at a press conference Wednesday. “The police need to be held accountable.”
Michaels’ criminal complaint alleges four separate cases of assault by the officers against Van Ornum. These include a “hair hold take down,” which caused a concussion when Van Ornum’s head hit the ground. Additionally, Van Ornum was hit with two Tasers after being immobilized, according to the complaint.
Currently the DA’s office is conducting a criminal investigation against the three protesters who were arrested at the pesticide rally for various charges, including resisting arrest and assault against a police officer.
Harcleroad said that part of this criminal investigation is reviewing the conduct of the police officers who made the arrest.
Before viewing the complaint, Harcleroad said that there will not be a need to conduct a separate investigation into the officer’s conduct other than what is already being done.
“We are going to do what we are doing – investigate the incident,” Harcleroad said. “We follow where the facts take us.”
Michaels said that despite many formal complaints made to City Police Auditor Cristine Beamud, the EPD has refused to investigate the arresting officers because a criminal complaint was not filed by witnesses of the event before.
The EPD will be conducting an administrative investigation following the conclusion of the DA’s criminal investigation against Van Ornum and the two other arrested protesters – Anthony Farley, a University student, and David Owens, a Eugene resident.
“I have done what is in my authority to do, and that is accept the complaints, classify them as excessive force complaints, and send them to be followed up on,” Beamud said.
The EPD has declined comment on the issue because the investigation in open and ongoing.
Harcleroad said that he hopes the criminal investigation against the three arrested parties will be completed by August, at which time the EPD can begin the administrative investigation in response to the large number of complaints made to the police auditor.
Michaels and his clients are requesting that the separate criminal investigation against Warden and Solesbee, “be conducted by someone other than the Eugene Police and the Lane County District Attorney’s Office given that their statements and actions in this matter, to date, reveal their bias towards the officers and reflect an inability to be fair and impartial,” according to the complaint.
Chirillo said her main reason for coming forward with the complaint is to protect the rights and safety of peaceful protesters.
“The danger now is that people want to speak out and are having second thoughts about it,” she said.
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