By Jeannie M. Nuss
THe Boston Globe
NANTUCKET ISLAND, Mass. — Five black teenagers filed a federal lawsuit this week alleging that Nantucket police officers used “excessive force” in arresting them without probable cause, according to the case file.
At about 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2007, the five teens rode their bicycles into town and were asked by Nantucket police Officer Taylor Noll to “move to the other side of the street,” according to the court papers.
The teens, Terrance Johnson, Adeane Watty, David Loveberry, Nicholas Phillips, and Troy Sullivan, all of Nantucket and ranging in age from 13 to 18, asked why Noll had instructed them to move, but not any of the white teenage tourists or summer workers also at the scene, according to the file.
When Phillips confronted the officer, Noll asked, “You think I’m afraid of you because you are from the hood?” it is alleged in the case file.
After Noll told the teens to leave, he radioed the police station, saying, “Broad Street now,” without explaining why he called.
All police officers on the island responded, and several chased the teens.
One officer, Richard Aprea, shouted to the teens to “get down to the ground,” according to the case file.
When three of the teens got off their bikes, Officers Aprea, Michael Nee, and Briand Ketcham, jumped on them and took them “forcibly to the ground,” the papers said.
Ketcham then tackled 13-year-old Johnson, separating the youth’s shoulder, according to the file.
Officer Michelle Banks told Ketcham to “get off him,” the file said.
Nee then struck Sullivan with his police cruiser and knocked him off his bike, according to the account in the file.
The teens were then frisked and restrained. They were searched in front of a large crowd and illegally arrested, according to the court papers filed by the teens’ lawyer, Stephen B. Hrones.
“The police were out of control that night,” Hrones said in an interview. “They had no basis to arrest anyone. They simply got caught up in the moment. ... They tackled them and took them down not knowing that they’d committed no crime.”
Nantucket police and town officials did not return messages seeking comment.
Police Chief William Pittman has ordered a full investigation and issued a 600-page report in which he recommended and implemented several changes and conceded that the officers used excessive force, Hrones said.
He commended Pittman but said no one was disciplined.
Copyright 2008 The Boston Globe