By Azell Murphy Cavaan, The Republican (Massachusets)
SPRINGFIELD, Ma. - An officer already involved in an incident that sparked a federal civil rights investigation now is being accused of brutality by a woman who says he beat her after she threatened to stab him.
In a complaint filed with the Springfield Police Department last Wednesday, Holly M. Marion, 24, said Springfield Police Officer Jeffrey M. Asher punched her in the face and broke her left leg Oct. 7 as emergency workers responded to a call about a drug overdose at 75 Avon Place.
That incident is alleged to have happened a little less than a month before a Nov. 4 incident at a South End gas station where Asher and three other officers were accused of beating a school principal who was suffering from a diabetic seizure. The incident, involving a black principal and white officers, led to a request by the U.S. Justice Department for an FBI inquiry; Asher also filed a slander suit against a black Nation of Islam minister who said the police response was racially motivated.
According to police reports, the incident involving Marion, who is white, occurred around 6:30 p.m. as emergency medical technicians were called in for a reported overdose.
Marion, who is facing several charges relating to the incident, said police asked her to leave the building after she became frantic and began yelling and screaming upon hearing of the overdose.
Once outside, Marion said she continued “freaking out” and Asher grabbed her arm.
Marion admits she threatened to “stab” Asher if he “didn’t let go” but later told him she did not have a weapon.
“He got behind me and pushed me on the ground and I told him I didn’t have a weapon, that I didn’t mean to say that,” Marion said.
Marion said that when she tried to get up, Asher slammed her on the ground, punched her in the face, kicked her and stomped on her left leg.
In a report filed by Police Officer Joseph Gentile, police say Marion and Asher both fell to the ground as Asher tried to “control” Marion.
“While on the ground, Ms. Marion had one arm beneath her and was yelling ‘I got a needle, I’m gonna stick you (expletive).’”
The report further states that Marion attempted to spit on Asher.
Police Commission Chairman Timothy J. Ryan said Friday it was the first he heard of the complaint, but he pledged it would be investigated.
“I’m sure the Police Commission through the Police Department will look into it and act accordingly,” he said. “We’ll look into it. That’s all we can do.”
All complaints are investigated by the department’s Internal Affairs Unit and then go before the police commission, he said.
Marion is facing charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assault with a dangerous weapon, a needle, from the Oct. 7 incident.
Attorney Perman Glenn III, who is representing Marion, said he will pursue a criminal complaint against Asher and plans to present the facts of the case to the United States Department of Justice.
Last week, Glenn was successful in getting that department to request the FBI investigation into whether the November incident at the gas station involved civil rights violations.
Asher was one of four police officers involved in that incident involving Douglas Greer, principal of the Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter School. According to a report written by Asher, officers broke both front windows of Greer’s car and removed him after he failed to respond to officers who saw him thrashing about through the car’s tinted windows.
The mayor has ordered an internal investigation into that matter, and Glenn is awaiting a hearing date with a clerk magistrate who will decide if there is sufficient evidence for the matter to be forwarded to the district attorney.
“The new trend in Springfield is to file criminal complaints against police every time they use excessive force,” Glenn said.
“If officers think they will be subjected to criminal liability, then they may think twice,” he said.
In 1997, Asher was suspended by the Police Commission without pay for a year after a man videotaped him kicking a black suspect. A judge ruled that Asher did not use unreasonable force in subduing the suspect, and an arbitrator later reduced the suspension to six months.
Ryan said he could not comment on the latest complaint without knowing about any of the particular allegations.
Kevin Coyle, lawyer for the police union, declined comment, saying Friday he did not know anything about the case.