'I Can’t Even Breathe': AA County Police Chief Retires After Suit

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Valentine’s Day 2019 wasn’t filled with love for Daniel Jarrells. Instead of touching his heart, the Black Odenton man alleges that police knelt on his neck.

On Monday, Jarrells announced that he is suing the Anne Arundel County Police Department, seeking at least $75,000 in damages for what he calls excessive force. Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare announced his retirement the next day.

Altomare says his choice is not related to the lawsuit, and he insists that nobody pressured him into retiring. He instead says he cannot be a part of a police force stripped of its rights. Jarrells’ lawsuit also seeks a court order to ban the use of force on handcuffed arrestees.

The way Jarrells says an officer knelt on his neck resembles the same force used against George Floyd. Floyd, a Black man, died while a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck on May 25. Protesters around the country have since demanded widespread police reform under a common Black Lives Matter movement.

“To the activists in Anne Arundel County protesting George Floyd’s death, I could not agree with you more!” Altomare wrote in a retirement letter. “I salute you for standing up to that injustice.”

Though Altomare supports protesters, he is frustrated with the pushback against police right now. Officers have rights too, Altomare says.

“I cannot, however, endorse a future in which cop’s rights are stripped away and your officers are treated like criminals,” Altomare wrote. “They are brave to a fault and faithful unto death.”

Altomare’s retirement begins on Aug. 1. Former County Executive Steve Schuh appointed him in 2014. He has worked for the department for more than 20 years.

County Executive Steuart Pittman applauded the chief’s doubling of Black officers in the department. Pittman also congratulated Altomare for implementing bias training for all police officers and making the county’s crisis intervention team world-class. The team won an award earlier this month, naming it the top group in the world.

“Chief Altomare has been an outstanding police chief,” Pittman said in a press release. “He took a divided and damaged department in 2014 and implemented more of the 21st Century Policing Task Force reforms than any Maryland department that I know of.”

Use Of Force

The incident with Jarrells started on Feb. 14, 2019, when police pulled him over in Odenton’s Four Seasons Neighborhood. Court documents show that police gave Jarrells tickets for speeding and failing to stop at a stop sign at the corner of Symphony Lane and Maytime Drive. The lawsuit says Jarrells stopped his car at the stop sign, but in front of the white line.

The suit continues to say that Jarrells, 27, drove about a quarter mile down the road, pulling over in front of his mother’s house. He wanted to be assured somebody he knew would see the police interaction, according to the report.

Jarrells’ attorneys accuse the police officers of immediately drawing their guns on him, ordering him to get out of the car. Police say they approached with their weapons because of Jarrells’ “attempt to elude the traffic stop,” according to the suit. Jarrells and his passenger, Washington D.C. man Lamar Redfield, exited the car when police asked, the lawsuit says.

The suit alleges that police handcuffed both men and searched Jarrells. The two first responding officers then placed Jarrells and Redfield in their car. Soon after, a third officer arrived, and police took Jarrells out of their car.

A neighbor recorded part of the encounter. Jarrells’ law firm uploaded video of the incident to YouTube on Saturday.

The video shows police tackling Jarrells to the ground while he was still handcuffed. One officer held his knee on Jarrells’ neck for at least a minute.

Jarrells’ attorneys at Joseph, Greenwald & Laake say the officer was Corporal Daniel Reynolds.

“Shut the f--- up,” Reynolds shouted as he took Jarrells to the ground.

JGL said police told them they had to tackle Jarrells because he was resisting arrest. Jarrells’ attorneys deny this accusation, saying police removed him from their car after he was already handcuffed.

“F--- you,” Jarrells yelled at Reynolds.

Reynolds flung the insult right back, calling Jarrells a “b----.” An assisting officer, who the lawsuit claims was Corporal Brian Ranck, twisted Jarrells’ legs, pressing them against his back while he was still on the ground.

“I can’t even breathe, b----,” Jarrells screamed.

Reynolds told Jarrells he could breathe because he was talking.

Jarrells suffered minor cuts to his face and was treated at an unnamed hospital. One of his lawyers, Nicholas Bernard, said police told him that the cuts were from Jarrells dragging his face across the ground.

Bernard said this was not true. He instead pointed to the clip that appears to show Reynolds slamming Jarrells' head into the ground, claiming the aggression caused the injuries.

Police followed Jarrells for nearly 2 miles before pulling him over, his suit claims. JGL said Corporal Joshua Shapiro called Jarrells’ car suspicious.

Shapiro noted that it was odd for a two-door car to advertise itself as a ride-sharing service with a Lyft sticker on its windshields, the lawsuit says. Lyft requires drivers to have a four-door car. Jarrells says the car belonged to one of his friends.

According to Jarrells’ lawyers, police brought a drug-sniffing dog to the scene. The suit claims the dog found CBD oil in the car. THC composes less than one half of one percent of the oil, attorneys say.

Both CBD and THC come from the marijuana plant. CBD is an inactive chemical in marijuana, meaning it scientifically cannot get its users high. Still, many claim that CBD has health benefits. THC, on the other hand, is the active ingredient, meaning that it does give users a high. Police are usually more concerned with THC rather than CBD.

In the end, police arrested Jarrells the next day after his short hospital stint. On top of issuing eight minor driving tickets, police charged Jarrells with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and possession of a drug that wasn’t marijuana, all of which are misdemeanors. Police charged his friend with the same drug offense. Prosecutors dropped the charges against both men, including the tickets, on July 16, 2019.

Jarrells’ suit asks for at least $75,000 for each of seven counts filed against Anne Arundel County, Ranck, Reynolds and Shapiro. The counts allege excessive force, excessive force and deprivation of liberty, battery, false arrest, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and unconstitutional force on or near the airways of a restrained person.

Jurors will determine whether each count is worth more than, less than or none of the desired compensation. The case does not yet have a trial date.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department launched an internal investigation when it saw the video on Monday, a spokesperson told Patch in an email. All three officers are still with department.

The department suspended Reynolds, however. State law mandates that he is payed during his suspension.

Ranck has worked for the department for six years. Reynolds has been with the force for eight years. Shapiro's nine years of service are the most in the bunch.

Altomare Reacts

Despite his gritty approach to law enforcement, the soon-to-be former police chief said he would have held the officers accountable if he stuck around. As protesters call for conversations about race and policing, Altomare believes this case isn’t a racial problem.

“This conversation is not about race for me,” Altomare said. “We would die to protect any person who needed us, regardless of skin tone, religion, sexual orientation or any other thing that people use to chop up humanity into smaller groups.”

Some protesters have urged legislators to “defund the police.” Most of these activists understand the heavy workload officers face. They also realize that police are often dispatched to scenes where they may not be the most appropriate personnel to respond.

Those calling to defund the police point to mental health emergencies and homelessness complaints as situations where other professionals may be more helpful. To ease police workload and create more sensitive treatment, some advocates are urging legislators to defer a sliver of police money to social services.

The Anne Arundel County police department has a budget of about $162 million for the 2021 fiscal year, which started on July 1. That is an increase of around $5 million from the year prior.

The county has not yet publicly published the full 2021 budget on its website. Only Pittman’s budget proposal presentation and general overview are currently available.

Altomare says he respects the activists asking to defund the police and would do anything to protect their liberties, but he disagrees. Police should maintain their funding and continue to be “sheepdogs” watching the county.

The legal action does not seem to be the top worry for Altomare. He is more concerned with Jarrells' demand for a court order to limit police force. If accepted, this order would ban on the use of unnecessary force against already-handcuffed people.

“The flock needs protecting, the sheepdogs do that when the wolf shows up,” Altomare wrote. “I am a sheepdog and I will not apologize for it. If society takes the teeth from its sheepdogs, there is simply more sheep for the slaughter.”

RELATED:

• Police Bias, Reform: Why Annapolis Chief Wants Community Policing
• Attorney For George Floyd's Family Sues Minneapolis, Ex-Officers

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