Includes Clyde Bellecourt and Frances Fairbanks. On April 17, 1993, Officers Michael Lardy and his partner Officer Marvin Schumer of the 4th Precinct encountered Charles Lone Eagle and John Boney, Native Americans who were apparently intoxicated and sleeping in front of an apartment building. According to the plaintiffs' civil complaint, the officers called for an ambulance and then canceled their request and dragged the men to the squad car. The men were then allegedly handcuffed and thrown in the trunk of the squad car; the trunk was closedon Lone Eagle's leg, injuring it. The two men in the trunk claimed that the ride to the hospital, which was only three blocks from where the men were picked up, took an unreasonably long time, and that the car's driver drove erratically, causing injuries. The officers later claimed that they used the squad car because they were worried about the well-being of the men and wanted to get to the hospital quickly, yet the dangerous and menacing confinement in the vehicle's trunk undermines this claim.
Transcripts
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TOM FUDGE: Chief John Laux's statement describes the behavior of officers Mike Lardy and Marvin Schumer as inappropriate. But he also says the department's investigation shows no evidence of malice on the officers' part. Laux has recommended that the officers receive a period of suspension without pay. Schumer told a reporter he received a 90-day suspension. Lardy reportedly got 20 days.
American Indian Movement leader, Clyde Bellecourt, says he can't remember a Minneapolis police chief ever apologizing for the actions of his officers. But he says the officers deserve a stiffer punishment than suspension.
CLYDE BELLECOURT: In the case of Officer Schumer, he should have been relieved of duty. And I think that the Officer Lardy was an accomplice to that, was just as guilty. He, too, should have went.
TOM FUDGE: Lardy and Schumer found Charles Lone Eagle and John Boney drunk near Downtown Minneapolis in April. The officers took the men to the Chemical Dependency Unit of the County Medical Center in the trunk of their car. Reports vary as to why the officers put them in the trunk and how long they were in there. Boney and Lone Eagle are planning to sue the city over the incident. Their attorney, Larry Leventhal, says the officers put them in the trunk because they didn't want to soil the back seat of their car.
Police Chief Laux stated, "The lack of criminal charges being issued by the County or City Attorney's Offices demonstrate the absence of criminal intent." Frances Fairbanks, the director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center, says the officers don't deserve to remain on the force.
FRANCES FAIRBANKS: Chemical dependency is considered a disease. And like Clyde says, if you took two cancer patients and stuffed them in a trunk, everybody would be angry, or if you took two handicapped people. And if they say that's not the same, it is the same.
TOM FUDGE: Officer Schumer is appealing his suspension to the city's Civil Service Commission. Lardy's discipline is subject to possible arbitration by the Police Officers Union. Both officers will be returned to active duty, pending the resolution of the police chief's action. This is Tom Fudge, Minnesota Public Radio. Minneapolis.