HAMMOND -- "Did you honestly consider me a threat? Why?" Anthony O'Connor
asked, sitting handcuffed in the back seat of the squad car.
Officer Gerald Doughty: "You weren't doing what I asked you to do..."
O'Connor: "My hands were clear in the air, at least I thought. I thought I had
my wallet in my left hand and my license in my right hand, saying, 'Please take
my license....' "
The conversation, caught on a videotape that has been under wraps since August,
reveal the concluding moments of an arrest that brought an apology from the
mayor and left a Hammond police officer fighting for his job.
A Lake County grand jury refused on Feb. 17 to indict Doughty of any wrongdoing
in connection with O'Connor's arrest. Doughty is scheduled to appear in front
of the Board of Public Works and Safety on April 8.
The video was released Monday by Saul Ruman, O'Connor's lawyer, after it was
shown Friday in Lake Superior Court during a motion to suppress evidence in
O'Connor's criminal suit.
On Aug. 15, O'Connor was stopped for reckless driving in the alley of his home
at 4907 Ash St. The traffic stop would play a role in the November mayoral race
and spur more divisiveness in an already embattled police department.
With a video camera mounted in the patrol car recording the arrest, O'Connor is
seen being hit by Officer Gerald Doughty, a veteran officer. Doughty and the
Hammond Fraternal Order of Police claimed he was following basic procedures.
O'Connor and others claim it was excessive force.
Doughty was exonerated Oct. 12 of any wrongdoing by the Board of Captains, a
disciplinary panel in the Hammond Police Department. Two days later, Police
Chief John Cory, with Mayor Duane Dedelow Jr.'s blessing, went against his
captains and recommended to the board of Public Works and Safety that Doughty
be fired. The board has the final say on whether Doughty will keep his job. He
has been suspended with pay since October.
The tape begins at 11:03 p.m. with Doughty pulling over O'Connor in the alley.
Thirteen seconds later, O'Connor opens his car door and holds his hands in the
air while still in a seated position. At 11:04 p.m., O'Connor, still seated
with his hands in the air, grabs for something in his back pocket with his left
hand, which cannot be seen by the camera. Two seconds later, O'Connor stands up
out of the car, both hands in the air. Seconds later, he takes the object in
his hand, which is apparently a wallet, and removes what appears to be a
license. O'Connor begins to walk toward Doughty, while the officer retreats.
The two disappear from the picture frame for 32 seconds.
When they reappear, Doughty is charging toward O'Connor. Doughty strikes
O'Connor three times with a baton. The first blow hits O'Connor's torso, the
second hits the rear of his right leg and the third strikes O'Connor's forearm
as he shields his head. The blows last three seconds.
Doughty then grabs O'Connor around the waist and they struggle, knocking shut
O'Connor's open car door. Seven seconds after the first baton strike, Doughty
wrestles O'Connor to the ground. As soon as they hit the ground, Officer Thomas
Strabavy, who responded to Doughty's earlier call for assistance, arrives on
the scene. It takes 23 seconds for Doughty and Strabavy to handcuff O'Connor,
who is left sitting in front of his car.
About 47 seconds after he is handcuffed, O'Connor gets up and walks to the
front of Doughty's patrol car, which is parked behind and to the left of
O'Connor's car. O'Connor is ordered back to the ground, and he kneels down in
front of the patrol.
Nine seconds later, O'Connor stands up. Doughty approaches O'Connor and kicks
him in the midsection, and O'Connor kneels back down. All the while, O'Connor
is seen talking to the officers.
Sixteen seconds after he was kicked, O'Connor appears to try to stand up again.
Doughty quickly pushes him back to the ground. More than three minutes have
passed since O'Connor was stopped.
A third car arrives on the scene shortly after 11:07 p.m. Doughty begins
searching O'Connor's car shortly after 11:08 p.m. O'Connor attempts to stand up
again and is forced back to the ground by two other officers while Doughty
continues his search.
More than eight minutes later, at 11:17 p.m., emergency personnel arrive to
attend to O'Connor. They appear to be cleaning a wound behind O'Connor's ear.
At 11:21 p.m., O'Connor is helped to his feet. More than a minute later,
O'Connor is led away and out of the picture.
The tape concludes with Doughty and O'Connor in the squad car after O'Connor
was treated at St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Hammond, with O'Connor
asking the police officer questions about the events in the alley.
There is no audio on the tape of the events occurring outside of the squad car.
Doughty testified at Friday's hearing that he was ordering O'Connor not to exit
his vehicle and to "hit the ground" once O'Connor was out of his car. Doughty
said he was trained by the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy to retain a
reactionary distance between himself and the subject. When Doughty ran out of
space, he said he took action.
"I ran out of cover," he said Friday. "I elected to use the baton to take him
into custody."
Ben Murphy, a lawyer for O'Connor, attempted Friday to have blood tests taken
at the hospital after the arrest thrown out of the court case. Murphy argued
the tests were taken more than three hours after the arrest, outside the time
frame stipulated by the Indiana Implied Consent Law. A ruling is expected on
the blood tests sometime this week.
O'Connor was charged with drunken driving and resisting arrest.
"There were no field sobriety tests done," Murphy said Friday. "We think the
blood tests were taken in a last-ditch effort to get a charge."
Attempts to reach O'Connor were unsuccessful.
Dedelow, who offered a public apology to O'Connor and his family after viewing
the tape, could not be reached for comment. Dennis Terry, chief of staff to the
mayor, said, "We are not going to be able to comment because of the
disciplinary action."
Tom Fulk, immediate past president of the Hammond Fraternal Order of Police
Lodge 51, supports Doughty.
"We're 100 percent behind him," Fulk said. "I don't see how we couldn't be. The
tape is too subjective to be played out this way, until the Board of Works can
see the evidence."
Jason Thomas can be reached at jthomas@howpubs.com or (219) 933-3267.
