Cops – Hope House style

Yesterday was a busy day of rest.  It was capped off by something I think I may have always wanted to see but never really expected to see.  As my wife and I were coming home for the night, at about 9 pm.  A woman who has come to the Hope Center before, and a woman we’ve helped go from being homeless to having a low-income apartment, came up to me.  “Can you spare $5 for a homeless woman?” 

I smiled, laughed a little to myself and said “Alyce (not her real name), didn’t we help you get into an apartment two weeks ago?”

She replies “Oh yeah, but I’m still hungry, do you have $5 for a hungry woman who used to be homeless?”  At this point I’m almost laughing outloud.  Not necessarily at her, but at this situ.  Well this situ turned into a situation at about this point when a cop car pulled up. 

The cop (african-american as well as alyce) gently said “Alyce, you’re going to have to come with me.  It is illegal to go door to door and ask for money.”  She said, she didn’t ask for money from no one.  An obvious lie.  But he insisted and pulled out the cuffs.  Well she takes off running.  Now before you think this was a “hot pursuit” let me paint the picture a little more.  I am still standing on the sidewalk where she first stopped me.  This is about 5 feet from where her and the officer are talking.  And then she runs back towards me only about 2 feet away as I am now on the concrete leading to my door.  Alyce is about 50 years old (or looks 50), is medium build but has a protruding belly as if she was 6 months pregnant.  However she is not pregnant it is probably a tumor or cyst of some kind.  I also noticed that she is not much of a runner.

The officer is medium build for an officer.  Not overweight, but not athletic, probably early 30’s.  By the way the events transpired, he looked as if he had played football for St. Martinville Senior High.  I say that because when she took off and got about 2 1/2 steps away he reached, grabbed her shirt then wrapped her up and wrestled her to the concrete…2 feet from where I am still standing.  At this point, 3 young honkies who were volunteering at the fire department a block away come running.  “Do you need help with her?!” They were yelling in a violent blood lust tone.  The entire time the cop is still wrestling with her yelling “You’re resisting, you’re resisting.”  Alyce was questioning “What did I do? What did I do?”

I’ll be honest here for a bit:  This seems like a good case of the St. Martinville Police Department doing their job.  Except that two weeks ago I called and complained of a man walking up and down the street yelling, cursing and talking about how he was gonna kill a cop.  The response I was given was “Oh yah, that’s the man who’s been doing that from main and Hyacinth.  He’s alright.”  And yet Alyce who was quiet and more of a minor annoyance then anything else, is worth tackling to the ground?  It’s confusing to me.  Especially when you throw these 3 young white guys into the mix of this racially motivated small town on the bayou, it just gets fishy.

My wife and I were deeply disturbed by the entire event and I can now say it is something I never wanted to see live.  Anyway, that was just the end to another Day of Rest.