Police find no wrongdoing by officer after Walden Galleria incident
18
CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Cheektowaga police found no wrongdoing by an officer in connection with her use of force during an arrest last week at the Walden Galleria.
The officer's use of force during the arrest has been under review by Cheektowaga police officials for the past week. It involves a forcible shove of a woman at the mall.
Police said around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, dispatchers received a call from a business inside the Walden Galleria of a customer doing damage to a kiosk. Tempers flared due a dispute over a cell phone. Officers responded to the mall and identified the man suspected of doing the damage as 23-year-old Lonnie Carr, Jr. of Buffalo.
Carr was arrested on charges related to damage and resisting arrest, among other charges. Cell phone video showed during that arrest, a Cheektowaga police officer forcibly shoved Carr's girlfriend to the floor.
WIVB News 4 spoke to her about what happened.
"I'm 130 pounds soaking wet and I wasn't trying to do anything, wasn't trying to push nobody I wasn't touching nobody," said Natashia Houston, a Buffalo resident. "I was the only one getting touched, so, I just feel that wasn't warranted."
Houston said this was the first time she has ever experienced anything like this.
"I was just trying to get him to stop screaming, get him to be quiet, pretty much just stop screaming so much and yelling," Houston said.
Cheektowaga police responded to the matter.
"When the officers were affecting the arrest, it's taken five officers, five grown adults to control this other human being who's resisting them," said Cheektowaga Police Captain Jeffrey Schmidt. "At that time, someone who they know is with him approaches and when directed to get back, does not do so, so at that time immediately they use force to prevent any type of engagement."
Body cam footage shown to News 4 by Cheektowaga police shows that within seconds, the woman being told to backup was then being shoved to the floor. It appears that the girlfriend was trying to calm her boyfriend. The department said the conduct from the officer was within policy, procedure and the law.
"Now afterwards, they investigated a little further and they were told well, 'I was trying to help you,' well, the officers can appreciate that fact, but they still need people to listen to their commands and stay back when they're trying to work," Schmidt said.
Police said they cannot release the body cam video because of the ongoing court case.
Houston said she experienced some back pain after the incident. News 4 has filed a public records request to obtain the video.
Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.