MONTICELLO, NY – The pain and the anger of the past weeks’ events register strongly in the eyes of Bonita Holdsclaw-Clark. On September 8, she and her husband, Frederick, went to LaGuardia airport to pick up their 23-year old son, Devon Holdsclaw, from Montana where he had been living with relatives.
Neither Holdsclaw, who has never been in trouble with law before, nor his parents could envision that a few days later he would be arrested by the Monticello police on charges of resisting arrest and impersonating a Georgia corrections officer or that he would be bitten by a police dog during the encounter.
Holdsclaw was coming to stay with his folks who own a home on Landfield Avenue. Bonita works for Catskill Regional Medical Center and Frederick drives a bus for New York City Transit.
Holdsclaw’s first priority was to secure work. Having been a cook at a McDonald’s in Havre, MT, he sought out similar employment in Monticello. With references from his former boss, that position was secured on Wednesday and by the end of the day on Friday September 12, Holdsclaw had put in his first day on the job.
After work, Clark drove her son to Broadway and showed him where Liquid, a Monticello nightclub, was located. While on Broadway, she noticed that a Monticello police cruiser was tailing them. The cruiser turned off the road.
At the corner of Landfield Avenue, Clark says a police car stood waiting to enter the intersection but did not proceed. When the light turned green, Clark said she entered the intersection and the police car, with its lights off, pulled in behind. After parking in front of her house, she watched the cruiser continue up the street. It gave Bonita an eerie feeling. Later that evening Holdsclaw visited the club, Aquarius. Holdsclaw left Aquarius to get something to eat and as he was coming out of Crown’s Fried Chicken at approximately 1:00 a.m. “a police car pulled up and called me over,” he said. He was patted down after which the police drove off.
According to Monticello Police Chief Douglas Soloman, “ Holdsclaw was stopped and his officers questioned the young man before patting him down.”
Holdsclaw says they didn’t question him. Holdsclaw went to Liquid and left after 3:00 a.m. to head home. He walked home on Pleasant Street and took a shortcut through a wooded area at the top of Smith Street that led to his parent’s block. Emerging from the woods diagonally across from his parents’ home, Holdsclaw was met by three Monticello police cars. The same two police officers from the earlier stop were waiting for him.
According to Solomon, “The officers reported to me that the young man had first fled at the entrance to the shortcut after they had tried to question him. Officers are trained to be vigilant. If they see someone acting in a suspicious manner, they should be asking questions of that individual.”
Holdsclaw claims he was just walking home and was not questioned at all. “I first saw the officers as I came out from the wooded lot.”
Solomon was quick to point out that the wooded area in question is known for its criminal activity though he admitted that many law-abiding residents come through there as well.
“I was grabbed, thrown on the hood of one of the cars, told to shut up, handcuffed and placed face down on the pavement” said Holdsclaw. Asking the officers what he had done elicited no response. At this point, Devon’s stepfather, aroused by the commotion, was already on the street.
According to Mr. Clark, a third officer, Bob Pratti, a canine handler walked around him and allowed the K-9 named Fury to bite the boy’s leg. Mr. Clark’s says his repeated questions to Pratti and the other officers were not answered.
When questioned about the use of the K-9, Solomon said, “It is routine to have the officer and dog respond to police calls and that Pratti and the dog were well trained.” He added that in his view, “Pratti would not have deployed the dog if Holdsclaw was handcuffed and already restrained.” Solomon said that the arresting officers reported that Holdsclaw was standing up and resisting arrest.
Mr. Clark was a witness to the contrary.
When he was arrested, Holdsclaw says the officers never apprised him of his rights or told him what he was being charged with. He was then taken to the Monticello Police station and charged with two misdemeanors: impersonating a Georgia corrections officer and resisting arrest. Chief Solomon said that his officers reported that they heard Holdsclaw claim to be a Georgia Corrections officer. They said that the young man’s parents overheard Holdsclaw claim to be a corrections officer and that they said “no he’s not.” The parents maintain that Devon said no such thing and that he has never been in Georgia in his life. Holdsclaw categorically denies he ever claimed to be a Georgia Corrections officer.
He was held at the police station overnight pending the arrival of Village Justice Josephine Finn. In the morning Finn, set bail at $500. After posting bail, the Clarks promptly took their son to the hospital. The emergency room physician prescribed antibiotics to be administered immediately.
At the time of his arrest, Holdsclaw’s possessions included his late grandmother June’s photo ID card from Jamaica Hospital. Holdsclaw has worn that card around his neck as a keepsake from his grandmother who died in her sleep in their NYC apartment in 2000. The ID card, along with a wallet containing $40 and a watch that he had recently purchased, were confiscated by the police at the time of his arrest. According to Holdsclaw, the wallet minus the money was returned along with the ID card. There was no watch.
Chief Solomon said he knew nothing about the missing personal items. He noted that items which are removed from a person are noted on a check sheet and that those records are kept at the police station. Solomon was unaware of any complaints about the missing items.
The practice of stopping people who are not known appears to be standard procedure in Monticello. Sullivan County Sheriff Dan Hogue was quoted in The Times-Herald Record as saying, “If someone is out of place in a neighborhood, they’re going to be stopped.” The pressing question is how was Devon Holdsclaw out of place in his parents’ neighborhood? Furthermore, did the police overstep their authority in their attempts to determine whether or not he was doing something illegal?
The Clarks have retained an attorney from Brooklyn, Michael Drobenare. A September 22 appearance in the Village Justice Court resulted in an adjournment until October 24. Judge Finn set this time to enable the attorneys to “work things out.” The Clarks are filing an official complaint through their attorney to Chief Soloman. They have already filed a letter of complaint with the Manhattan office of the N.A.A.C.P.
The Clarks are putting their house up for sale and leaving the area. In their view, the police failed in their mission to protect the community. They say it is the very actions of the police that have rendered the community unsafe for people of color. Solomon attended a recent meeting at the Monticello Neighborhood Facility to discuss concerns about police procedures but Solomon said only one person who had called the N.A.A.C.P. about a prior issue showed up. Solomon has expressed his willingness to continue to meet with community members to clear the air.
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