EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Newport Lawyer Sued South Kingstown Police for Assault — See the Body Cam
GoLocalProv News Team
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Newport Lawyer Sued South Kingstown Police for Assault — See the Body Cam
GoLocalProv secured body camera footage of the incident between the woman and two South Kingstown Police officers.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn a 23-page lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in Providence in September on behalf of Claire Hall, it is alleged she was unlawfully arrested and physically injured, she was placed in imminent fear for her well-being, she was emotionally damaged, she was embarrassed, humiliated, and unlawfully and wrongfully charged as a criminal.
The suit was filed by Hall’s lawyers, Todd White, a partner, and Amanda Tramonte, an associate, at the Providence-based law firm Adler Pollock & Sheehan.
Body Camera Video
The police body camera video was provided to GoLocal in response to the media company’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request.
The video contained in the APRA response is from just one of the officer’s body cameras — it is unclear if both cameras were operational.
Hall's lawsuit, first reported by GoLocal in September, names South Kingstown Town Manager James Manni and Police Chief Matthew Moynihan, as well as the two responding police officers Matthew White and Anthony Souza.
Previous to joining South Kingstown in 2022, both Manni and Moynihan served in the command staff of the Rhode Island State Police. Manni served as the superintendent and Moynihan as a captain.
Both were tied to controversies about contamination at the state’s largest road project — the 6/10 Project.
https://www.golocalprov.com/news/who-are-the-playerscontamination-at-410-million-6-10-project
The video shows one of the officers repeatedly requesting Hall to move her car and clear the area. “Okay, well we're in the middle of the highway, so all right can you move your car please? Thank you,” one of the officers told Hall.
Hall said she was on the phone talking with the father of the high schooler involved in the accident. She claims she was acting as a “Good Samaritan,” but the police saw her as interfering.
The police report filed by Patrolman White states, “As I sat the male down on the guardrail to speak with him, the female then interrupted our dialogue, shoved the cell phone in my face and demanded I speak with the male's father. I informed her that I was working and asked her if she could please move her vehicle immediately and that she had no involvement in our investigation. She then explained that she was an 'attorney' and that the male was a minor. She then began demanding that I provide her with information about the investigation. I then informed her that I do not need to inform her of any part of my investigation and I then explained to her that I was going to arrest her if she did not vacate the scene immediately.”
“The female kept intervening during my investigation causing me to have to divert my attention from the injured male to keep from interfering. When I informed her that I would place her under arrest for continuous interfering, she then responded, 'Oh, you are kidding me.' I explained to her I was not kidding and to get into her vehicle immediately. The female then shoved the cell phone in my face once more and stated, "Take it.' I then grabbed her right arm, which was holding the cell phone that was directly in my face and placed it behind her back and informed her I was placing her under arrest,” according to White report.
The officer's report does not include that he screamed at Hall, "Get in your car, now."
“I then instructed her to ‘stop resisting and allow me to place her into handcuffs.’ Once we were able to secure the female into handcuffs and sat her up, she continued screaming at me and stated ‘I’m not even involved in this, I just wanted to tell his father.’ I explained to her that she was correct in that she was not involved and that I was trying to tell her that the entire time. I informed her that I instructed her to do something and she refused to do it. We were able to bring the female to a stand and escorted her to the prisoner area of Patrol Unit 453 where she was secured,” according to White’s report.
Helping Injured High School Student Call His Father
According to the suit, Hall found the high school student to be disoriented and with a head injury. As 911 had already been called, she said she asked the 17-year-old if she could help him make a call to let anyone know about the accident and alert them to where EMTs would be taking him for treatment.
"Ms. Hall then offered for [the 17-year-old] to use her cell phone to call his father, whose vehicle he was operating. Ms. Hall took out her own cell phone, handed it to [the 17-year-old] so that he could dial his father. However, due to his physical and emotional condition he was unable to complete this task and therefore, Ms. Hall made the call for him," according to the lawsuit.
"Ms. Hall spoke with [the 17-year-old]’s father, explaining who she was and informing him that his son had been in an accident. Ms. Hall told [the 17-year-old]’s father that his son was 'okay' but had suffered physical injury to his head and leg. Within a few minutes after Ms. Hall had arrived at the accident scene, Officer Souza from the South Kingstown Police Department arrived," states the suit.
According to the suit, “Officer Souza was not equipped with a body camera."
Hall alleges that Officer Souza approached the scene in a combative manner, which was "obvious" to her, and the reason for his combativeness was "unknown."
According to the suit, Hall explained who she was to Officer Souza, indicating that she arrived very shortly after the accident had occurred and was there to offer assistance to the two operators.
The 17-year-old's father was still on the line on Hall’s cell phone when Officer Souza approached, at which time Hall said she told the 17-year-old's father that she would "inquire with the officer as to where his son would be transported since the father was traveling from Portsmouth, RI."
The lawsuit described a scenario in which South Kingstown police officers became more and more aggressive.
“Without inquiring into [the 17-year-old]’s medical condition, and despite the fact that the windshield had been shattered by Mr. Limoges’ head, Officer Souza asked [the 17-year-old] to move his vehicle off the highway. Ms. Hall informed Officer Souza that [the 17-year-old] may have suffered head trauma and that he had been unable to contact his father on his own cell phone. Ms. Hall informed Officer Souza that [the 17-year-old]’s father was on Ms. Hall’s cell phone, anxiously awaiting information on where his son was being transported. Officer Souza became more combative, apparently because the accident/traffic scene was not being cleared as quickly as he desired," according to the suit.
“Shortly after Officer Souza’s arrival, a second South Kingstown police officer, Officer Matthew White, arrived at the scene. Unlike Officer Souza, Officer White was wearing an activated body camera. Instead of taking measures to assist the accident victims, speak with [the 17-year-old]’s father, or de-escalate the tension created by Officer Souza, Officer White began to shout at Ms. Hall, demanding that she move her vehicle,” alleges the lawsuit.
“Ms. Hall informed Officer White that [the 17-year-old]’s father (who was on the line on her cell phone) was concerned about the well-being of his son and inquiring about where he would be transported for medical assistance. Ms. Hall interacted with Officer White for slightly more than a minute. during which she was very concerned about the officers’ attempt to have Mr. Limoges operate his vehicle with a head injury,” states the complaint.
“Not knowing what else to do, Ms. Hall offered Officer White her cell phone so that he could speak directly with [the 17-year-old]’s father. After extending her arm to hand Officer White her cell phone, Officer White lunged at Ms. Hall with both hands. Ms. Hall did not know what was happening and why Officer White had his hands on her body," states the lawsuit.
“When Ms. Hall was on the ground, she asked why she was being arrested because she had not broken any laws. Officer White responded that it was because she wasn’t ‘listening’ to him,” according to the lawsuit.
“Ms. Hall was pushed forward down Rt. 1 while in handcuffs in front of passing vehicles to Officer White’s police cruiser. Ms. Hall was placed in the back of Officer White’s police cruiser, which was the least traffic-protected vehicle at the time. Upon placing Ms. Hall in the police cruiser, Officer Souza took Ms. Hall’s cell phone from her and hung up on [the 17-year-old]’ s father who was waiting to know where his son was to be transported for medical assistance. Ms. Hall was then locked in the back of Officer White’s police cruiser for approximately twenty minutes before she was subsequently transported by Officer White to the South Kingstown police station. Ms. Hall’s vehicle was eventually towed from the scene with her wallet still inside of it,” states the lawsuit.