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Dennis Brownstein's Extreme Court News
July 01, 2012 posted by Steve Brownstein
Police Gone Wild
A South Carolina woman said police escorted her out of her daughter's graduation for cheering and charged her with disorderly conduct.
Shannon Cooper said she was escorted out of the South Florence High School graduation at Florence Civic Center for cheering when her daughter, Iesha Cooper, 18, received her diploma.
"Humiliation. I don't even think humiliation could describe how I felt. You know, because I feel from just my feelings and then looking at my daughter how she felt, I could take you know you know if I did something ,but like I said, yes they said you'll be escorted out no problem. I'll be escorted out. I'll go nicely because I'm gonna cheer. It was hard work. I went through so much to get her to this point you know," Cooper said.
Police refused to comment on individual cases but said the crowd was warned anyone who cheered or screamed would be escorted out of the building. They said people who exhibited disorderly behavior while being escorted out were charged with disorderly conduct.
"Disorderly conduct? What's the disorderly conduct? How was I so disorderly you know any different from just a happy parent? I didn't resist arrest, nothing," said Cooper, who was released a few hours after her arrest on $225 bond
Security Officers Gone Wild
Jose Marcos Picazo called his father on and told him he was going shopping at Walmart and made plans to meet with him for lunch the next day.
A few hours later, he was dead.
According to officials, 41-year-old Picazo, of Azusa, California, died while trying to fight off security workers at the Covina Walmart after being accused of shoplifting from the store.
The man's mother, Rosa Picazo, said she does not understand what happened since her son had money and did not need to steal anything.
"It doesn't make any sense," she said.
According to sheriff's investigators, Picazo tried to leave the Covina store without paying for clothes, body wash and other items in his shopping cart.
As two loss prevention workers detained Picazo for petty theft, he began to fight with them, said Lieutenant Holly Francisco, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
When Covina police arrived on the scene, Picazo was being restrained by security officers and appeared to be in medical distress. Police called paramedics who transported him to the hospital, where he later passed away.
It was not clear why store security did not call for medics.
An autopsy will be performed on Picazo to determine the cause of death, but in the meantime, his family said they have yet to see his body.
The family was told by the hospital that Picazo had bumps and scrapes on his face as well as some bruising, according to Picazo's brother, Frank.
Two unnamed Walmart security officers were suspended with pay pending the sheriff's investigation.
Members of the Covina store's loss prevention team are not carrying weapons, and Walmart has an outside security company to provide assistance at some locations, according to a spokesperson.
Lieutenant Francisco said there were witnesses who saw the altercation, and investigators plan to look at any surveillance video taken from inside or outside the store.
Rosa Picazo said while her son has had problems with alcohol and drugs, he was not violent or aggressive, and before his death he was clean and sober.
"He was a very helpful person and always asked what he could do for others," she said.
When Picazo called his father on to make lunch plans, the 41-year-old said he had just received his government assistance check, so there was no reason for him to shoplift, according to his mother.
Mrs Picaso added that her husband had seen their son a day before his death, and he seemed fine.
However, the 41-year-old man was admitted to a hospital that same day for an unspecified medical condition. He was released later with a clean bill of health, she said.
"My concern is that he didn't have the help he needed to save his life," Mrs Picazo said.
This is not the first time that a person accused of shoplifting from a Walmart store has died.
In 2005, Stacy Clay Driver, aged 29, of Cleveland, Ohio, was accused of exchanging stolen items to get $94 worth of store credit on a gift certificate in a Walmart store in Houston, Texas, the Houston Chronicle has reported.
Witnesses said Walmart loss prevention workers chased Driver to the parking lot and wrestled him to the ground before pinning and handcuffing the shirtless man face down with hands behind his back.
During a struggle that lasted up to 30 minutes, according to some witnesses, Driver begged employees to release him and call an ambulance. The father of a two-month-old son eventually stopped breathing and later died
In 2007, Walmart agreed to a $750,000 settlement with Driver's family. None of the security officers, however, were indicted in the case.
