90 Year Old Woman Awarded $95,000 After Locking an Intrusive Police Officer in Her Basement
It’s not often enough that we hear a story in which empowered individuals successively subvert local authority figures who break the law in order to progress personal agendas. That’s exactly what happened in Baltimore back in 2009 when an elderly woman was forced to lock a police officer in her basement in order to protect herself from the intruder.
Venus Green, who was 87 at the time, was shoved to the floor of her own home before being placed in handcuffs by a police officer who was investigating the non-lethal shooting of Green’s grandson Tallie. The shooting victim told police he was shot a local convenience store, but police asserted that the shooting had occurred inside Green’s home.
“He dragged me, threw me across the chair, put handcuffs on me and just started calling me the ‘b’ name. He ridiculed me,” Green said.
Without a warrant, a police officer forced his way into the private residence where he entered the basement in search of evidence. Once the officer was down far enough, Green locked the door behind him.
“This was my private home, and if I latched it, that was my prerogative because he had no search warrant to go in my basement. So, I had to right to latch it,” Green said.
Green says she suffered a dislocated shoulder as a result of the harsh police actions against her and was recently awarded a $95,000 settlement, which in her words is “not enough.”
City officials decided on the settlement because they felt they wouldn’t have had a chance with a jury, and I’m sure they’re right.
“We thought we would have a difficult time in front of a city jury, or any jury,” Baltimore City solicitor George Nilson said.
The city of Baltimore has paid out nearly $17 million in police brutality settlements in the last two years alone. Rather than addressing the real problems, Baltimore’s city council president Bernard Young is more concerned with citizens filing complaints against violent officers as he is “tired of the police department bleeding money.” Young voted against the settlement awarded to Green.
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