The New York Times - USA (2020-08-06)

(Antfer) #1

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020 A


Y

The police chief in Aurora, Colo., apolo-
gized this week after officers handcuffed
a Black family, including two children ly-
ing on the ground, in a mistaken stolen-
car stop that was recorded on a widely
shared video and is now under investiga-
tion.
In a statement on Monday, Chief
Vanessa Wilson of the Aurora Police De-
partment said the officers made a “mis-
take” during the stop a day earlier, which
she said had been treated as a “high-risk
stop” because officers believed it in-
volved a stolen vehicle. She said the de-
partment was investigating and review-
ing training, and she offered to provide
therapy for the children “who may have
been traumatized.”
“I have called the family to apologize
and to offer any help we can provide,”
Chief Wilson said.
At about 11 a.m. local time on Sunday,
the police were notified of a possible stol-
en vehicle, she said. They stopped a car
that matched the license plate number
and vehicle description, ordered its occu-
pants onto the ground and handcuffed
some of them.
A bystander took a video, which
quickly spread online and drove further
outrage at the Aurora police, who have
been the focus of large protests in the city
this summer. The video shows four chil-


dren lying on the ground in a parking lot,
crying and screaming as several officers
stand over them by an S.U.V.
Two of the children, a 17-year-old and
12-year-old, are on their stomachs and
handcuffed, and a 14-year-old girl is lying
next to a 6-year-old, The Associated
Press reported. Officers can be seen
leading a woman away in handcuffs.
Brittney Gilliam, who identified her-
self as the driver to KUSA-TV, told the
outlet that she had taken her nieces,
younger sister and daughter to get their
nails done. The group got back into their
car when they realized the salon was
closed, and the police surrounded them
with guns drawn, she said.
“He’s like, something about the car be-
ing reported stolen,” Ms. Gilliam said.
“And I’m like, ‘This happened months
ago, you guys cleared it.’ ”
The officers were notified that there
was a stolen vehicle through a license
plate reader, a police department
spokeswoman said on Wednesday, refer-
ring to technology that can be mounted
on a police vehicle.
The reader gave the officers the li-
cense plate number and a description of
the S.U.V. that was used by the family.
There was also a stolen motorcycle in the
system with a similar number but Mon-
tana plates, the spokeswoman said. The
Internal Affairs Department is still in-
vestigating what happened, she added.

In an interview on Tuesday with The
Denver Post, Chief Wilson said that the
officers should have verified the infor-
mation about the stolen vehicle, and that
they also made a mistake in allowing the
children to remain on the ground during
the stop.
“It was done wrong,” Chief Wilson
said.

“We’re hoping that an officer is going
to make the determination and say,
‘Hmm, something’s wrong here — I’m
not going to put this little kid on the
ground,’ ” she added. “Unfortunately
that didn’t happen.”
The officers involved in the stop re-
main on duty, the police spokeswoman
said Wednesday.

The chief said in her statement that
when officers suspect a car has been stol-
en, they have been trained to draw their
weapons and order the occupants to lie
on the ground. She said officers are al-
lowed to use “discretion and to deviate”
from their training process when “differ-
ent scenarios present themselves.”
Chief Wilson said that “shortly after”
the officers handcuffed the family mem-
bers on Sunday, they realized they had
made a mistake during the stop, when
they “determined” that the stolen vehi-
cle they had been seeking had a license
plate issued in another state.
“The confusion may have been due in
part to the fact that the stopped car was
reported stolen earlier in the year,” Chief
Wilson said. Officers immediately re-
moved the handcuffs, “explained what
happened and apologized,” she said.
In July, three officers from the depart-
ment were fired over photographs that
show two of them grinning and mocking
the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old
massage therapist who was arrested and
placed in a chokehold last August. Mr.
McClain died several days later. This
summer, following the killing of George
Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, pro-
tests over his death and against police vi-
olence gained renewed energy in Aurora.
Chief Wilson apologized several times
to Mr. McClain’s family during a news
conference in July.

Viral Video of Black Family Handcuffed in Colorado Leads to Police Apology


By CHRISTINE HAUSER

Chief Vanessa Wilson of the Aurora Police Department in July. She said this
week that officers erred in their treatment of a family during a stolen-car stop.

PHILIP B. POSTON/SENTINEL COLORADO, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS

An owner of a bar and restaurant in a
New Jersey suburb wondered if he
would stay in business after an outdoor
seating area, newly opened after months
of lockdown, was nearly wiped out.
A mother in a town north of New York
City, already anxious about what the new
school year might look like for her two
young sons, shopped for food that would
not spoil since she wasn’t sure when her
power would return.
And in another New Jersey town, an
older woman who mostly stays home to
avoid the risk of being exposed to the co-
ronavirus was dealing with a large tree
that had smashed through a window.
One day after Tropical Storm Isaias
ravaged the New York region, residents
faced widespread devastation with trees
smashed into cars and houses, streets
blocked by fallen wires and hundreds of
utility workers struggling to restore
power to more than 2 million people from
southern New Jersey to northern Con-
necticut.
Officials acknowledged that some peo-
ple may not have their power restored
for several days and Con Edison said the
outage in its service area in New York
City and Westchester County was the
second largest in its history, eclipsed
only by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
To many, the storm added another lay-
er of pain to life already complicated by
the pandemic.
“It’s like I wish 2020 would not have
even shown its face,” said Scott G. Mor-
gan, the administrator and emergency
management coordinator for Upper
Township, N.J., a seaside community
near the southern tip of the state, where
a tornado touched down on Tuesday. “It’s
just been one hellacious year — for all of
us.”
By Wednesday morning, the fast mov-
ing, but vicious storm had left the area,
crossing into Canada before dissipating.
But Isaias left a path of destruction
and death as it raced up the East Coast
after making landfall in North Carolina.
Two people were killed when a tornado
struck a neighborhood in northeast
North Carolina. A woman died in St.
Mary’s County, Md., when a tree toppled
by the winds landed on her vehicle.
In New York, the storm claimed at
least one life when a 60-year-old man,
who was sitting on the passenger side of
a car in Briarwood, Queens, was killed on
Tuesday when a tree fell on the vehicle.
And on Wednesday, in New Jersey, a
68-year-old man from River Vale, in
Bergen County, was killed when he came
into contact with low-hanging wires as
he cleared storm debris from his lawn,
the authorities said.
Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey
said on Wednesday that the damage
could have been worse if the storm had
not moved so rapidly through the area.
“Like a knife through hot butter,” he told
a local radio station.
Still, the scale of the damage was ex-
tensive with fallen trees taking an enor-
mous toll on the overhead power lines,
which make up a significant portion of
the region’s electrical grid.
“We’ve had over 16,000 service re-
quests for downed trees, which I think is
the most we’ve ever had in the city,”
Deanne Criswell, the emergency man-
agement commissioner for New York
City, said in an interview on Wednesday
with the television station WPIX.
In New Jersey, outages at hospitals
were complicating state officials’ efforts
to compile reports on coronavirus hospi-
talizations and deaths.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York
lashed out at the utilities, including Con
Edison, accusing them of not adequately
preparing for Isaias and saying the state
would investigate “how such a failure
could have taken place.”


This is not the first time Mr. Cuomo has
criticized utilities over power outages
following storms.
“The fact that many customers still do
not know when their power will be re-
stored makes it even more unaccept-
able,” Mr. Cuomo said. “The worst of this
situation was avoidable, and it cannot
happen again.”
Con Edison did not immediately re-
spond to a request for comment.
Joe Fiordaliso, president of the New
Jersey Board of Public Utilities, said that
some people might not have power until
the end of the weekend.
“Our hope is by late Friday night, 80
percent of customers will have been re-
stored,” Mr. Fiordaliso said.
Nick Conforti, an owner of The Brook
Taphouse in West Caldwell, N.J., said his

restaurant was shut down for more than
three months because of the pandemic.
But when the state allowed outdoor din-
ing to resume, he invested about $13,
in a new outdoor area, including new
tents, chairs, tables, a sound system and
bar shelving. About five weeks ago, the
taphouse reopened.
On Tuesday, however, the entire area
— including phones, computers and
tents — was wrecked by Isaias, and Mr.
Conforti did not know if he could contin-
ue operating.
“The storm destroyed everything,” he
said. “I’m almost ready to close down
over here.”
On Wednesday morning, many resi-
dents were forced to navigate streets
blocked off to vehicles by trees and
power lines. With people desperate for

power, some stores sold out of genera-
tors.
Around noon at a Target store in
Mount Kisco, N.Y., Diliam Galvan was
shopping with her two sons to get bottled
water and food that would not spoil in the
heat. The family, who live in Katonah,
had been without power for almost a day,
and she was not sure if the chicken, beef,
milk and eggs stuffed in her refrigerator
would last.
Her sons — Dennis, 10, and Henderson
Portillo, 6 — have been largely stuck at
home since school closed in March.
“It’s been so boring,” Dennis said.
“And now we don’t even have electricity.”
His mother shrugged.
“Who knows if they will go back to
school soon?” she said. “We don’t even
know when we will get power back.”
Mr. Morgan, the emergency manage-
ment coordinator in Upper Township,
said a tornado had caused extensive
property damage but there were no re-
ports of injuries and only one family was
displaced.
“It could have been significantly
worse,” Mr. Morgan said in an interview
as he used a drone to survey the damage.
“We’re not used to tornadoes in this
area.”
The tornado came in off the Atlantic
Ocean near Strathmere, N.J., but did not
immediately make landfall. It left a corri-
dor of downed trees and vegetation on ei-
ther side of the Garden State Parkway,
which the tornado had crossed over.
“You can see a definite cut right
through the woods on either side,” he
said.
In Brewster, about 60 miles north of
Midtown Manhattan, the stoplights on
State Route 22 remained out Wednesday
morning. Drivers inched their way into
busy intersections and waited for consid-
erate drivers to allow them through.
Greg Semmeles, the owner of Brew-

ster Wine and Liquor, stood outside his
shop watching the traffic navigating the
intersections.
“I’m surprised I’m still out of power,”
he said. “Usually they get businesses up
and running first, and the lights on 22
still being out, that’s not a good sign.”
Mr. Semmeles, who lives in New Fair-
field, Conn., said he was lucky. His liquor
store was considered essential and al-
lowed to remain open during the worst of
the pandemic in New York. Even now,
the power loss was mostly an inconven-
ience.
“Most of my stuff isn’t perishable, ex-
cept for the ice,” he said. “And I can still
take cash.”
The power outages meant pumps at
gas stations in Brewster were not work-
ing. One gas station limited customers to
three gallons and accepted only cash.
Paul Bryson, 63, said he went out early
on Wednesday to get gas for his pickup
truck at the few places it was available.
“I’m sure they are out of gas by now,”
he said.
He planned to return in the evening to
get gas for his generator.
“The last time I remember going
through this was Superstorm Sandy,”
Bryson said. “This is crazy. It’s not bad
enough we have the coronavirus and
now we are hit with this.”
Lula Sisco, 82, of Englewood N.J., was
sitting in her living room on Tuesday
when she heard a loud pop — a tree fall-
ing through her dining room window.
The pandemic had largely kept her
homebound. She only left the house for
doctor’s appointments or a monthly trip
to the bank. She lost power for more than
five hours on Tuesday. And on Wednes-
day, she waited for insurance agents to
show up before she could get the window
repaired.
This year, she said, “is the worst year
to my 82 years.”

Millions Still Without Power After Storm Rips Through New York Region


Ronald Vega, left, whose house in Brooklyn was damaged by a fallen tree. New York City officials say they’ve received 16,000 service requests for downed trees.

HIROKO MASUIKE/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Workers in New Jersey. Con Edison said the outage in its service area in Man-
hattan and Westchester County was eclipsed only by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

KRISTON JAE BETHEL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

By MIHIR ZAVERI

Arielle Dollinger, Lauren Hard, Juliana
Kim, Lucy Tompkins, Tracey Tully and
Debra West contributed reporting.

Free download pdf