PRAIRIE GROVE, AR (KNWA) – A couple has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Prairie Grove and the police department. The couple claims that two police officers violated their civil rights during an incident in January 2014.
According to the police report, officers responded to a welfare check in the city in after a neighbor said she hadn’t seen Joy Williams in days, and believed Joy’s husband Pendarvis Williams was in her home in violation of a protection order. When officers arrive, they ask Pendarvis if they could come in to speak with Joy, but then they followed Pendarvis inside. In body cam video you hear the officers speaking with Joy, who says, she’s okay.
“Well, we got a concern about you (Joy Williams). So I don’t need to talk to him, I need to talk to you,” says one female officer in the recording. “Well, I’m fine. I just don’t feel good,” says Joy.
Officers continued to ask Pendarvis questions. Joy says she never called police and is trying to figure out what is going on. It was later determined there was not a protection order against Pendarvis, and the Williams’ believe the officers were in their home illegally.
During the ordeal, one officer says “it’s about to go south. It’s about to go south real quick.”
The video shows the officers continuing to ask questions and the couple telling the officers they shouldn’t be in their house. Eventually, Pendarvis is tased, then arrested.
“To me it appears that at multiple junctures in the interaction with that family, the officers could have de-escalated it,” says Chad Atwell, the lawyer representing the family.
According to Arkansas law, in order to enter someone’s home, you must have a warrant, probable cause, informed consent or exigent circumstance, and Atwell says they had none of that.
“It would have taken a few more minutes to actually confirm whether there was any valid and legal reason for them to make contact with my client and they simply didn’t take that time,” says Atwell.
The couple is suing the officers, the police chief, and the city for negligence, liability, and violation of civil rights, among other allegations. However, the police department says their officers acted within reason.
“The chief then determined there’s no direct policy violations or the officers acted out of line in what they did,” says current Chief, Chris Workman, Prairie Grove Police.