.jpg "Torry Reid endured facial injuries in 2005 after being stopped by a DeKalb County police officer. (Photo by Bo Shell) - Southern Voice") |
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Torry Reid endured facial injuries in 2005 after being stopped by a DeKalb County police officer. (Photo by Bo Shell)
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: RYAN LEE
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By the time Torry Reid’s face slammed into the pavement, she says she still had no idea why DeKalb County Police Officer Derrick Asberry had pulled her over, let alone why he had cursed at her, handcuffed her and slammed her to the ground.
It wasn’t until after her teeth were damaged and her face began to swell that Reid said she was told that she had been driving without her taillights on.
Reid and her partner, Elizabeth Toledo, said they are convinced that the August 2005 traffic stop escalated into a case of anti-lesbian police brutality because of Reid’s masculine appearance, and because Asberry is a cop with a history of conduct complaints.
“He thought [Reid] was a man at first,” Toledo said of Asberry initially stopping the car. “But when he saw it was a lesbian, his whole attitude seemed to change. It was like, he was going to prove a point.”
Beyond the occasional homophobic joke or remark, Reid never encountered danger because of her sexual orientation until she was stopped by Asberry.
“I don’t think I actually ever even imagined in my wildest dreams that someone would assault me [for being gay], and certainly not an authority figure,” Reid said. “I promise you, I feel like if my mother and my wife were not present, he probably would’ve killed me.”
While unfamiliar with the details of Reid’s traffic stop, DeKalb County Police Department spokesperson Keisha Williams said it is wrong for Reid and Toledo to blame their sexual orientation for the way they were allegedly treated.
“I think it’s not fair to assume that the way you look is the reason you were treated a certain way,” Williams said.
On Aug. 14, 2005, at about 10 p.m., Reid said she was driving along Flat Shoals Road near I-285 with Toledo and Reid’s mother, who was recovering from cancer surgery and had just picked up medicine from Wal-Mart.
“All of a sudden, I saw some blue lights,” Reid recalled.
When Asberry approached the driver’s window and asked Reid for her license and insurance information, Reid said she realized she didn’t have her wallet and offered to recite her license number to Asberry so he could check it in his system. Asberry allegedly refused to do so, ordered Reid to stand at the rear of the vehicle and handcuffed her arms behind her back while he ran her tags.
Throughout the traffic stop, Toledo, Reid and Reid’s mother said they repeatedly asked Asberry why they were pulled over; instead of answering the women, Asberry allegedly said he was taking extra precautions during the traffic stop because an officer was shot earlier in the night. When the women continued to protest, Asberry allegedly snapped.
“He said, ‘I’ve had it out of you,’ and then he took the back of my head and slammed it face-first into the cement,” Reid said.
Toledo sprang from the car in outrage, only to be ordered back in the car by Asberry.
“As he’s telling her that, he’s putting more force on my arm,” said Reid, who added that Asberry was also punching her in her back as she lay on the ground. When paramedics arrived on the scene, Reid was too afraid to go with them to be treated.
“I felt like they were in cahoots [with Asberry],” Reid said. “They were making gay jokes like, ‘You can handle [the rough treatment] though, right?’”
When the traffic stop was complete, Reid was issued a citation for driving without a license on her person, and disorderly conduct, both of which were thrown out in court. She also had intense swelling in her lips and face, a severely sprained shoulder and a new fear of law enforcement.
According to Asberry’s police report on the incident, he pulled the car over for driving without a taillight, and as he attempted to issue Reid a citation she kept arguing with other passengers in the car. In an attempt to “de-escalate” the argument, Asberry said he tried to escort Reid to his squad car, but she began pulling him and snatched away.
“Not knowing her intentions and fearing her safety and mine, I placed Ms. Reid on the ground and then handcuffed her using that force necessary to effect the arrest,” wrote Asberry, who added that Reid then began cursing at and threatening him.
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