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Title: Scrap with cop lands her in jail
Source:
Philly.com
URL Source: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/h ... ith_cop_lands_her_in_jail.html
Published: Aug 14, 2009
Author: Stephanie Farr
Post Date: 2009-08-14 12:08:22 by X-15
Keywords: None
Views: 127
Comments: 7
THE ALTERCATION began when Officer Tamika Gross challenged Latifa Savage to a brawl in front of a vacant store next to Savage's Mill Creek home on Saturday, according to neighbors. " 'You got a lot of mouth 'cause you holdin' that baby,' " Gross said, according to witnesses. Savage, who had called police about a domestic situation, handed her 7-month-old baby to a neighbor, and witnesses said, before they knew it, Gross had shoved Savage into the fence of the store and hit her in the face with the palm of her hand - a move described as "mugging." The fight appeared unfair. At just 5 feet 2 and 100 pounds "soaking wet" Savage seemed outsized by Gross, who neighbors estimated to be about 6 feet and 160 to 200 pounds. Still, witnesses said the tiny woman got the best of the cop in the fight. When backup officers arrived and restrained Savage, Gross kicked her, slammed her head in the sidewalk and screamed threats, forcing her colleagues to repeatedly pull her away, witnesses said. "She was going ballistic," Donteze Savage, Latifa's cousin, said of Gross. "It was not like she was on duty. It was like she was at a bar." The episode shook Savage's West Philadelphia neighborhood, prompting them to speak out and Commissioner Charles Ramsey to take action. On Wednesday, Ramsey put Gross on desk duty while an Internal Affairs investigation is conducted, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore. Latifa Savage, 24, a single mother of two, was charged with assault on a police officer. She remains at the Riverside Correctional Facility for women on State Road near Rhawn Street - unable to post 10 percent of her $15,000 bail. "I truly believe if the other officers hadn't subdued her, she would have killed Ms. Savage," wrote neighbor Engrid Bullock, who was so disturbed by the officer's behavior that she sent a letter to Ramsey about the incident and copied it to members of City Council, the captain of the 16th Police District, the district attorney and the Daily News. "I think her rage stemmed from being embarrassed because that little person got the best of her," wrote Bullock, 63, a grandmother who had been married to a cop. "This police officer is here to protect me and all other citizens, yet she acted like the people she is supposed to protect me against." No previous civilian complaint had been leveled against Gross, according to Internal Affairs Lt. Kevin Logan. Gross could not be reached for comment last night. A sergeant at the scene of the incident that day declined to comment. By all accounts, Savage, who family and neighbors described as mouthy and troubled, wasn't without fault in the incident. After all, she had called the cops to her house on 50th Street near Brown about 6 p.m. that day because she and her cousin Donteze Savage, 19, had been in a fight, relatives said. Donteze said Latifa claimed when she called 9-1-1 that he had a gun. He told Gross, who was the first to arrive at the house, that he didn't. Gross, realizing that Latifa Savage had lied, got angry and words were exchanged. Neighbor Tanya Davidson, 46, said that Latifa "Tifa" Savage should have been arrested for making false reports. "My thing is when all that happened, if she felt like Tifa was wrong, she should have said, 'I'm taking you in right now,' " she said. Once Latifa handed her baby to neighbor Tayna Davidson, numerous people, including Donteze Savage, Latifa's aunt Robin Savage and block captain William McGill, claim to have seen Gross strike Savage first. The hit "was so loud everybody heard it. Everybody saw that officer hit her," said McGill, 56. Then the brawl began, witnesses said. "Latifa's size and her anger made the officer think that she had to show this girl something, but she got more than she bargained for," Robin Savage said. "She didn't realize this is a girl that can defend herself, and she couldn't do much with Latifa on her own." When other officers arrived and one raised her baton, Latifa Savage put her hands above her head and said, " 'She hit me first,' " according to witnesses. Savage was face down on the ground. As Gross rearranged her hair weave, officers handcuffed Savage, witnesses said. "When the officer found out she [Savage] had pulled out half her weave, she snapped," McGill said. "She jumped on the girl and began beating her, kicking her and slamming her face in the concrete." "Officer Gross attacked her again, calling her a lying b---- and started slamming her head on the cement pavement," Bullock wrote to Ramsey. "It took several officers to subdue Officer Gross. While pulling her away she was yelling 'I am going to f--- that b---- up. I am going to find that b---- and f--- her up." Donteze Savage said Gross' colleagues had to pull her off of Latifa Savage twice while Savage was on the ground. After the second time, they placed Gross in a police cruiser to cool off, witnesses said. "One officer grabbed her [Gross] face and just said 'Stop! Stop!' " Bullock said. "They got her [Gross] in the car, but she was still screaming like an animal." While cops were walking Savage to the cruiser in handcuffs, Gross got out of the car and tried to confront her again, Donteze said. That's when, while handcuffed, Latifa Savage kicked the approaching Gross in the stomach, witnesses said. Once Savage was secured inside a cruiser, Gross continued her rant, Donteze said. "Gross kept coming over to the car, knocking on the windows saying 'B----, I'm going to get you,' " he said. "Other cops couldn't believe it," Robin Savage said. "Several of them said to me, 'We're not all like that.' " Bullock said one officer said the same thing to her as she stood by, "shaking all over." Sometime during the altercation, Gross lost her cell phone and a few cops seemed more concerned with finding the phone than with what had just happened, neighbors said. "Before the police left the scene, an announcement was made that all people on Brown Street better have the phone back in an hour or there was going to be a lot of police presence in the neighborhood," Bullock said. Residents said there was an increased police presence in the area that night and in the following days. Today, Robin Savage watches her niece's two small children. She said she has talked with Latifa once since her incarceration. "She was crying and upset and she wants to be home with her kids, but she knows that's a lot of money [for bail] and it's not possible," Robin Savage said. "I hate the fact that my niece was in an altercation with a police officer," she said, "but how are you supposed to respond when an officer is calling you out for a fight?" __________________
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#5. To: X-15 (#0)
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Dude, that picture is TOO funny! All you need is the shaking finger to go along with the head movement and I'd be on the ground in the fetal position laughing my arse off!
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