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San Francisco | Police State and PrisonsTwo inches of raw sewage flooded five courtrooms at the San Francisco Hall of Justice
Five courtrooms will be closed at least until Monday Flushed jail items cause S.F. court flooding
(05-21) 13:57 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- As much as two inches of raw sewage flooded five courtrooms at the San Francisco Hall of Justice today after jail inmates flushed a bedsheet and two jumpsuits down toilets, officials said. Eileen Hirst, spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department, said the courtroom where most felony defendants are arraigned was among those flooded on the second and third floors of the building at 850 Bryant St. She said the mess was detected at 7 p.m. Thursday. Workers mopped up the sewage by midnight, but when court staffers came to work this morning, the flooding had returned. Jason Hinson, the building manager for the city, said that when a plumber snaked out the jammed sewer line, he came up with the sheet and two orange jail jumpsuits. Inmates "flush it repeatedly until it just sucks it down," Hinson said. Michael Yuen, a court official, said judges in the flooded courtrooms were doubling up in other occupied courts and hearing cases during scheduled breaks. He said the five courtrooms will be closed at least until Monday so workers can conduct biohazard tests on carpets. |
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But the man who was arrested says he was pounded and pummeled by the very man he thought was supposed to protect him.
Ronald Bobbitt and his sister say they saw a police car tailing them as they turned down their driveway in the early hours of March 13, 2010.
Bobbitt says he stopped before reaching his house. The police became suspicious, and that set off a violent confrontation.
"Drug me out of the frickin' car, and slung me around here," said Bobbitt.
Bobbitt suffered contusions on his head, and bumps and bruises elsewhere during his arrest.
"All he wanted to know was why we stopped in the road. (We) said, 'It's not the road; it's our driveway,'" said Melissa Smith St. John, Bobbitt's sister.
The two were booked into jail for resisting arrest and obstruction of an officer. They were so afraid for their safety that they applied for a protection order against Keller.
A judge found discrepancies in the officer's report, and granted the protection order, agreeing it would be best for everyone if Keller stayed away. The judge issued a 90-day restraining order on May 3.
"Why he has so much anger, why he does what he does scares me," said Bobbitt.
Keller says he was on the lookout for drug trafficking, saw Bobbitt turning without using his signal, and went to investigate.
"That's what I was doing on that street was being a good cop," he said. "All he had to do was just be normal and nice, and everything would have gone smooth. And I would have moved on."
Bonney Lake police refused to comment on this case or discuss Keller's past.
Six years ago, Keller, then a King County deputy, was charged with assaulting an informant. He was later cleared, but still received a 20-day suspension from the sheriff.
Keller was also involved in a fatal shooting of a Federal Way man in 2003. He was later pressured to resign from the sheriff's office.
Bobbitt says there's little evidence Keller has changed his ways since coming to Bonney Lake.
"They have a pattern of hiring these rogue cops," he said.
Bobbitt and his sister still face criminal charges from the incident.