The Sheriff said his deputy isn’t overly aggressive. The Sheriff said that to his knowledge, his deputy doesn’t use excessive force when apprehending suspects. And I want to believe him.
I want to believe that Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar knows his deputies well enough to trust that they’ll respond appropriately to situations that require them to use force, physically or with weapons, to apprehend and subdue suspects who resist arrest.
I want to believe that Cpl. Fletcher McClellan, a former Vero Beach Police Officer who became one of Loar’s deputies three years ago and now doubles as a field training officer, poses no danger to the community and is exactly what his boss says he is.
“He’s a young, enthusiastic deputy who works in a very active zone and responds to as many calls as any deputy we have,” Loar said of McClellan, who was forced to leave the VBPD because he failed to earn the required bachelor’s degree within a given amount of time. “As a result, he seems to deal with combative suspects more than some others.”
I want to believe that’s all there is to it – that McClellan doesn’t seek out physical confrontations, that trouble finds him and he simply does what’s necessary to control volatile and sometimes violent situations.
I want all of us to be able to believe that, if we ever get stopped by McClellan on patrol, we won’t end up bruised or bleeding or with broken bones for no good reason.
But I don’t know. I don’t know him. I don’t know if he’s the short-fused monster he’s accused of being in a federal lawsuit filed against him and the City of Vero Beach by a 61-year-old Sea Oaks woman who claims McClellan, while working for the VBPD in December 2010, punched her in the face and used excessive force that caused brain and shoulder injuries during a traffic stop.
I don’t know whether the version of the incident presented by Allison Landsman in her lawsuit is indisputable, considering that in criminal court she accepted a deal in which she pleaded guilty to charges of DUI and leaving the scene of an accident in exchange for prosecutors dropping a felony count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
I do know, however, that McClellan has a history of “use of force” and “response to resistance” incidents in his personnel files, first with the VBPD and now with the Sheriff’s Office.
After being involved in 10 “use of force” arrests with the VBPD – seven of them in 2010 – McClellan has been named in eight “response to resistance” incidents with the Sheriff’s Office.
Some involved professionally accepted maneuvers for taking suspects to the ground. Some involved striking suspects with his fists and knees. Some involved the use of a Taser. At least once, he drew his firearm but didn’t fire.
In each case, his supervisors and/or Internal Affairs investigators found no wrongdoing, ruling he did not use excessive force and that his actions were justified.
That includes his Dec. 6, 2010, arrest of Landsman, who suffered injuries so serious that, after being taken to the Indian River Medical Center emergency room, she was transferred to the trauma unit at Lawnwood Medical Center in Fort Pierce because of bleeding in her brain.
In a deposition taken by Landsman’s Stuart-based attorney, Guy Rubin, Mc- Clellan denied using excessive force, saying her injuries occurred when she resisted arrest outside the front door of her home and hit her head on the ground as he applied a “straight arm bar” maneuver to gain control of her.
Landsman’s case was set to go to trial Monday in Fort Pierce, but Robert Bonner, the Longwood-based attorney representing the city and McClellan, has filed an appeal asking the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to issue a summary judgment that would essentially dismiss the complaint.
In his appeal, Bonner argues that McClellan used only the force necessary to take Landsman into custody and that, because he acted within his capacity as a police officer, he and his then-employer are immune from such civil claims. The appeal is expected to delay the proceeding for six months to a year.
If the case gets to court, Rubin is expected to introduce as evidence the list of incidents in which McClellan used force, physically or with a Taser, in taking suspects into custody.
He will disagree with the findings of the VBPD and argue that the force used in several cases was excessive.
In Landsman’s suit, in fact, she cites McClellan’s “history of reports of excessive use of force incidents causing injuries and violations of rules and regulations” with the VBPD.
She also contends the city “knew or should have known McClellan had a propensity for misconduct, including excessive use of force against members of the public.”
Bonner declined comment on the suit, saying he doesn’t talk publicly about cases still in litigation.
Likewise, McClellan declined my interview request, telling a Sheriff’s spokesman that his attorney advised him to not comment.
So we don’t know. We might never know.
For the record: Loar said he was unaware of Landsman’s lawsuit until it was reported by Vero Beach 32963 and Vero News last week, adding that he supports McClellan “100 percent.”
The Sheriff offered no comment on McClellan’s time with the VBPD but said every “use of force” and “response to resistance” incident involving any of his deputies is turned over to the Internal Affairs Division for scrutiny.
“Anytime there’s a use of force, we automatically open up an IA case and thoroughly investigate the incident,” Loar said.
As for McClellan’s eight “use of force” incidents with the Sheriff’s Office – one in 2012, four in 2013 and three this year – Loar conceded that “it’s above average.”
But he said each of those occasions was “event-specific” and that number is not cause for alarm.
“It could be that, because he’s a big guy, he steps up and takes control of those types of situations,” Loar said of the 6-foot-1, 240-pound deputy. “And, again, you have to consider that he works in a very active zone and takes a lot of calls, some that require him to deal with people who put up resistance.
“When you’re dealing with a combative person – especially someone who might be mentally unstable or on some kind of substance – and your life is on the line, you’re not going to just stand around,” he added.
“So I’m not overly concerned about the number of use of force incidents.
“If he was using excessive force, there’d be a problem,” Loar said. “But he does a good job.”
I want to believe that. I want to believe the Sheriff’s faith in his deputy is well-placed. I want to believe that all those “use of force” and “response to resistance” incidents were justified, and that McClellan is what Loar says he is.
But I’ve seen the photographs of Landsman’s bruised and bloodied face after her arrest.
And I just don’t know.