Protests after five arrested in ‘riot’ with police

Five men were arrested during an altercation with Long Beach police officers in the North Park area on Nov. 9, in what one police official described as a “melee” that left two officers injured and sparked the ire of residents who claim that the suspects were brutalized by police.

Charles Evans, 39, Laquann Hodge, 21, Derrick Patten, 18, Devante Patten, 16, and Bruce Rodgers, 19, all of Long Beach, were arrested on charges of first-degree riot, obstruction of governmental administration and resisting arrest.

Rodgers and Derrick Patten were also charged with second-degree assault, police said. Deputy Inspector Bruce Meyer of the Long Beach Police Department said that the men were either released on their own recognizance or posted bail.

According to police, the incident occurred at 6 p.m., when three plainclothes officers from the LBPD’s Street Crimes Unit approached three men who were walking on East Pine Street. Meyer said the men were “acting suspicious in nature” and that police made a “routine” stop.

“One factor was that one of them had his face masked with a bandanna,” Meyer explained. “The officers felt that it warranted an interview.”

Meyer said that when officers identified themselves as police, the three men fled in different directions. At that point, the officers called for backup, and as one of the men was fleeing, Meyer said, he “made a tug at his waistband.”

That man entered a home on East Pine Street, Meyer said, where Hodge and the Pattens live. One officer went to the front door of the home and knocked, with the intention of questioning the man.

After a while, the man opened the door, Meyer explained, and the situation rapidly escalated. The two other suspects returned and began attacking uniformed officers at the scene, and, according to Meyer, a “riot broke out.”

Meyer estimated that 100 or more people crowded the street when the fighting broke out. Some of them, he said, started kicking and punching the officers.

“Officers were being kicked from behind and cursed at,” Meyer said, in addition to being punched from behind. He added that the police were outnumbered. Initially, all available officers — a total of 13 — were called to the scene, but “because of the size and volatility of the crowd,” Meyer said, “13 wasn’t enough.”

Officers from Nassau County were also called in, and eventually, he said, there were more than 30 officers on the scene. The incident lasted about half an hour, Meyer said. Two Long Beach officers sustained injuries, and were treated in the emergency department of Long Beach Medical Center.

Residents strongly dispute the Police Department’s version of events, saying that the men were doing nothing wrong and that police violated their civil rights. They also denied allegations that people in the crowd joined in and began hitting police. On Nov. 10, more than 30 people gathered in front of City Hall to protest the arrests, saying that the police brutalized the young men in what many residents were calling an unprovoked attack.

Fred Brewington, an attorney representing Derrick Patten, said he believes that the police instigated the incident “without question,” and noted that his client suffered multiple injuries, and that one man was even tasered by police.

“This needs to be examined carefully,” Brewington said. “They suffered a level of brutality that should not be visited on any person. Those that should have been arraigned are wearing uniforms.”

Meyer strongly disputed accusations that the police instigated the incident. “Everything happened very, very quickly,” he said. “The scene became very explosive. [Officers] maintained their composure, and they got the job done.”

The five suspects were arraigned in Long Beach City Court on Nov. 10, in a room packed with supporters. Before and after the arraignment, protesters gathered outside City Hall, loudly chanting, “No justice, no peace!”

“I feel like I’m back in the ’60s in this community — that’s how [police] make us feel,” said resident Vita Hilton. “It’s not about just ‘black,’ it’s about a social economic status in this town that does not have the representation … and it needs to stop.”

James Hodge, who said he witnessed the incident, said he saw an officer assault his nephew, who was in handcuffs.

“What they did to those young men was wrong,” said Hodge, a local community leader and an uncle of three of the men, who led the protest. “I saw him hitting my nephew, who was cuffed. I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what color you are, what they did was wrong.”

After the arraignment, Hodge led supporters of the men in prayer in front of City Hall, and called for change in the community. “We will fight on,” he said. “[Lord], take care of our community.”

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