Anna Stanczyk and her dog, Psotka (Photo: NY Daily News)This story combines two of your favorite topics, Dogsters: Errant poop, and alleged abuse of police power. Read it and cringe.
A NY woman claims cops beat her badly when she tried to tell them that the dog poop they forced her to clean up was not her dog’s. Ann Stanczyk, a Polish immigrant, says she was walking her terrier, Psotka (Polish for “prankster”), when she was approached by two officers from the 100th Precinct.
“They saw my dog and they said I didn’t clean up,” said Stanczyk told the NY Daily News, as she spoke in halting English and fought back tears. “I said, ‘No, she only pee.’ They, of course, not agree with me and I say, ‘Show me. Where is it?’”
She said the officers found some dog poop nearby.
“Pick it up,” they ordered her, according to the Daily News. “I got scared. I pick up. I said, ‘It’s cold, not belong to my dog.’ When I smiled and said I didn’t do anything, that made them very upset.”
Stanczyk shortly after her encounter with police. (Photo: NY Daily News)At this point the Queens woman says they handcuffed her and arrested her. They put her in the patrol car, but she says she used her feet to stop the door from closing. This did not please the police, apparently; she claims this is when they started beating her.
“I get scared to death,” she said. “I started to scream, ‘My dog! My dog!’ They punch me in my face. They punch me in my breast. They punch me in my stomach.”
Check out the photo to the right, in case you wondered what she looked like when the incident took place a couple of weeks ago. Her knee apparently still requires physical therapy.
The Daily News reports that a neighbor ran over to take Psotka, and the police left with Stanczyk for the precinct. They charged her with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Earlier this week she filed a complaint with the Civilian Complaint Review Board. She plans to sue.
“I just doing it to protect other people from police brutality,” Stanczyk told the Daily News. “I don’t want what happened to me happen to anyone else. I want to protect the others. If it can happen to me it can happen to other people.”
The police would not return calls placed by the newspaper, but the Daily News reports that court papers claim Stanczyk “caused a ruckus by yelling at the officers to leave her alone. They also said she locked her hands in front of her to avoid arrest.” (Wow, even if true, does that mean they have the right to beat her to a pulp?)
It looks like with some authorities it’s “scoop the poop, or else.” Or “scoop someone else’s poop, and smile about it, or else.”
I hope that if Stanczyk’s story is true (and somehow this doesn’t seem like the kind of thing people make up, especially with a photo like the one above) she gets justice. But it might be tough against these authorities. I’ll try to keep you posted.
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