NORTHAMPTON — A city woman is accusing the city and several of its police officers of negligence and excessive force after she was allegedly assaulted during an arrest in 2017, according to a lawsuit filed in Hampshire Superior Court.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of plaintiff Debra L. Horton, states that on Feb. 6, 2017, officers responded to Cooley Dickinson Hospital for a report of a disturbance. Horton, then 58 and receiving treatment at the hospital, was found in the back parking lot and walked toward a pond despite instructions from the police to wait.
After given back her belongings, officers asked Horton to leave the woods and the property, at which point she ran further into the woods, the lawsuit states. An officer then allegedly “chased her, grabbed onto her right wrist and [Horton] yelled out in pain,” before handcuffing her, carrying her out of the woods and putting her in a cruiser, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges Horton “repeatedly insisted” that her wrists were in great pain and that she had pins placed in her right wrist from a surgery.
“[Horton] was physically assaulted … when she insisted that he needed to loosen her handcuffs,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges that Horton suffered injuries to her shoulder, back, face, head, wrist, and other body parts as well as emotional distress and property damage; Horton continues to receive medical treatment and counseling, according to the lawsuit.
Horton is accusing the city of negligence in failing to provide medical attention while she was in custody. She is also suing for excessive force for both the alleged assault and when she was removed from the woods. Additionally, Horton argues her constitutional rights were deprived and that the defendants had tried to interfere with her rights by threat, intimidation or coercion.
Police Chief Jody Kasper, who is a named defendant in the lawsuit, declined to comment and forwarded requests for comment to the mayor’s office. Horton’s attorney, Harold I. Resnic, of Springfield, could not be reached for comment.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.