Dear editor,
My name is Tonya Shaughnessy, formerly Tonya Farmer, and I am concerned about an incident involving my father Bill Farmer, 77, that occurred Saturday night.
My father has lived and kept a house in Iola since 1962. He retired when he was 55 and lives in Washington state but comes back to the home I grew up in for the spring and fall. I lived in Iola for over 33 years and now live in Topeka.
We still love Iola due to the peacefulness of the small town and the good people who live there.
On Saturday night my father called 911 for an injured neighbor and while on the call with the 911 operator was repeatedly asked his name and address as well as a multiple number of odd questions, such as how much the injured man weighed, his age and how far he fell.
My father finally got frustrated with the line of questioning and very frustrated with having to repeat himself that he eventually disconnected the 911 call.
A few minutes later an Iola police officer showed up and instead of assisting my father and the other family members with the injured man he began to shout at my father demanding his ID and name. My father repeatedly asked where the ambulance was and that they needed to be concerned for the injured gentleman. Finally the ambulance came but then the police officer and another who arrived later turned on my father and became very aggressive with him.
They grabbed him by the shoulders and said they were apprehending him and for him to come with them. They then drug him across the yard toward their car and handcuffed him as hard and tight as they could. Let me remind you that my father is 77 and weighs around 110. He also has arthritis and recently had a hip replacement.
He begged the officers to tell him why he was being arrested and to be easy on him due to his arthritis and his recent hip replacement. They shouted profanities at him, told him they didn’t care, and told him repeatedly to shut up and called him an old man. They also said that he wasn’t in Seattle, Washington anymore and that he was in Iola, Kansas!
They pushed him toward the police car and told him to shut up and get in. He advised that he couldn’t do it very quickly due to his hip replacement, they then pushed him into the back of the car and my dad screamed out due to the pain in his hip.
They then left him in the car for 30 minutes. He was driven to the Iola police department and charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice. He was held for two hours and was finally let go after having to pay $1,300 bail.
My father hasn’t slept well since. I am very ashamed and disappointed in the Iola Police Department. My father is a 23-year U.S. veteran who served proudly in the Navy. He has NEVER been arrested and Saturday night is the first time he has called 911.
He is now frightened to ever call 911 again.
I came to Iola Monday due to pictures that my father sent of injuries sustained by the excessive force used by the two Iola police officers. I took him to Allen County Hospital to be evaluated and to get photos taken of the bruises. His shoulder is also very sore and his hip is hurting due to the excessive force used by the Iola police officers. We then requested a copy of the 911 tape and visited with City Administrator Carl Slaugh, who promised he would review the 911 tape and also review audio/video of the police officer’s car. I hope he follows through with his promise.
My dad also visited with a local lawyer who said we would have to pay up to $1,000 to try to get the two charges dropped. Then if we wanted to pursue a civil case it would cost up to $3,000 and upward.
The local lawyer also said before he would even consider taking on our case against the Iola police department that he would review the tapes and video very thoroughly because he didn’t want to have to possibly face receiving a ticket from the Iola police department every time he drove home. What kind of local government do we have running the local Iola police department that a local lawyer is scared of them?
As a previous Iolan I am disappointed in what has transpired in Iola and so is my father. He went over on Sunday to the neighbors who witnessed it all and they are furious.
