Berlin woman is seeking relief after being threatened with arrest for sitting on bench
"I just believe wholeheartedly that had I been someone else maybe a white woman he probably would have not approached me," says Ronshell Shockley.
Shockley is referring to an incident in June that involved a member of the Berlin Police Department. Ronshelll and her husband tell 47 ABC, on June 30th she was sitting on a picnic table at Henry Park watching a youth basketball tournament. Shockley she says Lt. Jeffrey Lawson from the Berlin Police Department pulled up to the park and walked over to her.
"He pointed directly at my face and said first of all you can sit down on that seat the right way. And I was blown away, I was shocked. I complied and sat down on the seat, " says Shockley.
Shockley tells us she then asked Lt. Lawson what rule she was violating.
"He didn't answer. He said if you don't leave I will arrest you," says Shockley.
That's when Shockely says she and her family left the park. That same day Shockley says she attempted to file a complaint with the Berlin police station, but says officials told her that she couldn't because the chief was on vacation at that time. After a few attempts, Shockley reached out to the Lt. Governor's office, which encouraged the Shockley's to file the complaint at the local level.
"At that time I was only demanding an apology, but at this point an apology would be half-hearted and fake because it's been so long that it wouldn't mean much," says Shockley.
Shockley is now being represented by Attorney Luke Rommel. Rommel tells us months after the incident the Shockley's received a letter from the Berlin Police Department.
"The letter said something to the effect of the appropriate discipline will be taken, unfortunately what happened there after no one knows what was done if anything whether if there was any discipline taken of any kind," says Rommel.
Despite this acknowledgement, Shockley tells us she is frustrated by how the incident has been handled and wants to make sure this doesn't happen again, which led her to seek relief through the legal system. Rommel tells us he has sent a letter and an unsigned $75,000 lawsuit that he plans to file in U-S District Court, but that's if a resolution is not met with the Town of Berlin by January 15th.
"That's not because anybody wants to get rich of this case. An apology would be the preferred solution that it happened in a timely manner. But there is also a deterrent component to this where if he it is going to stop, and it is not going to happen again," says Rommel.
Wednesday morning 47 ABC reached out to the town of Berlin for a comment. They confirmed that they have received the letter from Attorney Luke Rommel and the town's legal counsel is reviewing this matter. Shortly after this conversation, 47 ABC was notified by Rommel that Wednesday afternoon, the town's attorney reached out to the Shockley's and has shown interest in resolving this matter.
47 ABC also reached out to the Berlin Police Department, but have not heard back as of Thursday afternoon.
