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Prosecutors drop charges against deaf man • Top Stories (www.HometownAnnapolis.com - The Capital)
Prosecutors last month dropped all charges against a 56-year-old deaf man police said punched an officer while trying to report a burglary at his Pasadena home.
Kristin Fleckenstein, spokeswoman for the State's Attorney's Office, said that prosecutors did not think they could prove Stephen Pyles assaulted Officer Louis Facciponti on April 16. The decision came after a county emergency medical technician who witnessed the incident said Pyles was just trying to get the officer's attention.
"Much of the incident appears to be a matter of perception," said Fleckenstein, explaining why prosecutors on Feb. 23 dropped charges of second-degree assault and resisting arrest. She added that they did not see any need for an internal affairs review.
"We do not believe that the officer had any malicious intent" in arresting Pyles, she said. "However, the state felt confident that (dropping charges) … was the best course of action in this case."
Pyles, who never spent any time in jail, said in an e-mail to The Capital that he doesn't agree with the state's opinion of Facciponti, who started with the department in June 2007.
Pyles charged that county police have done nothing to stop people from repeatedly breaking into his home while he and his family sleep.
"My mom and I sleep with enormous fears not just from possible sudden encounter with the serial (burglars) but how the Anne Arundel County police would treat us the next time."
Defense attorneys and advocates for the hearing impaired said last week that the incident raises questions about the department's ability to work with the deaf.
"I think there is definitely a sensitivity chip missing with Anne Arundel County police and Officer Facciponti," said Assistant Public Defender Heather Tierney, Pyles' attorney.
She said Pyles did not punch Facciponti, but rather grabbed at his arm and put a note on his chest.
"They (county police) may be not aware that sign language is their primary means of communication," Alicia Epstein, president of the Maryland Association of the Deaf, said of deaf people police may encounter.
"At the first appearance, it may appear that they (deaf people) are being too aggressive. It is critical that the police department receive awareness training on how to communicate with deaf constituents."
Sgt. John Gilmer, county police spokesman, said the incident and the department's policies are "under review." He would not elaborate, but stressed officers are trained to deal with individuals with disabilities.
O'Brien Atkinson, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, stood behind Facciponti.
"I can tell you that the officer was disappointed that this case did not go to trial," he said. "If you punch a police officer, you get arrested."
Facciponti wrote in court documents he and another officer were dispatched to Pyles' Colony Road home about 6:50 a.m. April 16 to investigate a 911 hang-up. When they arrived, they met a "highly agitated" Pyles who mimed he was deaf and started pointing to a broken window, police said.
Facciponti said he understood Pyles was trying to report a burglary and went inside the house. There, the two traded several handwritten notes in which Pyles complained that his home was burglarized multiple times and that police never did anything.
"As I was speaking to him, he continued to try and write, but he suddenly and without warning used his closed (right) fist to punch me in the chest," Facciponti wrote.
The officer tried to place Pyles under arrest, but the man resisted, police said. After forcing Pyles to the floor, Facciponti struggled to get him handcuffed and then charged him with assault.
Police took Pyles to Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie after learning that his neck hurt. Family members told police Pyles underwent neck surgery the week before.
At the hospital, Pyles told officers a purse containing cash and credit cards was stolen from his home.
Police investigated, but found no leads, Gilmer said. The investigation was eventually suspended.
Tierney said Pyles was agitated the morning of the incident, but said that was because he had just woken up and found his house ransacked. She said that a county medic who also was dispatched to Pyles' home after the 911 hang-up witnessed the alleged assault and told a different story than Facciponti.
"The male subject who appeared very frustrated from not being able to communicate with the officers attempted to get an officer's attention by grabbing the officer's arm and placing a piece of paper with a note for the officer on the officer's chest," Ashley Eckhardt wrote in a report Tierney provided to The Capital. "It was at this time that the officer began wrestling the (patient) to the ground. The male subject was guarding himself from the officer pointing to his neck and motioning for the officers to stop."
Police eventually cuffed Pyles' hands behind his back - counter to guidelines set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to Eckhardt - and refused requests by his family to let him be handcuffed in the front so he could sign or write notes.
"All he (Facciponti) did was smirking, acting elated, and denied me everything," Pyles wrote in his e-mail. "Neighbors certainly got wrong ideas about me. We still feel humiliated."
Prosecutors last month dropped all charges against a 56-year-old deaf man police said punched an officer while trying to report a burglary at his Pasadena home.
Kristin Fleckenstein, spokeswoman for the State's Attorney's Office, said that prosecutors did not think they could prove Stephen Pyles assaulted Officer Louis Facciponti on April 16. The decision came after a county emergency medical technician who witnessed the incident said Pyles was just trying to get the officer's attention.
"Much of the incident appears to be a matter of perception," said Fleckenstein, explaining why prosecutors on Feb. 23 dropped charges of second-degree assault and resisting arrest. She added that they did not see any need for an internal affairs review.
"We do not believe that the officer had any malicious intent" in arresting Pyles, she said. "However, the state felt confident that (dropping charges) … was the best course of action in this case."
Pyles, who never spent any time in jail, said in an e-mail to The Capital that he doesn't agree with the state's opinion of Facciponti, who started with the department in June 2007.
Pyles charged that county police have done nothing to stop people from repeatedly breaking into his home while he and his family sleep.
"My mom and I sleep with enormous fears not just from possible sudden encounter with the serial (burglars) but how the Anne Arundel County police would treat us the next time."
Defense attorneys and advocates for the hearing impaired said last week that the incident raises questions about the department's ability to work with the deaf.
"I think there is definitely a sensitivity chip missing with Anne Arundel County police and Officer Facciponti," said Assistant Public Defender Heather Tierney, Pyles' attorney.
She said Pyles did not punch Facciponti, but rather grabbed at his arm and put a note on his chest.
"They (county police) may be not aware that sign language is their primary means of communication," Alicia Epstein, president of the Maryland Association of the Deaf, said of deaf people police may encounter.
"At the first appearance, it may appear that they (deaf people) are being too aggressive. It is critical that the police department receive awareness training on how to communicate with deaf constituents."
Sgt. John Gilmer, county police spokesman, said the incident and the department's policies are "under review." He would not elaborate, but stressed officers are trained to deal with individuals with disabilities.
O'Brien Atkinson, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, stood behind Facciponti.
"I can tell you that the officer was disappointed that this case did not go to trial," he said. "If you punch a police officer, you get arrested."
Facciponti wrote in court documents he and another officer were dispatched to Pyles' Colony Road home about 6:50 a.m. April 16 to investigate a 911 hang-up. When they arrived, they met a "highly agitated" Pyles who mimed he was deaf and started pointing to a broken window, police said.
Facciponti said he understood Pyles was trying to report a burglary and went inside the house. There, the two traded several handwritten notes in which Pyles complained that his home was burglarized multiple times and that police never did anything.
"As I was speaking to him, he continued to try and write, but he suddenly and without warning used his closed (right) fist to punch me in the chest," Facciponti wrote.
The officer tried to place Pyles under arrest, but the man resisted, police said. After forcing Pyles to the floor, Facciponti struggled to get him handcuffed and then charged him with assault.
Police took Pyles to Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie after learning that his neck hurt. Family members told police Pyles underwent neck surgery the week before.
At the hospital, Pyles told officers a purse containing cash and credit cards was stolen from his home.
Police investigated, but found no leads, Gilmer said. The investigation was eventually suspended.
Tierney said Pyles was agitated the morning of the incident, but said that was because he had just woken up and found his house ransacked. She said that a county medic who also was dispatched to Pyles' home after the 911 hang-up witnessed the alleged assault and told a different story than Facciponti.
"The male subject who appeared very frustrated from not being able to communicate with the officers attempted to get an officer's attention by grabbing the officer's arm and placing a piece of paper with a note for the officer on the officer's chest," Ashley Eckhardt wrote in a report Tierney provided to The Capital. "It was at this time that the officer began wrestling the (patient) to the ground. The male subject was guarding himself from the officer pointing to his neck and motioning for the officers to stop."
Police eventually cuffed Pyles' hands behind his back - counter to guidelines set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to Eckhardt - and refused requests by his family to let him be handcuffed in the front so he could sign or write notes.
"All he (Facciponti) did was smirking, acting elated, and denied me everything," Pyles wrote in his e-mail. "Neighbors certainly got wrong ideas about me. We still feel humiliated."