Police Get The Wrong House In Galveston, Allegedly Assault 12-Year-Old Girl

[Julius Civitatus]

Source: Houston Press

It was a little before 8 at night when the breaker went out at Emily Milburn's home in Galveston. She was busy preparing her children for school the next day, so she asked her 12-year-old daughter, Dymond, to pop outside and turn the switch back on.

As Dymond headed toward the breaker, a blue van drove up and three men jumped out rushing toward her. One of them grabbed her saying, "You're a prostitute. You're coming with me." Dymond grabbed onto a tree and started screaming, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." One of the men covered her mouth. Two of the men beat her about the face and throat.

As it turned out, the three men were plain-clothed Galveston police officers who had been called to the area regarding three white prostitutes soliciting a white man and a black drug dealer.

All this is according to a lawsuit filed in Galveston federal court by Milburn against the officers. The lawsuit alleges that the officers thought Dymond, an African-American, was a hooker due to the "tight shorts" she was wearing, despite not fitting the racial description of any of the female suspects. The police went to the wrong house, two blocks away from the area of the reported illegal activity, Milburn's attorney, Anthony Griffin, tells Hair Balls.

After the incident, Dymond was hospitalized and suffered black eyes as well as throat and ear drum injuries.

Three weeks later, according to the lawsuit, police went to Dymond's school, where she was an honor student, and arrested her for assaulting a public servant. Griffin says the allegations stem from when Dymond fought back against the three men who were trying to take her from her home. The case went to trial, but the judge declared it a mistrial on the first day, says Griffin. The new trial is set for February.

(...)

Update: This is from the officers' lawyer, William Helfand:

Both the daughter and the father were arrested for assaulting a peace officer. "The father basically attacked police officers as they were trying to take the daughter into custody after she ran off."

Also, "The city has investigated the matter and found that the conduct of the police officers was appropriate under the circumstances," Helfand says. "It's unfortunate that sometimes police officers have to use force against people who are using force against them. And the evidence will show that both these folks violated the law and forcefully resisted arrest."

Read more: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2008/12/galveston_false_arrest.php

---

So, three plain-clothes undercover cops looking for a white prostitute get the "wrong house", assault a 12-year-old African American girl, without identifying themselves as policemen. Then they sue the girl for "resisting arrest" and the father for "assaulting a peace officer."

Yeah... I wonder how most people will react if you see three men assaulting and hurling your daughter into a van in the dark of the night. Mind you, as the story alleges, they never even identified themselves as policemen.

This NEEDS TO BE MADE INTO A NATIONAL STORY. The Milburn family may need help with their legal bills.

[safeinOhio]

1. Give me a jury trial.

resisting a false arrest? Good luck Houston PD.

[roguevalley]

18. how horrendous. Poor things. so, they can fuck up, harm two people

who are totally innocent, arrest them for defending themselves against an illegal arrest and they get patted on the back? ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

[BrklynLiberal]

2. The cops were not even in uniform!!! What a crock of crap this is!!!!!

:wtf:

[The Doctor.]

57. Those shitheads should be thanking God they weren't slaughtered.

If I saw three men attacking my daughter...




No quarter.

[DS1]

3. Some cops need assaulting

[cabluedem]

36. Lots of people would like to beat the hell out of them!

[otherlander]

49. How DARE you

agree with me?
:grr:

[midnight]

4. How can these officers even show their face in the day of light?

[uppityperson]

5. k&r for no, the conduct was NOT appropriate.

"Any 12-year-old attacked by three men and told that she's a prostitute is going to scream and yell for Daddy and hit back and do whatever she can. She's scared to death.""

[Old and In the Way]

6. They need to sue big time for damages...that's the only way to get them to change

this kind of behavior. If the city of Galveston had to pay out a million dollars, they and many other police departments will start to reform their tactics and how they interface with the public. Sorry, even a prostitution complaint doesn't nearly begin to justify assault and battery on a 12 YO.

[Warpy]

7. "Assault?" They beat the hell out of that poor kid!

None of those fucking bully boys should ever be near a badge or a gun.

None of the morons who "investigated" this by listening to those bully boys whine about the fight a twelve year old girl who was frightened out of her wits was giving them should be given a pass, either.

No one in this thing should get out of this and remain anywhere in public life.

This is disgraceful.

If the cops can't be bothered to identify themselves, then they have no legal leg to stand on. They're just thugs.

[acmavm]

8. Three men on one girl? I'd say the term 'men' is questionable.

[Dogtown]

9. K&R n/t

[pattmarty]

10. "Give me a T for Texas"

:sarcasm:

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Julius Civitatus.

[LostinVA]

12. Texas cops -- what a surprise

How horrible! The poor little girl thought she was being kidnapped by men -- God knows what went through her terrified mind: ganf rape, torture, then murder. And then she was beaten! THEN ARRESTED. And, teh fucking Police couldn't even apologize and admit their wrong???

There's a great book title "Tulia." Read it to understand how SUCKY Texas law enforeecemt is. They act liek sociopaths.

[pinstikfartherin]

15. Exactly!

What else would a young girl think when three men grabbed her up and dragged her away while beating her? What else would the parent think?

This is a disgrace. The poor girl is probably never going to trust the police for the rest of her life. And who could blame her?

[cabluedem]

34. Hell I dont trust the police now. They are there to fill a cell and make money...

these thugs are "for profit" only. The days of an honest cop are long gone.

[rhett o rick]

53. I'm with you on this one LostinVa. nm

[Leftest]

13. What does the law say in a situation like this?

If this happened the way the story reads which I'd be willing to bet it did. Then what does the law say about a circumstance where three guys are assaulting a little girl? Does not the law state that the father or anyone else can lawfully defend themselves by the use of deadly force?

I am not attorney, but, if these guys didn't identify themselves as the police then that is how I've always thought what the law says. So how can anybody be remotely guilty of resisting or assaulting these guys?

I agree, this police agency needs to be sued for millions. Not just one million, but, for millions because people (including the officers themselves) could have easily been much more seriously hurt or killed.

[atreides1]

24. Dad would have been justified in shooting the badge carrying scum!

According to alfalfa, a poster at the site:

It's vital to remember that false arrest is a crime just as much as assault. It is the duty of the citizen to resist false arrest, even to the point of killing hte arresting officer

Runyan v. State, 57 Ind. 80; Miller v. State, 74 Ind. 1

Jones v. State, 26 Tex. App. I; Beaverts v. State, 4 Tex. App. 1 75; Skidmore v. State, 43 Tex. 93, 903

State v. Robinson, 145 ME. 77, 72 ATL. 260

There it is in black and white, folks.


If it had been me, I know that Galveston would have had three less idiots with badges!!!

[Leftest]

26. Thanks atreides1

And of all states doesn't Texas have like the most loose laws governing lawful self defense?

[tblue37]

44. Even if they did identify themselves as police, the way they were acting would

naturally cause innocent people, which is of course what the girl and her father were, to assume they were just thugs claiming to be cops in order to kidnap and rape a young girl.

[aquart]

14. WHY were they using force on a child prostitute?

That's who they thought she was. What if she had been? It's okay to treat her like that? NOTHING about what those Texas cops did is right. NOTHING is appropriate about it. We're talking prostitution, not violent-threat-with-weapon crime.

HOW DARE THEY TREAT ANY WOMAN THAT WAY! HOW DARE THEY TREAT ANY CHILD THAT WAY!

[get the red out]

17. That must be the best kind of crime

Getting to beat the crap out of a female with little chance of getting hurt, like when beating the crap out of some big guy who just robbed a liquor store or something serious. A guy can get hurt beating up those grown, male criminals.

[a la izquierda]

21. That was my initial reaction!

Why the hell should they beat a prostitute to shit regardless? Jesus!

[tblue37]

45. Because they *like* to, and they think prostitutes deserve to be beaten,

especially if they are African-American. Heck, Texas cops figure African-Americans deserve to get beaten just for being African-American.

[otherlander]

51. Cops are racist all over the place, though.

On Wednsday night I was taking a train from NY back to NJ and an Itallian-looking woman accused a black guy of stealing her wallet. They stopped the train and the cops came, and the cops were just assuming that the woman was telling the truth and the man was lying, until it turned out that the woman's wallet was actually still in her coat pocket, and she was just accusing the black guy of shit because she was high out of her mind on some kind of drugs or something.

Then they let the guy go and they took the woman into custody.

Then I went home and went to sleep.

Crazy shit.

[benEzra]

71. My wife is from New England, and she says that in her experience,

there is more racism in Boston/Cambridge than here in North Carolina or in Florida where we used to live. Not only against people of African ancestry, but also immigrants from other nations considered "lower" than Anglo-Saxon-derived bluebloods (she herself lived in a Portuguese-segregated neighborhood until her family moved to Maine).

[skeewee08]

16. This is CRAZY! This definately need to be made into a National Story

What would you do if a van pulled up in front of your house and you heard your 12 year old daughter screaming being abducted by 3 men?

[The Wizard]

19. This is the real Bush Legacy

Police State America.

[midnight]

60. Mission Accomplished.

[my2sense]

20. K & R

Wouldn't it be nice if this case got some coverage in the M$M.

[Leftest]

22. The Runaway Bride is More Important

n/t

:sarcasm:

[Trillo]

23. This truly reads like a criminal incident

that needs to be handled in criminal court by prosecuting the cops involved for child abuse and assault.

[surrealAmerican]

38. I'm with you on this one.

Suing the department is not enough, those "cops" should be in jail for this.

[derby378]

25. PAGING KEITH OLBERMANN...COME IN, KEITH...

I know someone from Countdown is reading DU. Pick this up, already!!

[tblue37]

46. We should all email it to him! nt

[pinstikfartherin]

27. Kick

[Occulus]

28. K&R n/t

[Greyhound]

29. Thank god we don't live in some fascist police state. K&R

[Vickers]

30. "peace officer"

Heh.

[Ilsa]

31. This is why I hate Texas, sometimes. And I live in Texas.

People will defend these MFing cops even though it looked like an attempted kidnapping.

Send the story to Keith Olbermann. Send it to Billo, just for comparison sake.

I hope she gets enough money to enter Harvard University. I hope she gets treated for her PTSD.

[Sequoia]

33. This is why cops are the lowest scum on earth.

And I don't want to hear about how some cops are good. So what? Some bankers are good people too. I've had those dogs lie about me and now I have pay for their damn lies. I hate them all. Burn in hell bastards. I sure hope the dad and daughter win this one. This is so over the top. The only good cops are TV show cops...like Adam-12 and Streets of SF.

[Berry Cool]

41. I wish Keith would pick up on it.

Billo would probably just say the girl got what she deserved for wearing tight shorts outside. *sigh*

[FiveGoodMen]

32. Cops are not the good guys.

Flame away. See if I care...

[EOTE]

35. You won't see me disagreeing.

I'll admit that there are a few good ones, but there are all too many like the ones in this article. If I was able to, I would beat the ever loving shit out of these cops and make sure they'd never take a piss the rest of their miserable lives without experiencing a great amount of pain.

[FiveGoodMen]

40. I agree that it's not all of them.

But too many ... AND they cover up for each other.

It'd be so much different if they'd weed the bad ones out of their ranks.

[tblue37]

47. Yes, and the "good" ones still help cover up for the rotten ones. nt

[bob4460]

37. I cannot belive the father

did not shoot the cops

[libodem]

39. I wonder what the founding fathers would think about this?

Does anyone think they intended to allow government to grow into the type of entity that could just kidnap you off your doorstep and expect you not to have any right to fight back? If this isn't fucked-up, I don't know what is? I believe this is where the exercise of a persons second amendment rights some into play. Somebody tries to abduct your family member off of your property without a warrant or proof of identity. Any man can put on a dark blue suit and wear a tie and bust into your house or steal the kids out of your yard. Oh well, just politely wave by-by.

[DCKit]

42. I Wanna be a Cowboy.....

These fuckers need to be put to death.

Sorry to those opposed to the death penalty.

[robinlynne]

43. fighting back was the ONLY appropriate action. How dare they?

[benEzra]

48. Some more info:

First, good news---HuffPo is picking it up...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/dymond-police-raid
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/18/police-assault-12-year-ol_n_152207.html

...as is Reason Magazine and Radley Balko:
http://reason.com/blog/show/130642.html
http://www.theagitator.com/2008/12/18/more-on-dymond-milburn/

...which makes this less likely that it will be swept under the rug. People from very disparate political views are making noise about it.


Summary of the parents' case:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/08/26/Parents_Say_Four_Cops_Beat_Girl_12.htm

Here's the lawsuit itself:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/08/26/GalvestonCops.pdf
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-txsdce/case_no-3:2008cv00193/case_id-603449/

Hopefully the truth will come out.

And hopefully, the bigger picture---aggressive actions by PLAINCLOTHES police that cause them to be mistaken for criminals---will become a topic of discussion. Even if the arrest had been legit, carrying it out with plainclothes officers from an unmarked car was just asking for misidentification, particularly when seizing a 12-year-old from her own front yard in full view of her parents.

[Shardik]

52. Thanks for the links.

This is an important story and I hope that more venues pick up on it.

[Lilith Velkor]

55. Justin Popovich, Sean Stewart, David Roark, and Sgt. Gilbert Gomez

Those cops might walk, but they should never be anonymous again.

Remember those names.

[otherlander]

50. This is why

I have a problem with people who think that prostitution should remain a crime "because it's violent" to the women involved. You see, this is what happens when you have laws against it. There are a lot of women out there in the blogosphere who are either sex workers or former sex workers, and they pretty much all agree that getting rid of laws against a profession which will most likely always exist is the biggest step that could be taken towards providing better legal protection for the women involved.

[JI7]

54. isn't Galveston an area with a lot of race problems including law enforcement

being racist ?

[McCamy Taylor]

67. Nope. Galveston is bluer than blue. The cops will lose both cases.

The DA must be pressuring the family to settle their civil suit by filing these bogus criminal charges. A jury made up of Galveston county residents will nail their po's to a cross.

[Julius Civitatus]

56. Medical report on her injuries

I found more info about the medical report of her injuries issued by teh emergency physicians:

The examining physician found that Dymond suffered injuries from multiple blows to the head, face, neck, lower back, left shoulder, and left hip/waist area. She suffered a contusion to the back of the head (where she was struck with a flashlight). There were abrasions on her arm and wrist. Her throat was swollen; she had difficulty swallowing, nausea and vomiting, and hoarseness of voice due to being struck in the throat. She had black eyes, scalp lacerations, tenderness of the vertebrae. She was experiencing double vision and loss of hearing. Dymond’s ear drum and nose were also injured (blood in ear, bruised nasal septum, and nose bleed).

http://shadmia.com/2008/12/19/dymond-milburn-a-victim-of-police-brutality/

Incredible.

[Julius Civitatus]

58. And more nasty details about the assault

It gets worse and worse...

Wilfred Milburn, Dymond’s father, was on the balcony when he heard his daughter’s cries for help and came outside. Emily Milburn also heard the cries and ran outside. When they arrived outside, Dymond was hysterical and holding on to the tree with one arm; two officers were striking Dymond in the head, face and throat. At no time did the supervising officer (Gomez) on the scene intervene and stop the illegal seizure and assault. Officer Roark hit Dymond in the back of head with a flashlight, hit her neck, throat, slapped her across the face, and told her to get off the tree.

Wilfred Milburn told the officer “that’s our daughter. She’s twelve.” The officer responded, “I don’t care if she’s twenty-two, thirty-two, or forty-six. Tell her to calm down.”

As a result of the Officers’ assault, Dymond suffered from pain in the back of the head, lower back pain, a sprained wrist with abrasions, and throat, neck and face pain. Her parents took her to the University of Texas Medical Branch for treatment. They arrived at the emergency room at 9:24 p.m. on August 22, 2006. Dymond was treated for head injuries and multiple contusions.

On Friday, September 15, 2006, at 10:00 a.m., twelve (12) year old Dymond Milburn was arrested for assaulting a public servant. The arrest took place while Dymond was at school.
(...)

Since the incident, Dymond has had regular nightmares in which police officers are raping her, beating her, and cutting off her fingers. Her fear prevented her from participating in normal activities (going outside to play) which she no longer considered safe. Dymond sought psychological treatment, and on October 31, 2006, she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder due to the incident which is the subject of this lawsuit.

http://shadmia.com/2008/12/19/dymond-milburn-a-victim-of-police-brutality/

[Liberal_in_LA]

59. Sergeant Gilbert Gomez (badge #987), Officers David Roark (badge #332), Justin Popovich (badge #336)

The perps:

Sergeant Gilbert Gomez (badge #987), Officers David Roark (badge #332), Justin Popovich (badge #336), and Sean Stewart (badge #392)

[Quantess]

61. Outrageous.

This should be national news.
"WHERE'S CAYLEE" has been in the media spotlight for 6 months. This story deserves at least a day.

[Alcibiades]

62. Boycott Galveston

Only when the rich white folks in charge know that they will lose money will any justice be done.

[Quantess]

63. Didn't they just have that huge, catastrophic storm that practically wiped them out?

Probably no need to boycott--I doubt they get many tourists anyway, lately.

[McCamy Taylor]

68. Galveston is not a rich enclave of whites. It is heavily minority, solidly Dem.

My guess is that the police have applied pressure to the DA to get the family to settle their lawsuit by filing charges. The police will not do well in court with a Galveston jury in either case. As to the shorts, everyone in Galveston wears shorts year round. This could be anyone's daughter. These cops were out of their minds.

[Alcibiades]

73. Most southern places that are not rich

and white are owned by folks who are. They collect the rental income, own most of the businesses, etc. Though the elected officials may not be rich white folk, the dominant powers economically often are.

That's just based on my experience of things in the Carolinas. I don't really know how it is down in Texas, though, just by looking at the picture below from the Galveston Chamber of Commerce website, I doubt it is all that much different.

[Franzia]

77. Pure propaganda on the part of the Galveston C of C.

That picture is of "Dickens on the Strand", held every Christmas in Galveston. The Strand is a several-block long shopping district in Galveston, surrounded by poor and lower middle class neighborhoods. The richie-riches live on the West End of the island.

Believe me, after Ike, Galveston is in a bad way and the last thing needed is more negative publicity.

[Alcibiades]

78. Then they should charge the cops involved here

Throw the book at them--kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, assault on a minor, etc.

[ThatsMyBarack]

64. Sounds great to be a cop!

:sarcasm:You can beat up anyone you like, in or out of uniform, and get paid for it!

Assault and privilege--That's the life for me!:sarcasm:

[Lilyeye]

65. This is horrible. The MSM needs to be reporting this story. However, I have no doubts there will be

some assholes defending the cops.

[McCamy Taylor]

66. If this is being tried in Galveston Co. the cops will lose both cases.

I suspect that the DA is only taking it to court in hopes that the family will drop their civil suit in exchange for the DA dropping the criminal case. A Galveston jury will acquit the family, and then a Galveston civil jury will award mega damages.

[lib2DaBone]

69. Why do Narcotics Officers and S.W.A.T. Teams wear Masks over their face?

If they are proud of what they are doing.... just saying....

[tama]

70. Cops murder Justin Elmore, Augusta Georgia riots

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4693046&mesg_id=4693046

[Duncan]

72. I wish this was fiction.

This must not fade without outrage.

[Quantess]

74. Terrible, shocking story, even to people who think they have seen/heard it all.

I won't let this story sink without letting a few more people in on the outrage.

[Liberal_in_LA]

76. bump!

SERGEANT GILBERT GOMEZ ,
OFFICERS DAVID ROARK ,
JUSTIN POPOVICH SEAN STEWART ,

[hardeeboy]

75. incident

law enforcement is weird

[Liberal_in_LA]

79. kick and update

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/130732.html

It looks like one of the officers named in Mlburn's lawsuit, Officer Sean Stewart, was named a Galveston PD "Officer of the Year" last June.

good comments following the blog:

What kind of police department, a full 7 days after realizing the horrendously large mistake it made in attempting to forcibly detain and arrest a totally innocent 12-year-old girl, compounds the magnitude of its ineptitude by re-arresting her in a psychologically damaging manner in front of her entire social community?

They probably had figured out that they would be sued, and calculated that they had a better chance to defend themselves against a lawsuit if they papered the file with a bullshit arrest.

[Quantess]

80. Thanks for the update.