RI man files lawsuit over two alleged false arrests in Woonsocket

“Mr. “Blackie has had parts of his life taken from him that he will never get back as a result of the unlawful actions taken against him, and he has suffered significant emotional distress, pain and suffering as a result,” Joshua Xavier, an ACLU attorney representing Blackie, said in a statement Explanation. “This case shows that the harm caused by injustice is significantly greater when the victims of the injustice are needy.”

The lawsuit names the city of Woonsocket, the Woonsocket Police Department and officer Timothy Hammond as defendants.

City police leaders and officials have previously acknowledged that Blackie was wrongfully arrested and apologized to him last year.

In a statement to the Globe on Friday, Woonsocket city attorney Michael J. Lepizzera Jr. said the city had not yet seen the lawsuit and therefore he could not comment.

“However, there is an important distinction that should be made at this early stage. The officer acknowledged the shortcomings of his investigation as he did not follow standard investigative procedures established by the city and its police department,” Lepizzera said.

“However, and this is important, there were deficiencies and lapses in following protocol and nothing intentional on the part of the officer,” Lepizzera continued. “There is a huge difference between an unintentional mistake and an intentional act.”

According to the ACLU, an apartment in Woonsocket was broken into in August 2022 and a resident there, William Grover, told investigators the person who entered the home was known to him as “Black.”

“Later, Officer Hammond met with Grover and asked several times if Mack Blackie was the perpetrator,” the ACLU said in a statement. “Mr. Grover – who knew both ‘Black’ and Blackie – explicitly stated that he was not Blackie, a Liberian, and even described the differences in physical characteristics between the two men.”

The lawsuit said Grover repeatedly told Hammond that the suspect was not Blackie, whom Grover had known personally for about a year. According to the documents, Hammond told Grover that he would arrange a photo op so Grover could identify the correct suspect.

But ultimately, Hammond “failed and/or refused to plan the photo lineup,” the filing says. Instead, Hammond “erroneously wrote in his testimony and later repeated in his application for an arrest warrant that ‘Grover positively identified the suspect as Mack Blackie,'” the ACLU said.

Blackie was then arrested and collapsed in the courtroom the morning after being held overnight due to an illness and was taken to an intensive care unit, the ACLU said.

“Several months later, he was arrested again and charged with felony burglary and assault in connection with the August 2022 incident,” the organization said.

Blackie was on probation at the time of his arrest and was therefore held without bail for 17 days, the ACLU said. When bail was finally set at $100, he was unable to pay and was held for another 13 days until an employee of a nonprofit where he volunteered cleared it transferred money needed for his release, the ACLU said.

“In February 2023, Grover saw Blackie in the courthouse hallway at a preliminary hearing in the case. “He immediately realized that the Woonsocket police had arrested the wrong man and informed the district attorney,” the ACLU said. “The charges against Blackie were subsequently dropped.

“While Hammond was later suspended for 10 days and demoted for ‘failure.'[ing] “He remains on duty following standard investigative procedures,” the organization added.

Woonsocket officials said last year that an internal investigation concluded that Hammond “failed to follow standard investigative procedures, which ultimately led to the wrongful arrest of Mr. Blackie.”

Hammond “accepted responsibility for his actions, was transferred from the Criminal Investigation Division and accepted a suspension,” officials said.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified “compensatory and punitive damages” as well as declaratory relief from the court.

When the ACLU filed a lawsuit with the city in August, Xavier told the Globe that Blackie was still unhoused at the time but had found employment.

“It’s a tragedy that all this happened to him,” Xavier said. “He hopes to recover through our legal efforts on his behalf.”

Christopher Gavin can be reached at [email protected].