Mayor authorizes release of Triple XXX police report
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/11/2008
Alex Johnson | Senior Photographer
West Lafayette mayor John Dennis speaks to students gathered at Lilly Hall Sunday night regarding recent racial issues at Purdue.
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In reaction to discrimination charges against city police officers, the mayor authorized release of police reports of a Nov. 2 disturbance at a local restaurant.
Mayor John Dennis said because of its nature, he wanted police to release as many details of the events at Triple XXX, 2 N. Salisbury St., as possible.
"It is, I think, important to get to the facts as quickly as possible," Dennis said.
The incident prompted an internal investigation with the West Lafayette Police Department regarding the treatment of black witnesses and subjects involved in the case. The investigation is ongoing.
Based on the police report, Ladonna Musick, a manager of Triple XXX, asked one member of a group of seven black patrons to move down a few seats to accommodate additional patrons. Musick's request upset the patron, James Jones, because he thought the request was racially motivated, resulting in an argument between the two.
Musick asked a Triple XXX security guard to usher the patrons out of the restaurant. In the police report she said one of the patrons, Kenya Grady, was argumentative and refused to leave. The security personnel said, according to the report, that he put his hand on the back of Grady to usher her out of the restaurant. When he did this the security guard said Grady threw her arm and elbow back toward him at which point he grabbed her arm and tried to walk her to the door. Grady reported that he then grabbed her arm in a violent fashion. According to the report, at this point, a friend of Grady approached the security guard. The security personnel said he tried to keep distance between himself and Grady's friend and in the process Grady's friend grabbed his shirt. He said he and the friend fell into the window and it broke.
The narrative from one of the reporting officers, Officer William Dearing, included a statement from Meisha Waters, one of the seven patrons and a witness to the confrontation.
"(Triple XXX manager) was described by witnesses as having screamed at the group and members in the group escalating the argument," the report reads.
Officer James Spray, the other reporting officer, wrote in his report the following statement: "Due to the fact that witness statements were all very similar and it seemed employees of the business did more to aggravate the situation instead of trying to calm the patrons or at least call police before it reached a physical level, no arrests were made."
The police report did not include a firsthand account of incidents prior to the patrons being asked to move. But, according to Waters, employees made the seven individuals wait outside when there were open seats available inside the establishment.
"There were clearly seats available and most of the restaurant was empty," Waters said. "Nobody else was waiting outside but us." Employees at the restaurant said the facility was nearly at capacity.