Woman Sues After "Hostage" Call

**gopherpuckfan** · 07-03-07, 04:33 PM

Sounds to me like the officers did their job well based on the information they had at the time

http://www.startribune.com/332/story/1279060.html

Mistaken hostage situation turns into federal suit

A satellite TV installation last year ended with Savage police handcuffing Julie Pyle in the belief that she was holding the installers hostage. Now she wants $75,000 in damages.
By Sarah Lemagie, Star Tribune

Last update: July 03, 2007 – 12:23 PM

A real-life game of "Telephone" last fall turned a satellite TV installation into what Savage police mistakenly thought was a hostage situation. Now the case has landed in federal court.
On Oct. 13, Scott County emergency dispatchers sent Savage police in response to a call from two DirecTV service desk attendants in Tulsa, Okla., who said a customer with a gun was holding two technicians hostage in her Savage home.
Police rushed to the 153rd Place house, called out the technicians and resident Julie Pyle at gunpoint, forced Pyle to the ground and handcuffed her.

But -- oops! -- Pyle wasn't threatening anyone. Actually, she baked the men cookies, according to a complaint filed by Pyle and her husband, Steven, on May 30 in District Court.
Turns out the TV installation was tricky, and a 15- or 20-minute job had turned into a several-hour ordeal for the technicians. The men called the Oklahoma desk in frustration. The word "hostage" was used, and the Tulsa workers called the police.
But it's all about context.

"We are not being held hostage by the, by the customer. We were being, being held hostage by DirecTV," said one of the technicians when a Scott County dispatcher reached him by phone and asked if he had gotten out of the house, according to a transcript of the call.

"Is this a joke, or is this for real?" he asked when told to look for arriving police officers.
It was for real, though police released Pyle after securing the house and didn't take anyone back to the station. Pyle did not return calls for comment, but police reports said she was visibly shaken and embarrassed that the scene played out in front of her neighbors.

Now she and her husband are suing pretty much the entire cast of characters in the incident, including the police department, a police sergeant, emergency dispatchers, the installation technicians, DirecTV and the two service desk attendants and contractor Premier Communications, for whom the technicians worked. DirectTV and Premier Communications declined to comment.

Pyle claims the incident triggered post-traumatic stress disorder, resulting in sleeplessness, panic attacks and other maladies, according to the complaint. She wants at least $75,000 in damages.

The complaint claims police handcuffed Pyle, even though they already knew from talking to the technicians that no one was being held hostage. Jon Iverson, an attorney representing the Savage Police Department and the sergeant, disputed the claim. Even if the officers had known Pyle wasn't a threat, he said, police shouldn't be second-guessed for how they handle potentially high-risk situations.

"Until they have control of the situation and know what they're dealing with, you can't say, 'You can't handcuff them,' " he said.

Sarah Lemagie • 612-673-7557 • slemagie@startribune.com

**LAW DOG** · 07-03-07, 06:14 PM

SCREW HER AND HER post-traumatic stress disorder lieing b@tch. the PD shouldn't ever show up at her house for any, if someone is breaking into her house sorry your problem not our. someone wanting something for nothing sue happy cunt.