Man: Golden Valley Police Used Excessive Force

St. Paul (AP)

Sep 8, 2007 — A man who claims Golden Valley police used excessive force when they arrested him for a crime he didn't commit testified that he has suffered from post traumatic stress disorder since police threw him to the ground and pepper sprayed him.

Al Hixon testified Friday in federal court in St. Paul that he had taken his Jaguar out of winter storage on April 2, 2005 and stopped at a Golden Valley Sinclair station for oil. Suddenly, he said, officers threw him on the pavement, jumped on his back, handcuffed him, put a boot on his neck and shot pepper spray in his eyes and nostrils.

"I was scared and nervous and asked: 'What did I do? What did I do?' I thought I was going to die," the 47-year-old told jurors.

Attorney Jon Iverson, representing Golden Valley and officers Christine McCarville and Mario Hernandez, said Hixon was in the wrong place. A U.S. Bank at the nearby Byerly's had just been robbed, and police saw Hixon allegedly trying to run.

"Mr. Hixon was, unfortunately, at the scene of a high-risk stop and panicked, and officers took the actions they took," Iverson said.

Hixon testified police handcuffed him before using pepper spray at point-blank range. Police claim they sprayed him when he resisted, then cuffed him.

Hixon, who is black, is seeking damages in excess of $75,000, alleging his civil rights were violated by excessive force, battery and assault. Hixon's lawyers are not making this a racial discrimination case, but skin color is an issue.

"I told them, 'If this is a black thing, you have the wrong black man,"' Hixon testified. "She (McCarville) said: 'That's what you all say."'

Police deny that exchange took place. Hixon's attorney, Andrew Parker, said the original police call on the robbery mentioned a white suspect. A white man was later convicted.

Iverson said two black men in a van at the service station were also arrested as accomplices and that Hixon was seen moving away from the van.

Ron Feist, the service station manager, told police at the scene that Hixon wasn't part of the bank robbery. Hixon was still taken to the police station and booked for obstructing justice before paramedics arrived about an hour later.

"I couldn't breathe. I was vomiting and coughing up mucous and blood, gasping for air," Hixon said.

His wife and three children, then ages 11, 9 and 1, found him in a hospital emergency room.

"Al was screaming: 'Why did they do this to me? Don't let me die,"' his wife, Sheri Hixon, a social worker, testified. "The kids were trembling."

Hixon owns and operates AMB Construction. He won an award in 1995 from the McKnight Foundation for his community and volunteer service. In 1997, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal named him one of the top 40 business and community leaders under 40. He has no criminal record.

Hixon testified he's had nightmares since his arrest and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Afterward, Hixon told jurors: "I stopped being myself. I just shut down. I'm not the same person. If I could go back, I would have never taken that car out of storage."

Back