Robert Zott Photo
The policewoman who arrested the Ideat Village festival’s organizer this weekend is out injured as a result of the incident.
The officer, Betsy Segui (pictured), suffered a fractured hand and injured ankle, according to police.
Click here for a full story and reader debate about the incident.
Segui responded Saturday evening to noise complaints about an Ideat Village punk rock performance by a band called the Lost Riots in Pitkin Plaza on Orange Street. The complaints came around 8 p.m. from the 360 apartment tower, whose manager had emailed tenants urging them to contact police about loud music at the festival.
Segui asked festival organizer Bill Saunders to see his permit for the event. He didn’t have it on him; his wife had it around the corner at another festival event. While they waited, Saunders told the crowd about the police visit and suggested more people might get arrested if the police arrested him.
Robert Zott Photo
Segui then told him he was under arrest (for “inciting a riot”). He walked away. Segui stopped him and began arresting him. A scuffle ensued. It ended up on the ground. Saunders’ head and arm got bloodied.
According to the police account, Saunders fought the cops as soon as Segui stopped him, at one point twisting her foot.
Saunders said in an interview Monday that Segui did tell him, “Let go of my leg!”
“She had her leg locked in my arm, and she was sitting on my arm with her entire body,” Saunders said. “There was absolutely no way I could release her.”
Saunders insisted he “never resisted” arrest or fought the officers. “I tried to crawl away from them when they were on my back, to be in public view.”
At one point during the arrest Saunders called Segui a “twat.”
She went to the hospital for treatment later that evening and was released. On a follow-up visit she learned about the fracture and has since been placed on leave while she recovers, according to police.