Detroit Police Chief defends officers' actions after 70-year woman sues for police brutality

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Detroit Police Chief James Craig says officers were doing their job when officers pulled a 70-year-old woman out of her home and handcuffed her while they searched for a man wanted for killing police officer Rasheen McClain last year.

Craig responded to the allegations filed by Lisa Wright, who claimed on Thursday that police inappropriately detained and brutalized her during the search.

"They were in a heightened state. Two officers (were) shot, one dead, and they saw blood. They went to a location where they believed maybe the suspect was there. As it turned out he was not there, he was subsequently arrested not far from that location, somewhere in the area," Craig said.

The November 2019 search led police to Wright's home as they looked for the suspect who killed McLain.

Wright's attorneys say she was recovering from surgery when she was dragged out of her house and forced to the ground - sending her back to the hospital for 7 days.

"Lying on the ground and the ground is wet," said Wright on Thursday. "And when they put the handcuffs on me, he put them on real tight, I could not move. They were so disrespectful, they were like 'Get up.' I was like 'How can I get up? You got me laying face down on the ground.'"

Chief Craig said he's watched the video of her being detained and said officers used appropriate care.

"What I saw, personally, I saw the fact that the officers came up, they did handcuff her and they carefully took her to the ground. I did not see her being slammed to the ground, you can see the officer use more care in taking her to the ground," Craig said the eventually did take her to a police vehicle. 

"Handcuffing is certainly a judgment call by the officer. Given the heightened state of what they were involved in at that point - that doesn't justify, just to make this abundantly clear, even in the heightened state, doesn't justify excessive force - handcuffing in and of itself doesn't always rise to the level of excessive force."

Craig says the internal investigation is being done by the force unit under professional standards is in its final phases. He also said the police commission's office of investigations conducted their own investigation into this matter.

"They have concluded their investigation and they did sustain against the officers the use of profanity during this encounter. As I viewed the video, I didn't hear the profanity but I'm sure there was another video they may have a heard... I did hear the officers raised voice inflection to gain control - it was certainly a very tense situation."

Wright's attorneys also contend the evidence police were following didn't point to her home but Craig said officers did have a reason.

"What I was briefed on, the briefing that I got was that there was blood trail to that residence." 5

FOX 2 has requested bodycam footage under the Freedom of Information Act.