Adrienne Taylor, the woman accused of assaulting a Prince William Police Officer at the scene of a car crash near Rilew Avenue in Manassas, said there was no intentional assault on an officer. Police confirm striking of the officer was likely inadvertent.
According to Taylor, it was raining Tuesday evening when her car was totaled. She called a tow truck, but later learned the police had their own tow truck on the way.
She admits she gave them a bit of a difficult time about that, because she preferred to use her own tow truck, and said the police were not being communicative enough with her to let her know what was transpiring. However, she, then, gave up the issue and stood outside in the rain as they had instructed her to do.
She next told them she would be going into her car to retrieve some of her items before the car got towed away: a car seat for her child and an umbrella. She said the officers never specifically told her not to reach into the car, so she opened the back passenger door and with the door slightly ajar, she reached in and grabbed her umbrella.
It was then, Taylor said, that one of the officers closed the car door on her, putting pressure on her arm. She pushed back against the door, to release it, and she believes the officer took that action as an assault.
As a criminal justice student, Taylor thought it was inappropriate that the officer used force restraining her arm. Because she said she was getting her umbrella, she felt they had no reason to suspect otherwise.
“I felt like as criminal justice student, he shouldn’t have used force, until I actually sat in the car” Taylor said.
Next, Taylor said the officer pulled at her braid. She said she never tried to flee the scene, but was arrested there.
According to Taylor, the arresting officer told her something to the effect of that he did not want to have to do this, especially to an African American, considering everything going on between police and that community, but she brought it on herself by acting disorderly.
Taylor is a criminal justice student, a mother and a person who works with children as a mentor. She is employed and is concerned that the negative press the arrest portrays her inaccurately. As she was sent to jail, she cried, thinking, “this is not me.”
Taylor said she felt guilty and ashamed, but after reviewing the events in her mind, she reconsidering, thinking, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Taylor said she was already upset having totaled her no car, but believes the arresting officer took the issue too far.
“There are serious things going on, and these officers wasted their time,” she said.
Now, she has the burden of trying to clear charges from her record.
Prince William Police collaborates most of Taylor’s story, though emphasizes that police have the responsibility of quickly clearing a road after an accident and that Taylor made their job more difficult.
Police spokesperson, Officer Jonathan Perok said of the event, “[Ms. Taylor] was not really being cooperative. She remained in the vehicle after she was told it was going to be towed. She said she had one of her own tow trucks coming.”
The officer told Perok that he was patient with her and waited 10 minutes for her truck to arrive even though she told them it would be there within five minutes.
Meanwhile, Taylor initially resisted leaving her car. Once, Taylor did exit the car, officers were concerned that she would get back into it and refuse to move, thus keeping them from safely removing the car from the road.
“Because of the issues the officers were having with her, initially, they were concerned to let her back into the car,” Perok said.
According to police, they had told Taylor not to move towards the vehicle, but she did, forcibly opening the door and striking and officer.
“She ignored the officer’s command and inadvertently struck the officer,” Perok said.
He explained that if she had been patient, she could have road along with the tow truck and retrieved the items from her car once they arrived, but she did not want to wait.
“ is not the place to clean our your car. We need to clear out the roadway and get it back open,” said Perok.
Perok said he is unable to comment on the other accusations, saying “It wasn’t noted in the report.”
The police report states that she did try to flee on foot, which Taylor disputes.
The matter will be settled in court.
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