Student handcuffed seven hours to file cabinet sues APD, school system

By Bill Rankin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A former Grady High School student who said Atlanta Police officers handcuffed him to a file cabinet for an entire school day filed a civil rights lawsuit Friday against APD and the city school system.

At the time of the incident, Tony Smith was a student with a disability and who received individualized educational instruction, said the federal lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.

"What adult in their right mind would handcuff a disabled student to a file cabinet all day?" asked Gerry Weber, one of Smith' s lawyers. "This lawsuit sends a message to both police and schools -- students have rights even after they step on campus."

Smith transferred after the incident and is now a senior at Southside High School, said Craig Goodmark, who also represents Smith.

APD spokesman Carlos Campos declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Keith Bromery also declined to comment.

On Oct. 6, 2009, the lawsuit said, Smith witnessed a student take a wallet from a student, remove two dollars from it and pass the money to another student. It added that Smith only witnessed what happened and did not take the wallet or the money inside it.

The next morning, two APD officers and Grady's assistant principal removed Smith from his first-period class and took him handcuffed to a small office, the suit said. Smith was then asked about the theft of the wallet the day before and he cooperated fully, according to the suit.

Smith told the officers the cuffs were too tight and were hurting him. In response, the officers removed one handcuff and attached it to a filing cabinet, the suit said. Smith remained handcuffed to the cabinet for the next seven hours, injuring his wrists, the suit said.

The suit noted that the Atlanta Citizen Review Board previously found that the two officers, Charles Brown and Larry Bennett, violated APD procedures. APD Chief George Turner also told the review board that APD separately found that Brown and Bennett violated policy by allowing Smith to remain in their custody for an unreasonable amount of time and a complaint against Bennett had been sustained for handcuffing Smith to file cabinet, the lawsuit said.