At 2 am on May 16th, Tom Kolodziejski, Chuck Kolodziejski, Liz Ellis and I were hanging around on Allegheny Avenue in Towson Maryland. We were standing outside a pizza parlor called Pizza Boli's, talking to a couple kids from Towson University. Chuck stepped aside to go to the bathroom. Upon finding that Pizza Boli's didn't have a publicly-accessible one, he went down the block a bit and turned into an alley. Not two minutes went by when a police cruiser rolled down the street towards us. Suddenly they stopped short, backed up, and aimed their car down the alley at Chuck.

Officer Sherfey of the Towson police force stepped out of his vehicle and asked that Chuck approach him. Sherfey asked for identification, which Chuck was forced to admit he didn't have- he had lost his wallet earlier that day. After a good deal of discussion, Tom- Chuck's twin brother- stepped forward and offered his ID in desperate attempt to remove Chuck from the situation. The police officer didn't believe him and attempted to discern his identity through personal questions. Sherfey was on the verge of giving Chuck a 50 dollar fine, when Tom reminded Chuck that if he wasn't arrested, he could walk away. When Chuck started to walk, Sherfey physically restrained him, telling him he was being detained. However, upon inquiry of the definition of 'detained', Sherfey was unable to provide an answer. It was at this time that Sherfey called for backup. Within two minutes, six cruisers were parked on the street. Tom was getting visibly anxious and upset, speaking loudly to Chuck that this wasn't right. The new officers told him to step away from the situation, which he wasn't willing to do. Liz, however, stepped forward and pulled him aside in order to pacify him. They walked back to the front of Pizza Boli's [approximately 100 feet away] and sat down in two chairs in front of the window. This would be an indicator that Tom willfully removed himself from the situation.

At this time I was speaking to an Officer, asking why it was that they had the entire Towson police force out merely for a public urination. He told me that Towson is small- there's really nothing else to do than target drunk kids. Funny, that. We were on a block with plenty of bars, there were a plethora of drunk kids, yet Chuck- who wasn't even drunk- was the one being targeted.

While sitting with Liz, Tom was expressing his disgust of the situation to those who would listen- primarily the people we had been speaking to prior to the event. Three officers approached him in an aggressive manner- taking themselves away from the situation they were apparently there to provide backup for- and told him to stop swearing publicly. Tom responded that it's not illegal to cuss in public. They told him that if he cursed one more time, they would place him under arrest. Tom said, "This is bullshit," and he was immediately jumped on- his head hitting the window at Pizza Boli's- breaking the glass- and was thrown to the ground, and handcuffed. They then proceeded to pepper spray his face. When he turned his face away, they sprayed him from the other side.

Chuck and I noticed the ruckus and walked briskly forward, yelling "What are you DOING?! NO!" and were met with pepper spray. They primarily sprayed Chuck's neck, my arm, and parts of our faces. I was then grabbed by the front of my shirt and shoved backwards, away from Chuck and the officers. In doing this, they pulled my shirt and bra down, exposing my right breast. They grabbed Chuck and threw him facedown on the ground, handcuffing him. I watched him comply and heard them yell "STOP RESISTING!"

"I'm not resisting!" he cried. His arms were being pulled so far up his back that his body wouldn't allow for further movement- which could explain them saying he resisted.

Upon gaining composure, I ran into Pizza Boli's for water in order to flush out Tom's eyes. When I went outside to give it to him, I was stopped by Corporal T. Jones and was told I was not permitted to approach him.

"But he's hurting!" I said.
"It doesn't work that way," he responded.
"Fine, YOU give it to him," I replied. I gave the bottle to Jones and then turned back to Pizza Boli's.

There were a number of witnesses, so I went around and asked for names and numbers. Four people were willing to give me their information- the two kids we had been speaking to right before the incident, and two kids who had stopped when they saw Chuck peeing and the officer pull up.

By this time there were seven cruisers, a canine unit, a paddy wagon, and a plainclothes cop. There were a lot of police on the scene, and they were all in a large group. I stepped towards them and yelled, in order to ensure that they all heard me, "I would like all of your names and badge numbers!" Jones stepped forward to me again and told me that he would be willing to give me all of the information I requested after the boys had been taken care of. Then he yelled in my face, "NOW GET BACK!" I didn't move, responding, "You have no reason to yell at me." "If you don't get back, I'll place you under arrest." I remained standing where I was and replied, "I have every legal right to ask that I obtain badge numbers." I was then spun around and handcuffed. Jones then pulled me to the side of a bench, which he repeatedly shoved me into. I tried to sit down, thinking this is what he wanted me to do, and he yelled, "STAND THERE!" I said, "What do you want me to do, sir? Sit, or stand?" "STAND THERE!" he responded. "Well you need to stop pushing me so I CAN stand here, sir," I stated. The pushing stopped.

Chuck was loaded into a cruiser and Tom was put in the paddy wagon. When the boys were safely secured, I, too, was placed in the wagon. I sat across from Tom who was blind, bleeding from wounds on his face, and crying- rolling his face against the fencing and moaning in pain.

Upon arriving at the precinct, Tom and I were separated. Upon speaking with the boys, Tom's wounds weren't tended to- it was Chuck who wiped away his blood.

We're all facing multiple charges and have police reports that exemplify the actions of the officers and make us out to be fool-hardy reactionary morons. There are falsified actions- including statements that Tom fell backwards into the window on his own accord while resisting a lawful arrest, Chuck fell to the ground after being sprayed in the face, and I was yelling my head off and approaching the officers as they were loading Tom into the wagon. Tom faces 10 years for second-degree assault, which stems from his arm jerking out of an officer's hand when he was thrown into the window. There is absolutely no mention of me being sprayed anywhere in the reports and it is not recognized that my body was violated.

Our court date is September 27th, 2004 at 1:00 pm [120 E. Chesapeake Avenue in Towson, MD]. I would like to ask that as many people as possible come to show their support for us and the unlawful abuse we suffered at the hands of power-hungry officers. Please spread the word of the brutality. It happens incredibly often everywhere in the country- especially in small towns with excessively large police forces with nothing to do with their time. I pay my taxes and don't believe that my dollars should pay for the spray that blinded me and my friends.