Grandmother Assaulted and Wrongfully Arrested at Own Home by Worcester PD, Lawsuit Alleges

Worcester, Mass. – A grandmother is suing a member of the City of Worcester’s Police Department, alleging that she was assaulted and falsely arrested at her home in February last year. 

Daisy Morales filed the lawsuit against Officer James Powers at the US District Court in Worcester, Mass. on Friday, after what her court complaint alleges was a “vicious beating and unwarranted arrest” by the defendant as a lesson for “questioning his police authority.”

It is claimed that Morales, who is described as a “diminutive grandmother,” has been left with “life-threatening, permanent injuries which have required extensive surgical procedures and ongoing physical therapy treatment,” as a result of the incident.

The complaint claims, “On the morning of February 25, 2013, Officer Powers was dispatched to Ms. Morales’s home – purportedly to investigate a disturbance at the residence,” but that there “had been no disturbance.”

It claims that Morales invited Officer Powers in, where he confirmed that there was no disturbance, but he then came back about half an hour later, “again stating he was investigating a ‘disturbance.’”

Morales invited Officer Powers in a second time, and the complaint claims that he determined there was still no disturbance.

However, the complaint alleges that “Officer Powers, accompanied by other officers, appeared at Ms. Morales’s home a third time a short time later,” and that, “When the door was opened, Officer Powers barged in without permission.”

It alleges that “Officer Powers was agitated because he claimed that there had been multiple calls regarding this apartment and a supposed disturbance occurring therein. “Ms. Morales tried again to explain that everything was fine and that no fighting or other disturbance had taken place in the apartment,” the complaint continues.

It’s alleged that Powers became angry, and shouted at Morales to “‘Shut the Fu—up!’” and also said to her, “’I’m sick of dealing with you Latinos.’” The complaint claims that another woman, Sheila Alles, who was also present at the time, questioned the way Powers was speaking to Morales.

It’s alleged that this “enraged” the officer, who then “flipped her around, slammed her on the sofa where she was sitting, and slapped handcuffs on her behind her back,” telling Alles “she was being arrested for disturbing the peace.”

The complaint alleges that Morales stated that Powers’ treatment of Alles was “police brutality,” which then prompted Powers to pick her “off the ground,” and body-slam her “with all his might.”

He “then picked Ms. Morales up again and shoved her on a reclining chair in the apartment,” it’s alleged. The complaint claims that Morales “began to wail in excruciating pain as, among other things, several bones in her body had broken.”

Despite having a broken shoulder, Powers allegedly handcuffed Morales behind her back, and though she pleaded to the officer to handcuff her around her front – to reduce the pain – he allegedly refused to do so, and told her to “‘shut up.’”

The complaint states that, “At the time of the incidents … Morales was a petite, sixty-plus year old grandmother with several chronic health issues, including asthma, heart problems, diabetes, hypercalcemia, and leukocytosis.”

The complaint alleges that she was “placed under false arrest,” and that after more than an hour in handcuffs, she needed to be taken by ambulance to the hospital.  

The complaint states that Morales was charged with “disturbing the peace, keeping a disorderly house, and resisting arrest,” but she was allegedly “never read her Miranda rights or advised why she had been placed under arrest,” also claiming she was “falsely imprisoned.”

“Officer Powers knew at the time that he brought charges against Ms. Morales that the charges were untrue and manufactured for an illegitimate purpose,” the complaint alleges, saying that “In an attempt to protect himself and his unconstitutional actions, Officer Powers instigated and helped prosecute false criminal charges against Ms. Morales,” for which she found not guilty of all charges.

Open Media Boston contacted both the Worcester Police Dept. and Morales’ legal counsel for press statements, but did not receive responses before the filing of this report.