June 20, 1962
A 33-year-old post office clerk from Stratford, Conn. Has filed a formal complaint with Albany Police Chief John P. Tuffey charging he was beaten by police in Division 2 headquarters on Memorial Day.
Samuel Clark of 193 Roosevelt Street, Stratford, charges in a signed affidavit, that he was beaten about the eyes, face, head and body in the station and, as a result, hospitalized with severe head, eye and leg injuries.
He also charges he was arrested on an “alleged disorderly conduct” by a policeman in from of his sister’s and mother’s home, 111 Jefferson St., before being taken to the Arch Street station and beaten there.
Two of Mr. Clark’s relatives and a third person who say they witnessed his arrest on Jefferson Street are seeking a meeting with Mayor Corning to discuss his arrest and injuries.
The Albany Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, meanwhile, is investigating Clark’s accusation of police brutality and has held two emergency executive sessions on the issue.
In a formal statement released today the chapter calls Mr. Clark a “peaceful and law-abiding citizen” and says it “stands ready to assist in any way the prosecution of those officers who allegedly assaulted Mr. Clark.”
The NAACP is also seeking a meeting with Mayor Corning on the Clark case. Mrs. Myrtice Goree, 92 Livingston Avenue, chapter president, said today: “ A delegation Will call on him as soon as he gets back into town and as soon as we get an appointment with him.” (Mayor Corning was in Montreal yesterday on a good-will tour with the Greater Albany Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Clark’s wife, Harriet, calls her husband “a mild mannered man has never been in trouble.” He works for the Post Office. You have to have a good war record and police record to get and keep a job with the federal government. Everyone knows that.” The wife said she tried to see Mayor Corning yesterday but was told he was out of town, so took her complaint to Police Chief Tuffey.
Mr. Clark, according to Albany police records, was arrested at 9:40 p.m. last Wednesday by Patrolman Paul Loomis, 23 Liebel Street. Patrolman Loomis charged him with disorderly conduct after he refused to move his automobile and used vile and abusive language according to police. Mr. Clark was released on $50 bail shortly after midnight for future arraignment, records show.
St. Peter’s Hospital records show Mr. Clark was brought into the emergency room shortly before 1 a.m.. and was treated for head bruises, swollen and closed eyes and a leg injury. His two eyes also had scratches on them, hospital records show. Mr. Clark’s relatives had him admitted to the hospital and an eye specialist was called, hospital officials said.
Mr. Clark, under treatment by an eye doctor and neurologist as the hospital, was listed in fair condition today. He has patches over both eyes since his confinement. One patch was removed Friday. His eye physician is Dr. William E. Pickett, 644 Madison Avenue. A neurologist was called in by Dr. Pickett this week.
Mr. Clark, interviewed in St. Peter’s Hospital, said: “They kept calling me a lying nigger.” He said, however, he had a “clean record” and has never been in trouble before.
(Stratford, Conn. Police told The Knickerbocker News today Mr. Clark has no police record in Connecticut, where he has lived and worked for the last five years.)
The Connecticut man, a former Albany resident, gives this account of the alleged beating in the South End station house.
“I can remember two or three of them. They held me. They were young ones. They held me by the arms and kept slapping and punching me in the eyes and face. Then I couldn’t see. They kept calling me a lying nigger. One gave me a rabbit punch on my head. I got hit in the stomach. They kicked me. Oh, God, then I passed out. I don’t remember any more.”
“They were by the desk sergeant’s desk there. Young fellows. Not over 22. I even remember them arguing about what to charge me with. One yelled ‘That black lying nigger.’”
Mr. Clark’s sister, Mrs. Thelma Wilson of 111 Jefferson Street, said she, another relative and “a third person -a friend whom we brought to intercede” escorted Mr. Clark out of the South End station shortly after midnight. “He was blind. He couldn’t see.”
Mrs. Wilson says.
“He told us ‘They beat me in there. My stomach’s sick. My eyes hurt. I’m blind.
I can’t see. God, get me to the hospital. Take me to the hospital. ’”
Mr. Clark’s formal affidavit charging assault by police was signed and witnessed by
his wife, Harriet, and Albany attorney Peter M. Pryor, 11 North Pearl Street, in St. Peter’s
Hospital yesterday morning.
The wife and Mr. Pryor gave the affidavit to Chief Tuffey yesterday. Mrs. Clark said she complained at the “illegal treatment and beating my husband got.” She adds: “The
chief said he will look into the matter. He said it was a complete surprise to him that my husband got hurt by police in the station.”
Mr. Pryor, declining comment on Mr. Clark’s accusations of police brutality, said he is representing Mr. Clark on his charge of disorderly conduct and legal responsibility for his injuries. Mr. Clark will plead innocent on arraignment, Mr. Pryor said.
Two of Mr. Clark’s sisters, Mrs. Thelma Wilson and Mrs. Helen McLaughlin, both of 111 Jefferson Street, and Mabel Preely, 198 Clinton Avenue, say they saw Mr. Clark being arrested. They say: “ He was not treated right.”
Mrs. Wilson gives this account:
The three women, a nephew, and Mr. Clark returned home after an afternoon-early evening picnic at the Six Mile Waterworks. Mr. Clark drove the car.
“You know how it is on Jefferson Street. There’s a fire lane on one side. The street’s narrow. So he double-parked to unload. Everybody else was. They always do.
“I was standing by the open trunk helping my brother unload and bring the picnic stuff in the house. A police car came suddenly around the corner and screeched to a halt three feet from me. The car cut in deliberately right in back of us and screeched. I jumped and said to the officer, ’You almost hit me doing that. You almost knocked me over.’”
“My brother said the same thing. The officer became enraged. He said, ‘What are you trying to do? Are you saying I don’t know how to drive? Now get that car out of here.’
“He was yelling at us and the next thing you know they were arguing. Sam said he’s done nothing wrong and that we’re just unloading the car. The officer says, ‘You’re under arrest’ to him and tells him to get in the police car. He pulls a stick out but Sam says,
‘You don’t need that. I’m not going to do anything. I haven’t done anything wrong.’
I said the same thing. A crowd was soon watching the whole thing. The officer says,
‘Shut up, lady. Do you want to get arrested, too? ’”
Mrs. Wilson said her brother sat in the back of the police car and then the police patrol
wagon arrived and Clark was put in the back.
“Then police towed his car right away from our house to the Sheridan Avenue garage.”
Mrs. Wilson says she and another relative and “a friend” went down to the police station twice that night to see him. “ The second time we went was when they let him out on bail. He had to be helped out and into the car. His face was all swollen. He said he was sick. He asked us to please help him. We took him to the hospital right away. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t drive a car anymore.”