Just a week before Dibor Roberts is to face trial on two felony counts of resisting arrest and unlawful flight, the U.S. Justice Department has been asked to investigate.
The Rev. Oscar Tillman, president of the Maricopa County Chapter of the NAACP, has asked the federal agency to intervene and determine if Roberts' civil rights were violated during the July 29, 2007, traffic stop on Cornville Road.
Tillman was one of the speakers invited to "A Woman's Right To Light" rally at Cornville's Windmill Park Sunday afternoon.
Barbara Littrell, who helped to organize the rally, says it was intended to show community support for Roberts, raise money for her defense and to request a "woman's right to light" Arizona legislation, to get to a lighted area when being stopped.
Howard Shankar, a Northern Arizona attorney and candidate for Congressional District 1, was also on hand.
Tillman's letter to the Office of the Attorney General says, the NAACP "believes the civil rights of a black female were violated in the way she was treated during a traffic stop."
Tillman, speaking to the Verde Independent Tuesday, said "family members in the Phoenix" area brought the issue to his attention. He also said that he had a call from an unnamed reporter that "this is an issue that maybe the NAACP should look at."
The leader of the black organization said he has tried repeatedly to speak with Sheriff Steve Waugh, but that he has not accepted his call.
"I retired from 23 years in law enforcement and I know the process and how to make stops; 13 years I was over the investigative unit. I know that you do not start off making a traffic stop with the maximum amount of force."
Tillman was in the U.S Air Force military police and worked in private security before he graduated from the seminary.
"If he felt there was an issue, he (Sgt Jeff Newnum) could have followed her. You have other help available. I think this is an over-reaction. I don't know any other way to say it."
The NAACP leader says his office has intervened numerous times with the Justice Department on behalf of complaints and has been involved in cases in Yavapai County where there is no NAACP chapter.
The trial for Roberts is scheduled May 14, 15 and 16 in the Superior Court Div. 7 in Camp Verde.
Posted: Sunday, May 11, 2008
Article comment by:
wysewoman004
Ah, but it is a race and gender issue!! Because she is black and a woman, she had more reason to fear stopping on a dark, deserted road for anyone!!
Posted: Thursday, May 08, 2008
Article comment by:
wysewoman004
Good! This incident needs to be looked at more closely by an outside agency, not by our good old boy system. If I were a black woman alone on an isolated road in our area, I sure as heck wouldn't stop for an officer, whether he was legitimate or not! She probably, rightly, feared from her safety. Not pretty facts, but facts still.
Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Article comment by:
marcmatteo
In this day with all the criminal activities going on I would not expect anyone to just roll over and say that just because you are being pulled over that the person doing so is indeed a police officer, and I would expect that anyone with half a brain would realize this. Unfortunately when some people put on a badge that brain goes on vacation. Men and women will continue to protect them selves when necessary.
Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Article comment by:
Brian Carlson
I do not consider Dibor Roberts a criminal. More force than need may have been used during the stop. I live in Cornville and have driven the same route as Mrs. Roberts many times. It is very dark. I could not determine the race or gender of anyone driving in the dark. Making this a race or gender issue only makes the matter more confusing and distracts from the truth. This could have happened to anyone.
