NEWS 8 EXCLUSIVE
DALLAS — Dianne Irons was arrested and thrown in a drunk tank for six hours.
Dallas police said she was drunk, but the elderly woman is a stroke victim with slurred speech.
Now she and her son are suing the city for violating their civil rights. She said she feels as though she was mistreated.
"Maybe because we are black," she said.
Police were called to Irons' home because she and her nephew were arguing. Her attorney, Ray Jackson, says what is most alarming is that Irons was asked to step out of her home and was then arrested for public intoxication.
"They had this woman in her home, caught her outside just for the purpose of being able to arrest her, and now they say she's publicly intoxicated," Jackson said. "Even if she was intoxicated in her home — which she was not — they decided to call her out so they would have a reason to arrest her, and that shouldn't happen."
Irons' son tired to tell police she was a stroke victim, and tried to show them her medical records, but he said they refused to look at them.
Ben Irons was arrested and held for several hours for interfering with police.
"I felt like they should have listened," he said. "They didn't want to listen. They didn't want to hear nothing. They just came over with a chip on their shoulder."
Dallas police Chief David Brown apologized to the family and said they shouldn't have been arrested. Police dropped the charges.
But Jackson maintains that his clients' civil rights were violated, and he has filed a federal lawsuit.
What would be justice for Dianne Irons? "A day in court," she said.
Irons spent six hours in the city's drunk tank. She says what happened to her was an injustice, and she hopes her lawsuit keeps something like this from happening to anyone else again.
News 8 contacted the City of Dallas for their side of the story, but they did not respond since this is a federal lawsuit.
E-mail rlopez@wfaa.com
