Kennett criminal case that brought accusation of police brutality comes to Stoddard County

A Dunklin County criminal case that has gathered widespread attention and prompted action by the NAACP is now in Stoddard County court.

The incident that prompted charges against Heather Renae Ellis, now 24, of Kennett, Mo., began on Jan. 6, 2007 at the Kennett Wal-Mart.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed in Dunklin County on Jan. 7, 2007, the incident began when at 11:30 p.m., Kennett police received a radio call requesting assistance at Wal-Mart due to an unruly and belligerent customer.

"I could immediately hear the voice of a female that was talking loudly," officer A.W. Fisher wrote in the affidavit. "I could hear the female yelling and cursing."

Fisher went on to say that it was obvious who was causing the disturbance.

According to reports, Ellis broke in line past another customer, but the employee had already begun ringing up another customer.

Ellis reportedly then became angry and began pushing items back up the conveyor belt and yelling at the employee.

She was then told by management to leave and she refused.

Fisher states that the manager on duty informed him that she wanted Ellis to "be removed, and escorted from the store, and off the property."

Fisher characterizes Ellis' continued behavior as "belligerent, angry, hostile and aggressive."

"...Ellis refused to comply with my repeated requests for her to calm down and cease causing a scene and disturbance," he states. "[She] then turned her anger and aggression toward me."

She allegedly then began yelling, cursing and making derogatory statements toward the officer. She then took her purchased items and began walking toward the exit while continuing to yell at the officer.

"I tried to convey to Heather Ellis, as best I could, that all she had to do was leave peacefully," the affidavit states. "However, it was incredibly and abundantly obvious that [she] had absolutely no desire and/or intention of complying..."

Fisher then, after repeated requests to calm the situation, told her that if she did not calm down she would be arrested. According to Fisher, Ellis then told him that if "I even tried to put my hands on her and if I tried to arrest her she was going to "beat my [expletive]."

When he informed her that she was under arrest and began trying to handcuff her when she allegedly became combative.

Ellis then began fighting with Fisher and swinging her arms and fists. Despite requests she continued to fight.

He went on to say that she kicked him and struck another officer in the mouth before being handcuffed.

After being arrested and placed in jail, Fisher states that the Kennett Police Department received a call from the Dunklin County Sheriff's Department stating that Ellis was demanding medical attention and that she was being released to seek it.

She is charged with two counts of the Class C felony assault on a law enforcement officer, one count of the Class B misdemeanor peace disturbance and one count of the Class A misdemeanor resisting arrest.

Ellis' family, according to a report published by a Fox media outlet in Memphis, Tenn., claims the arrest involved racism.

According to the family, she had switched lines to join her cousin when she was allegedly shoved by a customer and accused of cutting in line by an employee.

The case has garnered the attention of some national media outlets as well as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which hosted a peace rally at the Dunklin County Courthouse in June. The event was to protest what it called "police brutality and injustice" in the Ellis case.

Ellis was to appear alongside her attorney, N. Scott Rosenblum of St. Louis, on Wednesday as the pre-trial hearing takes place before Judge Joe Z. Satterfield, who will also be trying the case in November.

Rosenblum has handled several other high profile cases in Southeast Missouri in recent years.

Pertinent address:

1500 1st Street, Kennett, Mo.