HAVERHILL — Marie Winfield calls it police harassment, but in court yesterday two people said officers were justified in arresting her at the Comfort Suites Hotel.
As Winfield asked a Lawrence Superior Court judge to order Haverhill police to stop harassing her, a witness to her two arrests last week said Winfield was causing disturbances at the hotel.
At yesterday's hearing, Michael Watson, a security guard at the hotel who was on duty during both incidents, told the judge that he called police because of the disturbances.
"When she was in the lobby she was real loud," Watson said, adding that Winfield had a dog with her and that the dog was barking at police when they arrived.
Haverhill City Solicitor William Cox represented the city at yesterday's hearing. He told the judge that during the first arrest Winfield became "loud," and was shouting and "flailing her arms."
"At one point she grabbed the officer's shirt and radio," Cox said, pointing to the left side of his chest. "She was arrested, released then she returned to the Comfort Suites."
Police and court records show that Winfield was arrested just before midnight on Dec. 26 after hotel workers complained she was causing a disturbance in the lobby of the building. She was subsequently released from police custody, and at 7 the next morning returned to the hotel where she was arrested again for causing a second disturbance.
Winfield, 55, 57 Willie St., told Judge Christine Roach that police abused their powers when they arrested her and that she was seeking some form of a court order to stop the harassment. Winfield, who represented herself at the hearing, told the judge there has been a "pattern" of harassment by Haverhill police against her dating back to 2008.
Winfield, who is Haitian and speaks English with an accent, said officers are retaliating because she has accused them of several crimes, including kidnapping. When she attempted to explain those incidents, the judge interrupted her, saying she wanted to know specifically why she was in court asking for a stop-harassment order.
"I'm asking for the mildest form possible of restraint to protect my rights," Winfield responded.
The judge said she would take Winfield's request under advisement.
After the hearing, Cox said he expects a decision within a few days and that he would not comment on the case until then.
Winfield said she was illegally taken into custody in September when she went to the police station to provide a copy of a letter she mailed to the U.S. Justice Department alleging corruption on the part of Haverhill police officers and Chief Alan DeNaro. A clerk magistrate's hearing on the kidnapping charge is being scheduled in Newburyport District Court.
Winfield said she is seeking additional charges, including harassment, following her two arrests last week. She also says $280 was stolen from her purse along with a diamond-studded wedding ring that police took from her when she was booked last week.
"Even if the motel did call police, there was no reason for police to arrest me and do this to me," she said recently. "When police came in, one of them came right up to me and called me Marie. So they knew my history with the department. I think they saw this as their chance to retaliate against me."
Winfield told The Eagle-Tribune yesterday that she had hoped to receive at least a temporary stop-harassment order at the court hearing.
"I'm not asking for a stay-away order,'' she said. "Police have a job to do — to enforce, serve and protect."
Winfield said she was at Comfort Suites to visit her 23-year-old son, who was visiting the area and staying at the hotel. She also said she had made a reservation, but Watson, the security guard, told the judge that Winfield had only called for room rates.
At the hearing, Winfield asked Watson if he had spoken to police prior to the hearing. Watson responded that police Officer Joseph Benedetti drove him to the court hearing, but that they did not discuss the case. Winfield then continued questioning Watson, but the judge interrupted, saying her question had been answered.
Winfield also asked Watson to explain what he observed the first time police responded to the hotel, and whether it was captured on video surveillance. Watson said the incident was out of range of the hotel's security camera. He said her second arrest at the hotel would have been captured by the camera. Winfield told the judge she would request those tapes as evidence.
Winfield said her troubles with Haverhill police began in December 2008 when she went to the station to file a formal complaint against an officer she said had reported a suspected case of child abuse by her and her husband, Robert, against their two teenage children.
The Winfields were subsequently evicted when the state Department of Elder Services obtained a restraining order on behalf of the elderly co-owner of the house.
The agency claims the Winfields were financially exploiting the elderly woman and attempting to "swindle her home," according to court documents.
Winfield appealed that eviction to the state's highest court last month, and the court has 130 days to rule.
Last fall, Winfield complained to the U.S. Justice Department, saying the Haverhill police chief refused to respond to her complaints and that when she brought the letter to the police station she was accused of being on drugs and taken by ambulance against her will to Holy Family Hospital in Methuen for drug testing.
Medical results from the hospital showed she did not test positive for any narcotics.
A Haverhill District Court official said Winfield's kidnapping allegation has been transferred to Newburyport District Court.
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