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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 2017)
Good in the Hood July 4th Waterfront Blues ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLVI • Number 26 Fighting hunger with holiday weekend show See Metro, page 11 Annual event brings unity to the community See photos, page 9 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • June 28, 2017 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Photo by Z aChary S enn /t he P ortland o bServer James Lea shows off his ’79 Chevrolet El Camino at Alberta Park in northeast Portland, the car he says was at the center of controversial racial profiling arrest Portland police made in 2011 when Lea while trying to park during the West Coast Hip Hop Awards at the Roseland Theatre, downtown. Police said they apprehended him be- cause they saw a gun in the vehicle, a firearm he was licensed to carry. The charge was later dropped, but Lea is now facing $8,000 in legal bills after he sued and an appeals court ruled his detention was legal. Even after false arrest, Portland man must pay up Z aChary S enn t he P ortland o bServer All that James Lea wanted was a public apology from the Portland Police Bureau following his unwarranted ar- rest, during which he was publicly humiliated in a local tabloid. Now adding insult to injury, the Portland man is being compelled to pay the court fees that the city of Port- land accrued throughout his five-year-long legal battle. Lea had hoped that his case would bring attention to the unnecessary escalation of conflicts between police officers and people of color that have marred law enforcement relationships in minority communities in Portland and by Adding Insult to Injury across the country, and possibly result in better training for the city’s police force. Instead, he is facing a charge of up to $8,000 for the city’s legal bills since he sued City Hall and lost. According to Lea, racial profiling played a role in his arrest, which took place on Aug. 19, 2011, the evening that the West Coast Hip Hop Awards were held at the Roseland in downtown Portland. He was looking for parking and pulled into a parking lot when the ordeal began. While paying a parking atten- dant, Portland Police Bureau officer Sgt. Richard Stein- bronn began waving a flashlight into Lea’s ’79 Chevrolet El Camino, which had been left running. “I was standing a couple of feet away to pay the park- C ontinued on P age 4