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