MORGANTON, NC.
Jailers Hit, Use TASER On Lawyer
BY SHARON McBRAYER
smcbrayer@morganton.com
Monday, September 11, 2006
MORGANTON - A local lawyer was charged with assault, jailed and shot with a TASER Saturday night.
Officers say he assaulted a woman and was drunk and disruptive during the Historic Morganton Festival.
Victor Nosrat Yamouti, 40, of Morganton, was charged by the Morganton Department of Public Safety with one misdemeanor count of assault on a female, drunk and disruptive conduct and resisting arrest.
Yamouti says he was charged because officers and others involved want to humiliate him. He says he never should have been charged and that once he was taken to jail, he was hit with batons, shot with a TASER, stuck in a cell and not allowed to make a phone call until about 5 a.m.
Yamouti denies being drunk and says he was never given a breathalyzer to prove he wasn't intoxicated. Public Safety Major Billy Bradshaw says the only time a breathalyzer is administered is when someone is driving a car or one is ordered by a judge.
Yamouti was taken into custody around 8:40 p.m., according to an arrest report from Public Safety. Yamouti also says he has marks on his thigh, elbow and right calf from the incident at the jail.
Officers at the Burke-Catawba District Confinement Facility shot Yamouti with a TASER once and hit him twice with an aspbaton, says Major Mike Metcalf, who works at the jail.
Metcalf says officers used the TASER and baton because Yamouti would not follow orders and was combative.
He says an inmate's behavior determines whether the inmate can make phone calls.
The incident happened after Yamouti and a bail bondsman got into an argument, Yamouti and law enforcement officers say.
Yamouti says he was sitting in a friend's law office when he had a disagreement with the bail bondsman about another lawyer.
Yamouti says he was assaulted and dragged out of the building.
According to an arrest warrant, Amy Whitesides of Andy Williams Street says Yamouti assaulted her "by placing both hands on her face."
Yamouti says he never touched Amy Whitesides. He says he is confused by the incident.
"I'm sickened by the whole thing," Yamouti says.
Burke County Sheriff's Detectives Rodney Norman and Jody Price were helping with crowd control during the festival. They were responsible for keeping the sidewalks along Green Street clear, Norman says.
Norman says as he was patrolling, he saw a commotion and heard people telling Yamouti he needed to leave.
Norman says he was going to lead Yamouti away from the crowd. Price arrived and took Yamouti by the hand. He says that's when Yamouti jerked away from Price and both men fell into a bush.
Yamouti admits he might have pulled away from Price. He says he has a right to resist an unlawful arrest.
Yamouti's court date is set for Oct. 27.
This story can be found at:
http://www.morganton.com
