[nagdu] Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over guide dog

[Ginger Kutsch]

Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over guide dog

By David Ibata 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

http://www.ajc.com/news/social-security-guard-faces-1185244.html

Melissa McMann, who is visually impaired, recalls minor incidents in which
people challenged her about her guide dog, but nothing like what happened
last week with a security guard at a Social Security Administration office
in Winder.

 

"Usually, once we educate people and explain the purpose of the dog, that's
all it takes to get people to understand why the dog is there and he's not
just a regular, run-of-the-mill dog," the Winder resident said of Hurbie,
her 5-year-old yellow Labrador.

 

"We have never run into an incident like this where it escalated so
quickly," she said in a telephone interview with the AJC. "My arm is still
bruised, and I still have pain to my shoulder, but otherwise I'm doing OK."

 

The guard, Leroy Huff, faces a charge of simple battery after he allegedly
grabbed the 38-year-old McMann and tried to remove her from the office.

 

The Athens man told Channel 2 Action News on Tuesday that he was aware a
warrant was pending for his arrest and would turn himself in. He said he was
following orders and his training, but did not want to comment further
because of the continuing investigation.

 

Efforts were being made to reach a spokesman for Huff's employer, Paragon
Security Services. Paragon provides contract security to the Federal
Protective Service of the Department of Homeland Security.

 

Patti Patterson, regional spokeswoman for the Social Security
Administration, told Channel 2 in an email, "Service animals are allowed in
Social Security field offices. We have apologized to Ms. McMann for the
unfortunate incident that occurred with the contract security guard in our
Winder field office."

 

The matter has been referred to the Federal Protective Service "for
appropriate action," Patterson said.

 

The incident began Thursday afternoon when McMann and her husband,
Christopher, went to the Social Security office at 37 S. Center St. to
complete some paperwork for their youngest daughter, who they adopted from
Thailand.

 

According to a Winder Police Department report, as the couple was seated
waiting to be called, Huff, an armed security guard, came up and told them
dogs were not allowed in the facility.

 

When the couple explained that the Labrador was a service dog and legally
allowed to there, the officer demanded to see papers to prove it - even
though the dog had a guide harness and a sign attached to the harness
stating it was "a working dog for the blind," the police report said.

 

The McManns said they did not have such paperwork and continued to protest
that the dog was a permitted animal. At this point, the police report says,
Huff "proceeded to grab (the woman) and attempted to forcefully remove her
from the building." The husband objected and called the police on his cell
phone.

 

Huff told a Winder police officer that the woman had failed to obey him. He
admitted she had not tried to resist him physically. When asked why he did
not call the police, "Huff informed me that he did not have to call the
police. He told me he was a federal officer and was not required to involve
the police," the officer wrote in his report.

 

The officer contacted Paragon, which referred him to the Federal Protective
Service. An official there said Huff was not a federal officer and in this
situation should have called Winder police, his supervisor or the federal
agency.

 

The McManns, meanwhile, went to their primary care physician and then to a
hospital emergency room, where a doctor treated her for a bruised right arm
and determined her shoulder may have been dislocated, police said.

 

Melissa McMann said she has retinitis pigmentosa or RP, a condition that has
left her with little functional sight. Hurbie is her second service dog;
she's had the animals for 10 years. They're trained by the Florida-based
Southeastern Guide Dogs.

 

"It was something we were not expecting, especially in a federal building,"
she said. "It was a frightening incident, and obviously we feel (Huff) went
too far.

 

"All that we're looking for at this point is for the security company that
has the contract with Social Security to understand the importance of
educating all of the people that work for them as to the laws regarding
service dogs and also with regard to not placing their hands on people - you
just can't go placing your hands on people."