[Nfbf-l] outragious assault on guide dog

Wed Sep 21 16:39:16 UTC 2011

Wow.  That's a sick incident right there.  A guy who dislocates 
the shoulder of somebody with a guide dog?  Ok, put him in jail 
and revoke his security license.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Patricia A. Lipovsky" <plipovsky at cfl.rr.com
To: "NFBF List" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:24:26 -0400
Subject: [Nfbf-l] outragious assault on guide dog

Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over service dog  | 
ajc.com

By

David Ibata

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Melissa McMann, who is visually impaired, recalls minor incidents 
in which people challenged her about her service dog, but nothing 
like what happened last

week with a security guard at a Social Security Administration 
office in Winder.

Enlarge photo

A security guard at a Social Security office faces charges after 
he's accused of trying to forcibly remove Melissa McMann, who is 
visually impaired, from

the building because she had her service dog with her.

Manuel Bojorquez, Channel 2 Action News A security guard at a 
Social Security office faces charges after he's accused of trying 
to forcibly remove Melissa

McMann, who is visually impaired, from the building because she 
had her service dog with her.

"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."

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

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