Dear Editor:

This regards an arrest made on campus grounds.

On Monday, Sept.26, 2005 at 12:50 p.m., I was riding my bicycle to work on the same route I’ve taken for seven years.

I crossed at about 15 yards of sidewalk in order to enter the parking lot, on my way to the art gallery, where I work.

I was pulled over by an officer , at which point I said, “Hello, can I help you?”

He informed me that I had broken the law by crossing the sidewalk on my bicycle and asked where I was going.

I told him that I was going to work. He then asked me if I had any weapons.

I answered “No,” and lifted up my shirt so that he could see that I was not concealing anything under my shirt. At this point he asked if I would submit to a body search.

Knowing my rights as a citizen of the United States, I refused to have my body searched over a minor traffic infraction.

The officer became very angry when I spoke of my rights. He grabbed me by my wrist, twisted it, and forcefully threw me to the ground.

My wrist was then twisted behind me so tightly that I could not move as he barked orders at me.

At one point another officer shoved my face into the asphalt with his boot against my neck.

I was cuffed very tightly and thrown into a squad car.

My bike was tossed into the car and I was taken to the El Camino Police Station where I was stripped and searched.

After being strip-searched, I was left half-naked in a cold cell for close to an hour with nothing but a filthy blanket and a metal bed.

They then took photos of me, fingerprinted me and charged me with resisting an officer.

I was pulled over for a minor infraction, crossing the sidewalk on my bike, and was consequently brutalized and humiliated for claiming my Constitutional rights.

I love this country, but fear our Constitutional rights are progressively being diminished.

What happened that day was a very traumatic experience.

The officer neglected to read me my Miranda Rights, found nothing illegal on my person and then acted as if he was doing me a favor by not taking me to the county jail.

Now I am being charged with riding a bicycle on the sidewalk and resisting arrest, which has a penalty of up to a year in prison or large fines. I am basically a law-abiding citizen, not a felon.

Now I have to deal with courts, court costs, excessive fines, a stain on my permanent record, bodily injury, anxiety, mental anguish, and all of the time I will spend defending myself because an over-zealous officer ignored my Constitutional rights.

If you have witnessed this event, please call the Art Gallery at (310) 660-3010.

Michael P. Griffin