Madison Independent Police Monitor Aeramique Glass said in a statement Monday that officers violated several Madison Police Department policies in the December 19 arrest of Police Civilian Oversight Board chair Maia Pearson. She also said some of their actions were “unacceptable” even when they technically complied with policy.
An MPD internal investigation found “no policy or procedural violations” in the arrests, the Wisconsin State Journal reported earlier this month. Glass told Madison365 she was pleased that MPD investigated the incident without waiting for a complaint from Pearson, but that her independent investigation found additional facts and evidence that contradict the findings of MPD’s Professional Standards and Internal Affairs Office.
Glass told Madison365 that Madison Police Chief John Patterson intends to re-open that investigation, and that she will provide her full investigative report to him to assist. An MPD representative did not immediately confirm the intent to re-open the investigation, but said she would seek confirmation and respond soon.
Glass told Madison365 that she will release the full report publicly when MPD’s internal investigation is complete; it’s not clear how long that could take.
In the statement, Glass further said MPD’s initial report on the arrest contained several “discrepancies” with witness statements and video evidence.
The arrest
Pearson was the passenger in a car driven by Urban Triage CEO Brandi Grayson, who gave her a ride from the Black Men’s Coalition of Dane County gala fundraiser to another event at the Majestic Theater in downtown Madison. Majestic staff told Grayson that she’d parked in a reserved spot and demanded that she move, then called 911 multiple times, saying Grayson was refusing to leave. Glass said Pearson was never mentioned in these 911 calls.
Ten officers responded – eight patrol officers and two sergeants – and arrested both Grayson and Pearson.
Grayson has since pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, and Glass said Grayson declined to participate in an IPM investigation.
Glass’s statement says Pearson was recording video, which depicts much of the arrest and provides much of the evidence for her report; Madison365 has not viewed that video.
Glass’s statement notes that Pearson was wearing a seat belt, and that an officer attempted to pull her from the car while she was still belted. It says the officer commanded her to “get the f*** out of the car,” violating MPD’s profanity policy. Another officer unbuckled her seat belt, allowing her to be pulled from the car and placed face down in the snow, with an officer’s knee in her back. She was then transported to an empty parking lot in a prone position in the backseat of a patrol car, which “creates foreseeable risk of asphyxia,” according to Glass’s statement.
Glass’s statement says Pearson asked repeatedly why she was being arrested, and was only told after being taken to that empty parking lot that she was being arrested for resisting arrest.
“You cannot arrest someone for resisting an arrest that had no lawful basis to begin with,” Glass said in her statement. “The subsequent addition of Disorderly Conduct after an unlawful and unexplained arrest, her screaming and crying for help, was a direct result of Ms. Pearson’s fear during what this office finds to be an unlawful seizure. Neither charge reflects independently observed criminal conduct or probable cause.”
Glass’s statement also notes that this was a call for service, not a traffic stop, and that police generally have more latitude in traffic stops.
“The narrative constructed by the officer-in-charge omitted material facts and minimized the force used,” Glass wrote in her statement.
She acknowledged that Patterson made some immediate corrections to a publicly available incident report. She further acknowledged his willingness to reopen the internal investigation.
“Being a passenger in a car is not a crime. Recording law enforcement is not a crime. Asking an officer to explain what they are doing, and why they are doing it, is not a crime,” she wrote. “Resisting and disorderly conduct are not tools for retroactive justification. Pretextual charging, and the use of high-discretion charges as a cover, will not go unexamined by this office. It will be named. Every time. Just because some actions are within policy does not make them right.”
Court records indicate Pearson faces misdemeanor charges of resisting or obstructing an officer and disorderly conduct, with her attorneys due in court July 8 for a status conference.
Neither Pearson nor a police spokesperson immediately responded to messages seeking comment.
Pearson was appointed to the Civilian Police Oversight Board by Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway in 2024. She is also treasurer of the Madison school board.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
