DFP publisher Jones arrested after suing for police harassment!

Tuesday night's public meeting with the BLM and SolarReserve was crowded, informative, and constantly disrupted by the Quartzsite Police. 

Apparently, on her way into the meeting, Mrs. Jones was approached by QPD Sgt. Xavier Frausto (husband of the town magistrate) who wanted her to sign a citation for "simulating legal process".

A. R.S. § 13-2814

A. A person commits simulating legal process if such person knowingly sends or delivers to another any document falsely purporting to be an order or other document that simulates civil or criminal process.

B. Simulating legal process is a class 2 misdemeanor. 

Ms. Jones walked past Sgt. Frausto, and into Quartzsite Town Hall. When Jones refused to sign the citation in front of a crowded room of witnesses, Frausto reportedly tried to hand her the citation to which Jones responded "I'm not interested in anything that comes from you" and she took a seat. Quartzsite police approached her husband John with a citation for the same offense. Sgt. Frausto told him if he refused, the citation would be sent in the mail.

Witnesses report that Mrs. Jones got up from her seat in the second row and walked to where her husband was sitting in the back of the room. From halfway across the room and as she passed the rows of chairs, Jones gave "the finger" to Starr Bearcat, whom she believed had been actively filming the interaction between Quartzsite Police and the Jones', and who previously posted numerous false comments and defamatory videos about them on 

http://www.youtube.com/user/QWatchingEyes

Mrs. Jones spoke briefly with her husband and sat back down in her seat.

As the meeting began, John  was approached by QPD Officer Herlen Yeomans. Yeomans told John that if he refused to sign, he had been instructed by the sergeant to arrest him. John reports that he then asked to see the law he had allegedly broken, but when he followed Yeomans outside he was handcuffed.

Frausto and Yeomans escorted Jones to the unmarked black QPD SUV. Discussion ensued between the three, and Yeomans asked Frausto if Jones could sign the citation. Jones informed the officers that his wife had filed a lawsuit against Police Chief Jeff Gilbert, Town Manager Alexandra Taft, and the incorporated town for police harassment days earlier, and that Taft had been served several hours before the meeting. Jones was released, he signed the citation, and did not return to the meeting.

During the meeting, QPD officers brought Mrs. Jones her husbands wallet, and repeatedly tried to lure her outside to speak with her husband "before he went to jail" but she refused to speak, or leave with them. 

When the meeting ended, Mrs. Jones tried unsuccessfully to reach her attorney by phone. She then handed her belongings to Mayor Ed Foster and told him "Don't bail me out". 

Reportedly, as Jones tried to leave the room, she was handcuffed by Quartzsite Police Chief Jeff Gilbert, who had arrived on the scene and was blocking her exit. When she asked what she was under arrest for, Gilbert responded "I'll tell you later". Jones called out to the crowd "Hey everybody! These fine gentleman are refusing to tell me what I'm under arrest for!" She then asked Gilbert "Does this have anything to do with the lawsuit I served on you earlier today?" He responded "You didn't serve me." and Jones informed him "I served the town." She was then escorted through town offices to a cell in the back of town hall before being transferred to the La Paz County jail.

The next day, Mrs. Jones, who has no prior convictions, was released on her own recognizance by Judge Michael Newman.

The Jones case in County Superior Court is # CV201100065

and claims damages for "harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress".

Duh! Do you think?