77 year-old tackled by police is a tad obsessive-compulsive

Strolling Senior Says Officer Tackled Him

VALLEJO, Calif. - When Melvin Ainsworth went for his routine stroll on the Carquinez Bridge, the last thing he expected was to end up with six stitches above his left eye, a swollen lip and a sprained wrist.

Without warning, a Vallejo police officer tackled the 77-year-old Crockett man from behind on Saturday morning, he says.

"They ruined my 227th trip across the bridge," Ainsworth said. "The second half of the trip, I rode in an ambulance."

Ainsworth later learned that a tipster called police to report that a man in his 20s or 30s wearing a San Francisco 49ers jacket was about to jump or had a baby dangling over the edge of the bridge.

Ainsworth was wearing a 49ers jacket ?- but he was armed only with a camera and he's at least 40 years older.

After he got up, Ainsworth said he told Vallejo police Officer Jeremie Patzer "Mister, you don't know how sorry you're going to be before I'm through with you."

Patzer, 31, who apologized, declined to discuss the incident Tuesday. The department is investigating Ainsworth's complaint, said Lt. Lori Lee, department spokeswoman.

Ainsworth said he has filed a complaint with Vallejo police and met with civil rights attorney John Burris on Tuesday to discuss a possible lawsuit.

Officers said they yelled at Ainsworth to stop, but he didn't respond. The next thing Ainsworth knew, someone knocked him down from behind, Burris said.

"There wasn't anything he did that dictated that kind of use of force," Burris said. "He wasn't acting aggressively in any way. He wasn't running. He's 77 years old. He looks his age."