I wouldn’t really say that the OP thought he was smarter than the police officers. He believed could clear up a misunderstanding just by talking – and that may be naive, but it’s not arrogant. Now, if he knew that he had done something wrong and thought he could argue his way out of trouble, that might be thinking he was smarter than those who would get him in trouble. But he was just trying to clear up a misunderstanding – he wasn’t trying to fool anyone using cleverness. If anything, the OP was assuming that the police officers were equally smart as him, and thus intelligent enough to distinguish a threat from a misunderstood bystander.
He was also assuming that he didn't have to follow direct commands given to him because he was in posession of certain facts which, if the officers were made aware of them, would certainly countermand those orders. To someone who is in authority giving commands, to have those commands received as polite requests or invitation to debate, that could easily be perceived as "this guy thinks he's smart (or in charge)"
Well, he called 911 himself. I think this part won't change from version to version. Now how many people who call 911 when they witness an accident actually are a "problem" enough to warrant an arrest?
Drunk? I suppose you refer to the 3 drinks they had in the course of 3 hours. And they probably had eaten not long before. Self-entitled asshole… You mean, working in a startup, and tell the policemen when asked what he does for a living?
And even if he was a drunk self-entitled asshole? Was he a hindrance? Was he dangerous in any way? My probability for both is extremely low. And even if he was a real hindrance or danger? Does that justify stomping on his fingers after having handcuffed him? No way.
I understand you may trust cops. But Officer Korr specifically doesn't look too trustworthy: she got sued.
Unless… the OP is actually lying. Not distorting the facts, or conveniently forgetting some details, and exaggerating others, but plain lying. That is indeed a possibility, but I'd think twice before suggesting it to the OP's face: if he wasn't lying, I'd be insulting a victim.
I (the author) understand the comments above and the reasonable skepticism about my self interest in portraying only one side of the story. I'm not an angel. This was avoidable. I can even understand the police perspective and sympathize with the difficulty of their job. For full transparency, I'm preparing a followup post with all of the assembled documentation, including the police report. And yet, this still should not have happened.
But at the time, it was all very sudden. I was being yelled at while my friend (and co-founder of a yc company) was being manhandled. The fact that I was "obstructing with the emergency response" didn't enter the realm of possibility, as I was on the periphery of the scene and far away from the medics. The fact that I was at risk of being arrested didn't cross my mind until the moment I was tackled from behind.
I tried to resolve my issue directly with the police. Mediation would have quelled my anger. Only when I felt that I wasn't being heard, I published. I didn't expect 365k views (and counting).
I think that these situations are common, but rarely do the victims take the time to write the story in full detail. I've seen it happen to others, and felt powerless to interject. And now that it happened to me, I felt an obligation to do my best to write it as accurately as possible. In the least, it's an anthropological case study, and I hope you felt it was an informative story that was worth your reading time.
SFist contacted the SFPD for comment. Spokesman Albie Esparza explains that Partensky was arrested for interfering, resisting arrest, and public intoxication. According to police, he was both drunk and disruptive as police and fire department medical personnel arrived, he was told several times by officers to back up and remove himself. "If someone calls 911," Esparza says, "They are expected only to be a good witness, and to obey anything they're told to do by arriving officers." During Partensky's ensuing detention, one officer sustained an injury when Partensky swung his elbow and struck the officer in the eye. That there probably led to his subsequent poor treatment, though Esparza says he can not comment on what happened while Partensky was in the custody of the Sheriff's Department overnight.
I too understand the scepticism. But I cannot condone the insult. Sure, what happened to you was avoidable. But not just by you. From the look of it, you bear very little responsibility there. Your biggest mistake was in your model of the cops: you assumed they were trustworthy, and could be reasoned with. Some were not.
I would have made the same mistake. So, thanks for the tip. Your story was definitely worth reading.
