‘Had Bruises Down My Leg’: Disabled Black Woman Complains About Walgreens Employee Spitting Sunflower Seeds at Register and Ends Up Dragged Across the Floor and Arrestedv
Del-Rio Swink, a 55-year-old Black woman and cancer survivor who suffers from several disabilities, was thrown to the floor by an off-duty cop inside a St. Louis Walgreens after she called out a female employee for eating and spitting sunflower seeds at the counter of the store’s pharmacy more than two years ago.
The off-duty Berkeley, Missouri, cop who was working security for the store then tried to handcuff Swink. He placed her face down on the floor, but she was unable to place her right arm behind her back due to her disabilities, which include peripheral neuropathy and degenerative joint disease.
The cop, Thomas Love, then began dragging her across the floor in an attempt to turn her over and handcuff her from the front, which was captured in a livestream video after she began recording.
Once she was handcuffed, Love had the store call St. Louis police, who arrived and further abused the grandmother, accusing her of having “an attitude.”
The St. Louis cops then placed her handcuffed and unbuckled in the back of a police van, where the driver took sharp turns, causing her to fall off the bench, further injuring her back and hips, which had been in pain after the initial assault.
Police dropped her off at a hospital to treat her injuries and cited her for “general peace disturbance,” but ultimately, no charges or infractions were filed against her.
Last week, Swink filed a lawsuit against Walgreens, Love and St. Louis police officers Alfred Almond, Trevor Krepps and Kristine Stark, accusing the defendants of excessive force, negligence and violating the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The police, meanwhile, were disciplined after a two-year internal affairs investigation, but it is unclear how.
Swink, who described the arrest as one of the “worst experiences in my life,” said the incident left her traumatized with lingering physical issues.
“I had bruises down my leg,” Swink said in a video interview with ArchCity Defenders, the St. Louis nonprofit legal firm that specializes in civil rights cases and is representing her in the lawsuit.
“My hip felt like … I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer.”
It is also not clear what happened to the sunflower-eating employee who caused the entire altercation, but she was violating company policy, according to a Walgreens employment manual found online, listing things that are not allowed.
“Eating, drinking, or talking on your personal phone at the register areas or sales floor. Leave your personal belongings in your locker. Use the break room for eating food or drinking beverages during your designated break or meal times.”
Watch the video of her arrest below.
“Rough Ride”
The incident took place on Nov. 4, 2022, when Swink walked into the Walgreens to pick up some prescriptions and noticed the employee standing at the pharmacy register spitting sunflower seeds into a pill bottle.
According to the lawsuit:
“Ms. Swink expressed displeasure at the clerk spitting in front of customers, and a short argument between the two ensued.
The argument was resolved when the on-duty pharmacist intervened and helped Ms. Swink fill her prescription.
Ms. Swink, having been helped, then took a seat in the waiting area to receive her medication.
Ms. Swink and the clerk were no longer in conflict at this time, and Ms. Swink was sitting quietly waiting for her medication.
Despite this, the clerk ordered Defendant Officer Love — an off-duty Berkeley police officer working at Walgreens as a security guard — to remove Ms. Swink from the store.”
Swink was sitting in the waiting area when Love approached her, ordering her to leave the store, accusing her of trespassing, but Swink refused to leave without her medication.
Swink attempted to explain to the cop what had taken place, but he shoved her out of the chair, and she fell on the floor, the claim states.
“When Ms. Swink was pushed to the floor, she immediately felt extreme levels of pain radiating from her back and right hip,” the lawsuit states.
“Ms. Swink was unable to move or stand up without experiencing debilitating pain.”
And it just got worse from there when the other cops arrived and shoved her in the police van, where she had to endure a “rough ride,” a form of police abuse where the driver of the van drives recklessly, forcing the handcuffed, unrestrained suspect to bounce around the back of the van.
It is what killed Freddie Gray in Baltimore in 2015 and what left Black man Demonte Ward-Blake paralyzed in 2019, as well as another Black man, Randy Cox, paralyzed in 2022.
Once at the hospital, the St. Louis cops further demeaned her after she requested a wheelchair.
“Um, I don’t do anything without a please,” Stark, one of the cops, responded.
Swink then said “please” before Stark walked away to get her a wheelchair.
“The SLMPD Officers consistently made demeaning, belittling, and rude comments to Ms. Swink during the arrest, transport, and drop-off,” the claim states.
“Five days after this incident, on November 9, 2022, Ms. Swink filed a complaint with the St. Louis City Civilian Oversight Board regarding the way the SLMPD Officers treated her during the arrest and transport.”
“Nearly two years later, on June 25, 2024, SLMPD’s Department of Internal Affairs found that Ms. Swink’s allegations were sustained, and she was notified that the officers involved would be disciplined.”
During that time, Swink’s peripheral neuropathy, a condition where damaged nerves lead to pain, numbness and weakness, mostly in the hands and feet, has become significantly worse.
“Sitting and standing caused Ms. Swink so much pain that she was unable to even use the toilet properly,” the claim states.
“The incident also caused Ms. Swink to develop intense anxiety, agoraphobia, and depression.”
“None of the police officers involved took Ms. Swink seriously when she told them she was disabled and needed help,” said Ebony McKeever, staff attorney at ArchCity Defenders, in a statement published on the organization’s website.
“This is disturbing not just for Ms. Swink, but because many of the people police officers interact with are individuals living with disabilities.”
ArchCity Defenders has filed more than 50 lawsuits over the past ten years across Missouri, resulting in defendants having to pay $26.7 million to victims of systemic abuse, according to their website.
“Officer Love’s needless, unreasonable, and excessive force severely injured Ms. Swink’s hips and back,” the latest lawsuit states.
“SLMPD Officers Allmon, Krepps, and Stark then failed to accommodate Ms. Swink’s disabilities when transporting her to BJC Hospital. Ms. Swink consequently experienced further pain and injury during the ‘rough ride’ transport.”
Watch the interview with Swink below.