City of Hazard, KY Do the Right Thing and Terminate Officer Everidge
Parma Lee Mullins was on her way to the grocery store for candy-making ingredients a few days before Christmas in December 2015. It was after 10 p.m. Little did Parma know that she would be spending the night in a cold jail cell.
A winter rain storm had just begun, and quickly the storm became violent. Rain pelleted the windshield. Parma worked to adjust the defogger, and soon noticed flashing lights behind her. Pulling over to the side of the road, she was afraid. At 69 years of age, she had never been pulled over, never had a ticket, never been arrested, and didn't know what to expect
Steve Everidge, a Hazard City policeman, came to the window, and shined a light in her eyes. He did not offer the assistance of a friendly law enforcement officer, but, in effect, told her she was going to jail. She was administered a field sobriety test in the cold, driving rain, but given no breathalyzer. The officer was adamant that she was taking drugs or drinking. She was adamant that she was doing neither, but told him she only took blood pressure medications. He told her she likely had brain damage then.
Cold and wet, she was taken to the local hospital for a blood test, and then jailed in the local jail. She spent the night there, in wet clothing. After being released, the next months would be a time of nightmares and terror. The blood test would not come back from the state crime lab until four anxiety-ridden months later. Of course, it was negative.
The City of Hazard has done nothing about this case, and Officer Steve Everidge is still employed there. There was no suspension, no reprimand, and not even a frown. "He's a good guy." they told her.
Parma's friends and acquaintances stand with her. Many of them, especially women, fear that instead of assistance from the Hazard Police Department, they will receive a night in a jail cell.
Please sign below, if you stand with Parma, in demanding that Steve Everidge of the Hazard City Police Department, be terminated to prevent this terror from occurring in the future.