Harry Gehlert, a senior citizen with no criminal record, hardly expected to be led out of his Baltimore apartment and handcuffed by a heavily armed police tactical unit when his toilet overflowed. But that?s what happened in March of 2004, Gehlert said, after his downstairs neighbor complained.
Now Gehlert, 75, is suing the city and the management of his Mount Vernon building for unspecified damages because he is still haunted by the day he opened his door and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun, he said.
“It was humiliating; they made me do the perp walk. I still have trouble sleeping,” Gehlert told The Examiner.
Gehlert said the trouble began when his toilet overflowed. Watching a movie, Gehlert said he did not hear the maintenance staff of Westminster House ? restricted to seniors ? knocking on the door. “I?m hard of hearing, so I use the headphones,” he said.
Gehlert said that after the fire department showed up and did not get a response either, the fire department called the police.
That?s when things got dicey.
“Someone had been shooting out windows at the Walters Art Museum across the street from our building, and someone told the police it was me,” he said. The police report, obtained by The Examiner, said it was “rumored Mr. Gehlert may have a BB gun.”
Gehlert said that unknown to him, a police Quick Response team was called in, and the area around the Westminster House building in Mount Vernon was cordoned off during rush hour. WhenGehlert finally answered the door, he said he was dumbfounded.
“I was surprised, to be honest, not scared,” he said. “I?ve had three parking tickets in my life. I don?t why they sent a SWAT team,” he said.
Gehlert said officers searched the apartment and did not find a BB gun or any other weapon. One officer asked Gehlert if he suffered from any psychiatric problems.
“I said, ?I have prostate cancer, so my oncologist prescribed Paxil,?” Gehlert said.
Gehlert said he was led out of his apartment, handcuffed, put in the back of a police wagon and driven to University of Maryland Medical Center.
“That?s when I started getting scared. I kept asking why I was handcuffed but they wouldn?t say,” he said. At the hospital, police asked for an immediate psychiatric evaluation.
“The social worker took one look at me and said I didn?t belong there,” he said. After the diagnosis, Gehlert was released and never charged.
Robert Filay, attorney for Westminster House, said the lawsuit is groundless. “As far as we?re concerned it was a maintenance issue. We were concerned that he was injured and there was water leaking through his neighbor?s floor,” he said.
“As soon as the police took over, we?re not involved,” he said.
Police officials said they could not comment due to pending litigation.
