LEWISTON — In the surveillance video, Tanisha Solomon is seen standing over a stabbing victim as he lay on the ground in a pool of blood.
“That’s what you get for pulling a knife on my son,” Solomon yells at the man, according to witnesses.
Shortly after, Solomon and her son — the man later charged in the stabbing — are seen heading away from the scene of the crime.
What followed, police said, was a frantic search for 18-year-old Kamari Solomon, Tanisha’s son and the man accused in the July 4 stabbing.
Lewiston police on Friday responded to a lawsuit against several of its officers filed by Tanisha Solomon the day before.
In her suit, Solomon claimed that police had stormed into her Bates Street apartment July 4 while the family was celebrating a birthday there. She said the officers entered her home without a warrant and then dragged her off without ever filing a charge against her.
The lawsuit presents the police action as something unexpected to the Solomon family.
“Defendants were not in hot pursuit of Kamari Solomon when they forced their way into Ms. Solomon’s apartment,” according to the suit.
Lewiston police beg to differ.
When officers went to Solomon’s home at 308 Bates St., it was within a half-hour of the stabbing that left 18-year-old Mouamed Mouamed hospitalized with multiple wounds to his arms and stomach. It was also with the knowledge that Tanisha had been with her son when the stabbing occurred, according to acting Police Chief Brian O’Malley.
According to the affidavit, the stabbing occurred at about noon, just after a group of young men were seen gathering at the dead-end section at Pierce and Birch streets.
“At 12:03 hours, Kamari is seen running up Birch Street toward Pierce Street,” according to Detective Tom Murphy’s affidavit. “Kamari is being followed by Tanisha. Two other black males are running behind her. Kamari appears to pull a knife from under his shirt with his left hand. Kamari goes down Pierce Street where Mouamed had gone a few minutes before. Tanisha and the males follow.”
Minutes later, Mouamed was stabbed several times before he collapsed and the attackers fled the area.
“We have an obligation to find these people when there’s a threat of violence to the people in that neighborhood,” O’Malley said.
In her suit, Tanisha Solomon alleges that Murphy banged her against a wall and dragged her downstairs, only to later release her with an indirect apology.
The police affidavit detailing the case against Kamari Solomon, however, suggests that Tanisha quickly admitted to her role in the incident.
“I spoke with Tanisha at the station,” Murphy wrote in the court document. “Tanisha was read Miranda warnings and agreed to talk to me. Tanisha advised that she was with Kamari and that Kamari did stab Mouamed. Tanisha advised that she was trying to stop Kamari.”
Police on Friday said they had not yet seen a copy of the suit, which was filed in federal court Thursday by Portland attorney Michael J. Waxman.
Named in the suit are Murphy, former Police Chief Michael Bussiere and others described as “unknown officers.” The suit alleges that Bussiere was at Solomon’s apartment when the July 4 incident unfolded. However, Bussiere has since said that he was on vacation and out of town on that date.
Tanisha Solomon is seeking an unspecified amount of money for what her suit describes as multiple violations of her civil rights. Her son, arrested three days after the stabbing, remains jailed on a charge of elevated aggravated assault.
According to court documents, the victim of the stabbing told police that he and Kamari had a “beef” that began earlier when both teens were being held at Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.
Kamari Solomon pleaded guilty in April to robbing a cab driver at knifepoint on Walnut Street in Lewiston in August 2015.
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