Elizabeth Cartwright called her father to tell him to call 911- Benson being beaten
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"I called my dad and told him, 'Call 911, my black friend is getting beaten up by police on Lake Travis,' " said Elizabeth Cartwright, 22, a friend of Benson's from the University of Texas.
A female passenger on Cedric Benson's boat Saturday night in Austin, Texas, was concerned enough about his safety after police took him into custody to phone her parents and urge them to call 911, the Tribune has learned.
She says she is willing to submit her document as evidence supporting his account. She said her fiance also took dozens of photographs that help corroborate her claims. In a 45-minute phone interview, she explained that she chose to come forward because of concerns that Benson's reputation was being "tainted" by accounts of the incident.
"We're not asking to be treated better, but we don't want to be treated worse, either, because of who Cedric is," Benson's lawyer, Brian Carney, said Tuesday night.
Cartwright, an English major at the University of Texas who is to graduate later this month, estimated she and her fiance had been boating with Benson six times this spring and each time a Lower Colorado River Authority boat pulled them over for a safety check.
There were about 15 people on the boat, including Benson's mother, Jackie, who had spent much of the evening swimming in a part of the lake known as Devil's Cove. Just when the group had decided to head back to shore around 9:30 p.m. and go out to dinner, a patrol boat stopped to conduct a random check.
According to Cartwright, she had consumed one beer and Benson had two drinks.
"I know Cedric and I don't think he was drunk," Cartwright said.
A few minutes later, Cartwright said she heard Benson begin to scream after the officer pepper-sprayed him in the eye. By the time Benson was in handcuffs, he was screaming, "Please stop, Mom, make them please stop."
Cartwright disputed that Benson was resisting arrest. Panicked, Cartwright called her father, Jeff, to give him a description of the physical way she saw her friend being treated and told him to call 911.
Unaware the friend in question was Benson, Jeff Cartwright called 911 and told the dispatcher that police "were beating up a black kid on Lake Travis."
Benson claimed police kicked his feet out from under him, causing him to fall awkwardly. When Benson got up, Cartwright remembers him sitting in a squad car surrounded by six officers.
"In the weakest voice, Cedric said to me and my fiance, 'Help me get out of here,' " Cartwright said. "He was so scared."
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune....,2315723.story
