Mom gets probation after scuffle with cops

A mother of five whom police repeatedly shocked with a Taser was found guilty yesterday of resisting arrest for screaming at a man who was poking around the van in which her kids were sitting.

The man turned out to be an undercover cop.

After a brief nonjury trial yesterday, Naimah Jones, 33, was sentenced to 18 months' reporting probation and anger management. She was found not guilty of five counts of endangering the welfare of her children and recklessly endangering another person. An investigation by the city Department of Human Services found no evidence of abuse in relation to the incident, which the Daily News first reported in December.

On Nov. 27, Jones stopped by her North Philly home to grab some luggage, she testified, leaving her children in the family van for three to five minutes.

She said that when she heard someone banging on her car door, she yelled out her second-floor window to tell the man - a plainclothes officer - to get the "f---" away from her car. She said the officer didn't identify himself.

She said that she ran outside to confront him and that he charged at her and choked her. She said that he then said he was a cop but that she didn't believe him because he didn't show a badge.

After the two scuffled for a couple of minutes, other officers responded and handcuffed her. Jones, who testified that she learned last week that she was at least 11 weeks pregnant, said that they then shot her four times with a stun gun.

Judge Richard Gordon found it difficult to believe that the arresting officer, Philip Sprague, wasn't wearing a badge. "You set this in motion," Gordon told Jones. "They wear these badges religiously. The officers did their duty and you over, over, overreacted." With at least a dozen relatives and supporters present, Jones said that she would appeal. She has filed a complaint with Internal Affairs.

Sprague, who testified with his badge hanging from a chain around his neck, said that he and his partner were checking out a vehicle parked next to Jones' van. He noticed the kids sleeping in the van and went to investigate.

Sprague said that he identified himself when Jones screamed at him and that his badge hung from his neck. He denied choking Jones. He said that the van was not running and had been in the parking lot for 15 minutes.

Neighbor Johnetta Woods testified yesterday and told the Daily News in November that she saw the officer choking Jones. Another neighbor, Derrick Toler, 51, testified that he saw Sprague charge at Jones and that he didn't recall the officer identifying himself.

Jones "kept hollering 'I didn't know they were police!' " Toler said.

In an unrelated case, Sprague fired the fatal shot at Harry Bennett, 53, of Harold Street near 12th, in July. That case is still under investigation by Internal Affairs, said Lt. Kevin Long.

Sprague, of the 22nd District in North Philadelphia, was placed on desk duty after that shooting, but he returned to patrol in September. An 11-year veteran, Sprague had five physical-abuse complaints filed against him, none of which was sustained, from 2002 to 2008.