Stockton City Manager Accused Of Bumping Occupier

STOCKTON (CBS13) - An occupy protester says she had a run-in with the stockton city manager.

Investigators will likely be looking at a picture that was taken outside Stockton city hall, which, frankly, does not show much.

At the center of this controversy are Occupy protesters and Stockton's city manager, Bob Deis.

Below the steps of city hall are the messages, put in chalk by the occupiers, demanding city manager Bob Deis to resign after what they say happened Thursday.

Occupy protestors say a photo shows Deis in a gray suit making physical contact with Occupy protestor Diana Buettner.

"Bob Deis actually nudged me with his leg and almost knocked me over," said Buettner.

Buettner says it was an intentional physical clash, prompting her to call police.

"I actually said 'that's an assault what are you doing?' And he just kind of looked at me," said Buettner.

"If there was contact, it was accidental, not intentional," said Connie Cochran, city of Stockton spokesperson.

The city says Deis was simply trying to get the protesters to stop writing messages on the sidewalk because its disruptive and costly.

They say occupiers have written the messages in chalk three times during the past 24 hours.

"To use city resources to go and clean up something is not using the resources in the best way for the entire public," said Cochran.

Officers issued no citations and made no arrests, and referred the misdemeanor battery case to the district attorney's office because of a potential conflict of interest.

"I think Bob should go to jail for what he did," said protestor Gerald Zeivel.

Buettner says she wasn't injured and she'll only continue to protest what's happening in Stockton, even after what she calls intimidation by the city manager.

"That's not ok, absolutely, never ok," said Buettner.

And tonight some city insiders CBS13 spoke with are concerned that if this confrontation is substantiated, it could lead to a lawsuit and putt city finances at risk for a city that's already struggling after filing for bankruptcy.