New York City Police Officer Kofi Nsafoah Arrested And Charged After Choking His Wife

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK – An off-duty city cop was arrested early Tuesday for allegedly choking his wife, police said.

Kofi Nsafoah, 36, was taken into custody at 2:30 a.m. after an apparent fight with his wife, cops said.

Police said the altercation happened in the vicinity of the 61st Precinct, which polices Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Kings Highway, Homecrest, Madison, Manhattan Beach and Gerritsen Beach. They declined to provide a specific address.

It was unclear how seriously the woman was injured.

Nsafoah was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing, police said.

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Three On One: Video Catches San Antonio Texas Police Officers Beating Handcuffed Pregnant Woman

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – Did San Antonio Police Officers use excessive force on a pregnant woman? That’s what the Department is looking into tonight, after a Fox San Antonio viewer shot video of three officers holding down a pregnant woman. One of those officers hits her repeatedly.

It was the sound of a woman screaming that caught Lorenzo Rios’s attention. “All I heard was her yelling to get off me, I heard her yell I’m pregnant,” said Rios. So, he started to record this video with his cell phone. “She was already cuffed and they started to beat her, which I don’t think was right. It was pretty messed up. She was already down and pretty small compared to the other officers.”

According to a police report, 21-year-old Destiny Rios was arrested for prostitution and resisting arrest. She’s 5’1, 126 pounds and pregnant. “She did look pregnant, she looked about two months pregnant,” said Rios. It was the 4th of July around 5:30 p.m., when an officer saw Rios walking on Culebra. When he stopped to ask her name, he found out she had an active warrant for prostitution. When he started to arrest her, she fought back.

“Size makes no difference, it’s the amount of fight in the person,” said Chief William McManus, San Antonio Police. Fox San Antonio gave the police department a copy of the video, but the Chief says he didn’t see it. When we offered to show him, he said he didn’t need to see it. “What’s on the video is in my understanding is what the officer reported.” But, we found inconsistencies. We counted eight hits in the video, but the police report only says there were four or five. “Whether it was four or five or whether it was 8, it’s really irrelevant if the officer felt he needed to strike her 8 times in order to get her to comply and put handcuffs on, then that’s how many times he struck her,” said McManus.

Rios also told police she used heroin the day before. The man behind the camera says no one deserves this. “She didn’t need to be beaten like that like, she was small, she was already cuffed, she wasn’t resisting but for them to come and jump on her and punch her not once, but 9 times that was pretty messed up,” said Rios.

The police report says once handcuffs were on her, she was not struck. The Chief says he’s looking into all of this, but right now all of the officers are still on regular duty. Rios suffered minor injuries. Tonight, she’s still in the Bexar County Jail.

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$1 Million Claim Filed Against Long Beach California Police After Brutally Assaulting Employee During Medical Marijuana Dispensary Raid – Police Smashed Surveillance Cameras And Caused 10’s Of Thousands Of Dollars In Damage

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA – Lawyers for a medical marijuana dispensary worker wounded in a police raid at a Long Beach shop filed a claim on Thursday seeking $1 million in damages from the city of Long Beach.

The claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, alleges that a police raid of a pot shop June 19 was illegal and that the officers involved used excessive force.

“In terms of the excessive force claim, we will investigate that aspect of it,” said Long Beach City Attorney Robert E. Shannon.

Shannon said that the Long Beach Police Department is also mulling whether to open a criminal investigation into the activities of the medical marijuana dispensary and police are considering an internal investigation into the officers’ conduct during the raid, Shannon said.

The claim, filed Thursday with the Long Beach City Clerk’s office, alleges officers injured a volunteer employee, violated his civil rights, and violated the state’s disabled persons act.

It also alleges officers “engaged in conduct that violated various provisions of the state and federal constitutions,” the claim alleges.

The claim stems from a YouTube video that shows officers smashing surveillance cameras and stepping on a suspect at THC Downtown Collective in the 300 block of Atlantic Boulevard. The video was posted by user “Long Beach Raids” on July 1. Officials said they learned about the video on July 3.

An advocate for medical marijuana dispensary owners and workers criticized the officers’ conduct.

“That behavior is so blatant it cannot be the first time,” said Steven Downing, a retired Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief and current board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.”It was arrogant. It was unnecessary and it was brutal.”

The claim seeks damages in excess $1 million for medical treatment and mental counseling.

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Long Beach Police Raid Medical Marijuana Dispensary, Smashing Surveillance Cameras, Assault Employee, Cause 10’s Of Thousands In Damages As They Trash Business

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA – A raid on a marijuana dispensary in Long Beach was caught on video showing officers smashing surveillance cameras and stepping on a suspect, moves that prompted accusations against the officers of excessive force.

More than a dozen police raided THC Downtown Collective in the 300 block of Atlantic Boulevard (map) on June 19, officials said. The video was posted to YouTube by user “Long Beach Raids” on July 1. Officials said they learned about the video on July 3.

The two-minute-long video (below) opens to show a man surrendering to police, three of whom surround him while two put him in handcuffs.

One of the officers is seen stepping on volunteer employee Dorian Brooks’ back with both feet before stepping on his neck, with what Brooks described as 300 pounds of pressure.

The video, which was being recorded at an off-site location, then cuts to an officer pointing at the recording camera before another looks up and smashes the lens.

“They noticed there was a camera that was on the wall right above my head, so they proceeded to smash it with a metal rod,” said Brooks, adding that the camera shattered on him. “I wasn’t able to protect myeslf because my hands were cuffed.”

“I felt violated; I felt disrespected,” Brooks said.

The video cuts again and reopens on a man donning a tshirt and backwards baseball cap with what appears to be a badge hanging from his neck. This man, apparently behind the dispensary’s counter, also smashes the recording camera.

Footage from after the raid shows a disheveled room, with portions of the ceiling removed and scattered on the floor, strew with boxes, electrical cables and other objects.

Dispensary employees claim the raid caused tens of thousands of damage, and police took the collective’s ATM and cannabis.

“A thorough review into what occurred during that operation will be conducted once all of the facts have been collected. This is a personnel matter and we are unable to discuss any further details,” Lisa Massacani, with LB police, wrote in a statement.

Police said the dispensary was operating under state compliance, but did not have a city permit.

Five people were arrested in the raid, according to Long Beach police:

Dallas Alexander, 31, of Long Beach, was arrested on suspicion of operating an unpermitted marijuana dispensary, serving as a looking for illegal activity and on an outstanding warrant from another jurisdiction;
Fernando Garcia, 50, and Mario Sanchez, 31, both of Los Angeles, and Landon Alexander, 22 of Long Beach were arrested on suspicion of operating an unpermitted marijuana dispensary and obstruction;
Dorian Brooks, 28, of Long Beach, was arrested on suspicion of operating an unpermitted marijuana dispensary

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Homestead Florida Police Officers Sgt. Lizanne Deegan, Giovanni Soto, And Sgt. Jeffrey Rome Arrested After String Of Beatings

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA – Three Homestead police officers were arrested Monday night on charges stemming from a series of alleged attacks — two of which were caught on video — on men outside a bar last year.

The main target: Sgt. Jeffrey Rome, who, according to arrest warrants, beat or pepper-sprayed at least three men outside Celio’s Latin Quarter Bar. At least two of the incidents were caught on videotape by undercover detectives who had the bar under surveillance for an unrelated investigation into human trafficking.

The other officers are Sgt. Lizanne Deegan and Giovanni Soto, who are accused of misconduct involving a man who was beaten up outside the bar and later was hospitalized in February 2011.

Rome, 56, is charged with battery, false imprisonment and abuse of an elderly adult. Soto, 40, is charged with battery and official misconduct, while Deegan, 44, is charged with official misconduct.

The three were suspended with pay in April 2011. They were formally arrested on Monday. They later were released from a Miami-Dade County Jail after posting bail, hopped a wall to avoid members of the press and then climbed into a waiting black SUV, which sped away.

“After 15 months, I believe in my client’s innocence,” said C. Michael Cornely, who is representing Rome. “I believe at the end of the day, he will be vindicated.”

According to the arrest warrants, Rome worked off-duty outside the bar, 38 NE Ninth St., frequented by a crowd of mostly Hispanic migrant workers who live and work in Homestead.

In April 2011, according to the court documents, detectives witnessed a man speaking with Rome before leaving. He walked back a short time later and Rome pepper sprayed him three times outside the bar, the warrant said.

Detective Antonio Aquino and Ricky Rivera later rushed to his aid, offering him medical help. He refused, the warrant said.

The man later told detectives and prosecutor Breezye Telfair that someone had tried to rob him as he walked away and that he went running back to Rome to seek his help. He identified Rome in a photo lineup.

On another occasion in April 2011, Aquino and Rivera saw Rome drag an elderly man away from the bar, kicking him in the head — an altercation also captured on video. Rome was seen pouring water on the man, who had been lying down for seven minutes, the warrant said. The man later told detectives that two men had tried to rob him of his bicycle and that he had sought out Rome for help.

Rome also is accused of pepper spraying another man, the warrant shows. As for Deegan and Soto, they were charged in connection to an alleged beating outside Celio’s Latin Quarter Bar.

The man claimed Soto beat him up, and then dropped him off at his home “like he was a dog and was refused medical treatment.”

According to an arrest warrant, Soto called 911 and an ambulance took the victim to Homestead Hospital.

Deegan followed him to the hospital, took photos and gave him her card with a case number on it. But prosecutors say she covered up the case by failing to write a report on the incident.

Richard Sharpstein, her lawyer, said Deegan, charged with official misconduct, believed that the drunken man had been in a bar fight and that she had no legal obligation to author a report.

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Veteran Santa Fe New Mexico Police Officer Jon Lopez Arrested, Supended, And Charged After Beating His Wife – Just Days After Department Initiated “Zero Tolerance” Policy Targeting Criminal Cops

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO – A Santa Fe police officer has been placed on administrative leave after he was arrested Sunday evening on charges of battery on a household member and interfering with communications.

Jon Lopez, 30, who lives in Santa Fe, made arrangements with Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies to meet at the Santa Fe police headquarters at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday where he was arrested and later booked into jail.

The arrest comes just two days after the initiation of a “zero tolerance” policy at the Santa Fe Police Department that recommends termination on any first offense related to conviction for such a crime. The policy was enacted after members of the Esperanza Shelter for Battered Families and Solace Crisis Treatment Center contacted the police chief asking for clear accountability in the police department with regard to cases involving domestic violence, sexual offenses and other specified types of misconduct.

Deputies responded to a domestic dispute call at about 6:12 p.m. Sunday in which Lopez’s wife reported that a verbal altercation had turned physical. Sheriff Robert Garcia said deputies saw that “she had marks on her arms consistent with bruising and a scratch.”

Garcia said Lopez took his wife’s cell phone before leaving the house. Lopez, according to a news release by Santa Fe police, had been an officer for three years and was assigned to the patrol division.

Lopez eventually called his house off Muscat Drive near N.M. 14 while deputies were interviewing his wife. Lopez agreed to meet with the deputies to meet at Santa Fe police headquarters. Garcia said Lopez was off duty during the incident.

Police Chief Ray Rael was notified of the arrest late Sunday night and said he did not have all of the details of the arrest Monday morning.

Rael said in an interview last week that the new policy should bolster the public’s trust in his department because prior to the zero tolerance policy, “punishment varied from written reprimands to suspensions.”

Rael said there will be two aspects to investigations into Lopez’s alleged actions — a criminal investigation and an internal department investigation.

“We will initiate out internal affairs investigation immediately and if the evidence shows that there is probable cause that he did commit this crime, the appropriate action will be taken,” Rael said.

He said the internal investigation will not rely on the criminal investigation and that action within the department can be taken before the criminal case is heard.

According to the Santa Fe County jail website, Lopez was booked at about 9:06 p.m. and was being held without bond.

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Edinburgh Indiana Police Officer Christopher McAllister Suspended After Arrest For Drunken Attack On Officers At Indanapolis Motor Speedway The Day Before Indy 500 Race

EDINBURGH, INDIANA – An Edinburgh police officer accused of attacking officers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month has been put on unpaid leave as a criminal investigation continues.

24-Hour News 8 news partner the Daily Journal reports the Edinburgh Town Council, which serves as town’s police merit commission, voted to place Officer Christopher McAllister, 44, on unpaid leave until the case is resolved in Marion County.

Because the town does not have a policy regarding what to do when an officer is charged with a crime, the newspaper said, Police Chief Pat Pankey allowed him to continue working and deferred the decision on what should be done to the Town Council.

Police said McAllister and his wife were creating a disturbance May 26 at IMS the day before the Indianapolis 500. When officers confronted them, McAllister attacked officers. He faces charges of battery, resisting law enforcement and public intoxication.

His wife, Shawntel, also resisted officers and even tried to jump on one of them. She was charged with resisting law enforcement and public intoxication.

Dustin Huddleston, the town’s attorney, told the newspaper the council would reconsider McAllister’s status once the criminal case was resolved.

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Twin Rivers California Police Officer Branche Frederick Smith Arrested, Suspended, And Charged After Multiple Attacks And Taser Weapon Threat – His Victims Were All Handcuffed And Unable To Defend Themselves – One Kicked In The Head While On Floor

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – A Twin Rivers police officer accused of assault while on duty was arrested Thursday.

Branche Frederick Smith, Jr., 37, turned himself into Sacramento police after the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office charged him with four counts of misdemeanor assault under the color of authority, Sacramento police Officer Michele Gigante said.

According to district attorney spokesperson Shelly Orio, Smith allegedly assaulted four people on two different dates.

On Sept. 17, 2010, Smith is accused of choking two subjects and threatening a third with a Taser after the three verbally challenged Smith while they were handcuffed to benches in the department. On May 30, 2011, Smith allegedly kicked a handcuffed subject in the head while the subject was on the floor of the Sacramento County Jail, Orio said.

Twin Rivers School District Spokesperson Trinette Marquis said Smith was placed on leave after fellow officers raised concerns about his behavior in January 2012. The concerns were reviewed by police Chief Scott LaCosse, then handed to the Sacramento Police Department for investigation.

Savage Black Beast Attacked And Beat Random White Man Sitting Near Her On Philadelphia Pennsylvania Bus

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – Philadelphia police are searching for a woman who was caught on surveillance camera assaulting a man on a SEPTA bus last month.

The incident happened on May 31st on a Route 23 SEPTA bus on the 5700 block of Germantown Avenue.

Police say a little before 2:30 p.m., a woman described as black female, 5’5” with a stocky build boarded the bus and right after sitting down, she suddenly got up, approached a man sitting a few rows behind her and began assaulting him.

Police say she punched and slapped the victim, causing injuries to his head and face. The woman then exited the bus at the Germantown and Shelten Avenue stop and fled on foot in an unknown direction.

She was wearing a pink shirt, dark jeans and white sunglasses.

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Marion County Indiana Deputy Sheriff David Carrico Arrested And Charged After Brutally Beating Handcuffed Man In Unprovoked Attack And False Reporting – Caught On Video – Problem Department Has Seen 6 Deputies Quit Or Fired In 3 Months

MARION COUNTY, INDIANA – The story seemed plausible enough. At first.

A man being processed before he was taken to jail threatened to start a riot. A Marion County sheriff’s deputy said he had no choice but to take the man down. While they grappled, the man bit him on the thumb. The deputy was forced to throw a punch.

But investigators say Deputy David Carrico’s story isn’t true.

And they say they have the video to prove it.

On Friday, Carrico, 28, was fired and charged with felony official misconduct and two misdemeanors — battery and false reporting — in what investigators say is an unprovoked attack on Harry Hooks Jr, a 42-year-old Indianapolis man.

Hooks had been arrested May 20 on suspicion of driving away from a car crash and was taken to the Arrestee Processing Center near the jail Downtown.

Marion County Sheriff’s Col. Eva Talley-Sanders said surveillance video taken that night at the processing center shows Hooks’ hands were cuffed behind his back when Carrico pushed him up against a wall. She said Carrico then slammed Hooks onto the concrete floor, climbed on top of him and punched him in the head.

“It’s just horrible,” she said. He was “essentially beating him up.”

Carrico’s case is the latest example of a troubling trend involving Indianapolis-area law enforcement accused of wrongdoing.

In the past three months, six deputies, including Carrico, have resigned or been fired while under investigation for criminal misconduct or other wrongdoing.

And that’s just the Sheriff’s Department. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department also has had its share of officer misconduct issues — including another that came to light Friday.

An IMPD officer, Thomas Bordenkecher, was charged Thursday with misdemeanor battery and intimidation for an off-duty altercation.

Meanwhile, sheriff’s investigators say it’s not entirely clear what triggered the incident at the processing center. They are not releasing a videotape of the incident, citing an ongoing investigation.

According to the affidavit, sheriff’s investigators say the video shows Hooks standing in the processing center along with five other arrestees when Carrico put him in a “hand hold” and took him to another area.

It was there, with the two alone, that investigators say the video shows Carrico grabbed Hooks by the neck and threw him on the concrete floor. With Hooks pinned to the floor, they say Carrico punched him in the head.

The affidavit says Hooks later was taken to the hospital where he had a “questionable nasal fracture,” cuts and a bruise on the right eye.

He later filed a complaint that led to the investigation.

The affidavit says the video shows that before Carrico pulled Hooks aside, “all the arrestees in the receiving room were compliant and no one appeared to be acting in a riotous manner.”

Though not mentioned in the affidavit, a press release issued earlier on Friday by the Sheriff’s Department said the video showed Hooks refusing to face in the right direction, and he can be heard calling deputies “racists” before Carrico took him to the other area.

Talley-Sanders said the Sheriff’s Department has asked federal authorities to determine whether Hooks’ civil rights were violated.

A woman who answered the door at Hooks’ address Friday afternoon declined to comment.

Police reports show that Carrico, who has been a deputy for seven years, has been involved in at least four other altercations with suspects in the past two years. In each case, according to the probable cause affidavits, Carrico claimed he was injured. And in each case, he claimed the inmate needed to be violently restrained.

Back in March, Carrico was involved in an incident with an inmate at the processing center who had already been charged with resisting law enforcement.

The arrestee swung his elbow at Carrico’s face, the police report alleges. As they grappled, Carrico hit his head on the wall or the metal door, making him dizzy. The suspect hit his head as well, the report states, as authorities were “placing him on the ground.”

In November 2010, Carrico got a “sore knee” while trying to handcuff a suspect who was picked up on an active warrant. The suspect kicked Carrico, the report states, and in the process the suspect “lost his balance” and “fell onto the parking lot.”

Sheriff’s officials said Friday they hadn’t gone back to look into the other incidents, but that Carrico may have acted appropriately.

“Most certainly, he could have been the victim,” Talley-Sanders said.

Carrico is the only recent sheriff’s deputy to face charges stemming from an on-duty incident. The rest happened off the clock.

Michael McKittrick, 29, was arrested May 26 after investigators say he fired a rifle in his apartment while drunk.

Douglas Tibbs, 33, resigned on May 22 — two days before he was charged with burglary and theft of prescription drugs.

Donald Prout, 32, resigned on March 28, about a week after being charged with theft and “ghost employment,” a charge stemming from allegations he worked for a private security firm while he was supposed to be serving warrants or attending training classes.

Ryan Radez, 29, was fired in February after being arrested and charged with public intoxication for an incident during pre-Super Bowl festivities.

Matthew Prestel, 27, was also fired in February after Child Protective Services removed his two young children from his home because of unsafe living conditions.

Natasha Fogleman, a 29-year-old civilian dispatcher, was fired in January after she was arrested and charged with trafficking with an inmate at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility.

Sheriff’s investigators say that while troubling, the cases don’t point to a larger problem, either with training or screening for new hires.

They say some bad hires inevitably make it through when more than 1,000 employees, including 750 deputies, are on the payroll.

“I would put our screening and training up against any agency in the state,” said Maj. Scott Mellinger, the sheriff’s chief training officer and the former director of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not minimizing the serious nature of the incidents. It not only makes us re-evaluate what we’re doing, it makes us angry and very, very disappointed.”

But at least one critic says the cases point to larger problems in recruiting qualified deputies.

Jim White, a 20-year state police veteran who now lectures at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said the issue lies with how the deputies receive their law enforcement authority.

While deputies such as Carrico may be sworn law enforcement officers who can carry weapons, make arrests and conduct investigations, technically they aren’t “certified” to state standards like Indiana State Police or IMPD officers.

Instead, the “special deputies,” who primarily work in the jails and serve court papers, are deputized by the sheriff and trained at an in-house facility run by Mellinger.

White said many of the most ideal candidates trend toward police departments that train their officers to be certified.

The Sheriff’s Department, White said, is “not getting the candidates they used to get in the past.”

Sheriff’s training officers, however, insist that even though the deputies aren’t “certified,” that doesn’t mean training is insufficient.

Mellinger said deputies still are required to undergo 161/2 weeks of law enforcement training — the same amount cadets receive at his former academy. Plus, new deputies also receive a two-week course in jail procedures.

Besides, he points out, there also have been serious problems at IMPD, so it’s not like being “certified” guarantees appropriate conduct.

Earlier this month, IMPD settled for $1.5 million with the family of Eric Wells, who was killed in August 2010 when officer David Bisard drove — allegedly while drunk — into Wells’ motorcycle. In April, Police Chief Paul Ciesielski resigned after it was revealed officers mishandled a blood sample of Bisard’s for a second time.

And on Friday, a trial in which IMPD officer David Butler was accused of stealing money from Hispanic motorists ended in a hung jury.

Capt. Michael Hubbs, who oversees all criminal investigations for the sheriff, said given the problems other agencies have faced, it would be unfair to single out the sheriff’s office.

“These are deputy sheriffs,” Hubbs said. “They’re trusted just like any police officer.”

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New York City Police Officer Michael Pena Found Guilty On Sex Charges After Raping Schoolteacher At Gunpoint – Will Spend At Least 75 Years To Life In Prison – More Charges Pending

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – A former police officer who grabbed a schoolteacher off the street and sexually attacked her was sentenced Monday to at least three quarters of a century in prison after being convicted of high-level sex charges, though a jury couldn’t decide whether he was guilty of rape.

After staying silent during his trial, Michael Pena apologized to the victim and said he deserved to be punished, though his lawyer later said Pena was shocked at getting the maximum: 75 years to life.

“If I could go back in time, to the day of this incident, and somehow grab myself by the shoulder … I have no explanation for what happened that day,” Pena said softly, his remarks punctuated by long silences. “I will just have that guilt for the rest of my life.”

“My life has been shattered – my sense of security, my sense of safety, any and all independence,” she said, with a supporter by her side, holding her arm. She wept after she finished speaking.

A three-year officer who was engaged to be married, Pena was wrapping up an alcohol-soaked night of trying to pick up women when he accosted the teacher on an Upper Manhattan street early one morning last August, according to trial evidence.

She testified that Pena forced her into an apartment building courtyard and raped her at gunpoint, threatening to shoot her in the face with his police service weapon.

Pena’s lawyer, Ephraim Savitt, said the officer attacked the woman but never had intercourse with her, a requirement for a rape conviction. The defense said the woman was so terrified that she was mistaken about the extent of what had happened.

A resident of the building heard the attack and called police, who learned Pena was an officer only as they arrested him. One officer said he threw Pena’s badge to the ground in disgust.

Pena “showed by his deplorable conduct that he is not one of New York’s finest,” Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Richard Carruthers said at the sentencing. “Michael Pena is, instead, a sexual predator.”

Pena told authorities he was drunk and didn’t remember what had happened. No tests were done, so his blood-alcohol level was never established. But the judge took aim at Pena’s claim, noting that surveillance video captured Pena steadily trailing the woman, and that Pena tried to mislead witnesses and the responding officers about what was happening.

“The evidence proved conclusively that Michael Pena acted purposefully and intentionally throughout this dreadful incident,” Carruthers said.

Jurors convicted Pena in March of some of the top charges in the case, including predatory sexual assault, an offense that involves wielding a weapon during certain sex crimes. It carried the potential for life in prison.

But jurors deadlocked on rape charges. Pena is due back in court May 23 for prosecutors to say whether they plan to retry him on those charges.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. called Pena’s 75-year-to-life term “an appropriate sentence that takes the viciousness of the defendant’s crime into account.” Vance’s office had no immediate comment Monday on its plans regarding the remaining rape charges.

Meanwhile, Savitt said he was exploring a potential appeal for Pena.

Pena was fired from the police force after his arrest.

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Veteran Los Banos California Police Officer Alfonso Flores Arrested, Suspended, And Charged After Beating On His Wife In A Bar

LOS BANOS, CALIFORNIA – A Los Banos police officer is facing charges for allegedly hitting his wife at a bar and grill last month.

Alfonso Flores, 28, of Los Banos was arrested on May 25 on suspicion of misdemeanor battery against a spouse without injury. Police Chief Gary Brizzee said Flores, who was off duty at the time, was at a bar when he struck his wife.

Police were called to the bar, located in the 1400 block of E. Pacheco Boulevard inside España’s Southwest Bar & Grill, at 10:11 p.m.

Officers spoke with Flores’ wife who reportedly said her husband assaulted her during an argument.

Brizzee declined to state whether Flores was intoxicated at the time of the incident. Flores was booked into the Los Banos Jail and has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. He posted bail the same evening and was released.

Flores is a nearly six-year veteran of the police force. Brizzee said the department’s morale is affected anytime one of its own is involved in an such an incident. “It affects morale in a number of different ways,” he said. “The last thing I want is to have the police department shown in a bad light, but we have to do our job no matter who it is.”

Brizzee said an internal investigation into the incident will happen, regardless of the outcome of the criminal allegations. He said the outcome of the internal investigation could range from exoneration to termination.

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Edinburgh Indiana Police Officer Christopher McAllister Still On Duty After He And His Wife’s Arrest For Assaulting Police Officers At Indianapolis Motor Speedway

EDINBURGH, INDIANA – The Edinburgh Police Officer accused of attacking several officers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the day before the Indianapolis 500 is still on the job. We spoke to Edinburgh Police Chief Patrick Pankey Monday afternoon to learn the status of officer Christopher McAllister, who along with his wife Shawntel McAllister, was arrested on May 26th in the 2100 block of Georgetown Road in Indianapolis.

According to reports, officers were called to the location over a loud disturbance between the two. When the officer approached, McAllister allegedly slammed his beer bottle into the ground, yelled at and then grabbed the officer. Additional officers were called to the scene, but McAllister allegedly continued to resist, chest bumping one officer and striking him with an elbow. Reports indicated that Shawntel McAllister jumped on the back of an officer and tried to free her husband.

Christopher McAllister is facing charges of “Battery”, “Resisting Law Enforcement” and “Public Intoxication.” Shawntel McAllister is facing charges of “Resisting Law Enforcement” and “Public Intoxication.”

Chief Pankey says he will make a decision on how to proceed with McAllister and any potential punishment after he appears in court. No court date has been set at this time.

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Tallahassee Florida Police Officer Lyle Ottley Arrested, Suspended, And Charged After Armed Home Invasion

TALLAHASSEE; FLORIDA – A Tallahassee Police officer has been charged with aggravated assault without the intent to kill and burglary with assault.

Lyle Ottley, 33, has been placed on paid suspension from the Tallahassee Police Department.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Ottley allegedly entered Herman Samuel’s home and threatened him with a gun. The report states that around 2 a.m., Samuel was sleeping next to officer Ottley’s ex-girlfriend Erica Brooks in their home.

Ottley was in uniform at the time when he allegedly banged on the front door and asked for some of their son’s belongings. The officer then entered the home uninvited and went inside the master bedroom, questioning Samuel about why he was there.

Ms. Brooks reportedly ran to a neighboring house owned by another local police man. While Mr. Ottley remained in her home, Ottley allegedly pulled out his hand gun and also punched the wall and bedroom door several times.

Samuel reported that he felt threatened for his life. We spoke to neighbors and they all stated that they had no idea that this had gone on right next door to them.

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Sanford Florida Police Officer Rober Shull Suspended Amid Investigation Into Attack On His Ex-Girlfriend

SANFORD, FLORIDA – Sanford Police Officer Robert Shull has been placed on administrative leave while the State Attorney’s Office decides whether to file criminal charges against him.

Shull is a longtime SPD officer, who is accused by his ex-girlfriend of throwing her to the floor and threatening her life last November in Volusia County.

The two lived together at the time of the incident, but they no longer live together.

The victim also claims that Shull sent her hundreds of emails in the months after that. However, an incident report by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office states that the emails appeared to be mutual conversation, rather than threatening.

Shull has not been arrested, as was previously reported. The State Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case to see what if any charges should be filed. The VCSO written report classified the case as battery by touching or striking.

In addition to the possible criminal case, Shull’s behavior is being reviewed by Sanford Police to see if he should keep his job once the criminal investigation is completed.

In a statement, Interim Sanford Police Chief R. Myers said, “When officers take the oath of office, they are committing to a social contract with the community, and must live up to the moral and ethical expectations that accompany that contract. We will balance the rights of an accused to be treated with due process and the constitutional mandate of innocence until proven guilty against the police obligation to hold officers accountable to their sacred oath. If we are to earn and sustain the public’s trust, it must start with how we police ourselves. We owe it to the good men and women who serve with honor everyday to show no tolerance for lawlessness or incompetence.”

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Cleveland Ohio Police Officer Andrea Halabica-Feldman Arrested And Supended After Catfight

CLEVELAND, OHIO – A Cleveland officer was arrested after police say she got into a fight with another woman, ONN’s affiliate WEWS reported.

Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath said Officer Andrea Halabica-Feldman, 38, is accused of physically assaulting an unknown woman on Monday. It allegedly happened in the 4300 block of West 189th Street in Cleveland.

Halabica-Feldman, who is assigned to the fourth district, was off duty at the time of her arrest. She has not been charged and no court date has been set.

According to Cleveland police, Halabica-Feldman has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case. She will also have a pre-disciplinary hearing with Director of Public Safety Martin Flask.

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Hingham Massachusetts Police Officer Justin Burns Arrested, Suspended, And Charged After Attacking His Girlfriend

HINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS – A Hingham Police officer was arrested on Monday afternoon for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.

Hingham patrolman Justin Burns, age 30 of Hull, has been put on paid leave by the Hingham Police Department after he was arrested on four counts of domestic assault and battery.

While arguing with his girlfriend at their Hull home, Burns allegedly poured beer on her, kicked her with his barefoot in the shin, spit in her face and later pushed her to the ground, according to the police report.

The Hingham officer’s girlfriend admitted to throwing his items around their home and to hitting him in the arm during the argument.

After leaving their home, she reported the incident to a Hull Police officer who she flagged down while in her vehicle on Nantasket Avenue.

While reporting the incident to police, Burns had called the Hull Police Department and reported that his girlfriend was drunk and out of control and throwing things, the report stated.

Police later arrived on scene to Burns’s Avalon Drive home and arrested him. They contacted the Hingham Police Department who took custody of Burns’s two firearms and ammunition that were locked in a case in the closet.

Burns told police that his girlfriend trashed the house, but the argument never got physical.

Hingham Town Administrator Ted Alexiades said Officer Burns was placed on paid administrative leave indefinitely and said the town is conducting an internal investigation while awaiting the outcome of the charges.

“We’re asking everyone to have patience with the process and not to jump to conclusions,” Alexiades said.

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Milwaukee Police Officers Conducted Illegal Strip Searches And Body Cavity Searches – And Of Course Assaulted Those Who Resisted

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – Seven officers and a supervisor at the Milwaukee police department have had their badges taken away after allegations surfaced that police have been conducting body cavity searches on suspects with no authority to do so.

Reports of officers arresting suspects then subjecting them to cavity searches first surfaced in local media in March. On Monday, after getting access to a police report, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that officers allegedly performed these searches on a routine basis.

One Milwaukee officer, Michael Vagnini, “had a reputation” for forcing suspects he believed had drugs in their body cavities to bend over for him, said defense attorney Alex Cossi, who handled a July 2011 case that alleges Vagnini searched his client and another suspect in the booking room.

“This was not a rogue happenstance. This was a tacit acceptance of strip searches without proper procedures or supervision,” Cossi told The Journal Sentinel.

Vagnini found suspected cocaine “between (their) butt cheeks,” the police report said.

Strip searches, which Wisconsin state law defines as searching “a detained person’s genitals, pubic area, buttock or anus, or a detained female person’s breast,” can only be performed by a doctor, physician’s assistant or registered nurse. The state law requires written permission before a strip search is conducted, unless there’s probable cause to believe the suspect is hiding a weapon.

Cossi said his client was not provided with written documents before Vagnini performed the cavity search, which is a strip search involving penetration, on him. Because improper tactics were used to find the cocaine, the drug dealing charge against Cossi’s client was thrown out, The Journal Sentinel reported.

It’s not clear how many allegations of cavity searches the Police Department is facing.

“A number of people came forward so that we have many more complaints than we certainly started out with,” Milwaukee police Chief Edward Flynn said at a news conference Wednesday on April 11. “Of those complaints, I’d say a significant majority of them are of a very similar nature, which indicates that we have more people to talk to than we initially had.”

An improper strip search carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, according to Wisconsin law.

Vagnini, six other officers and a supervisor, Sgt. Jason Mucha, have had their badges and guns taken away while the department investigates the claims.

In March, an alleged victim came forward to speak to NBC’s TMJ-4 to talk about his claim, which he said happened when he was only 15.

‘They slammed me on the ground’

Kevin Freeman Jr. told TMJ-4 he and his friends were violated during a traffic stop in December.

“When they searched me they eased their hands right between my butt. I tried to reach back and soon as I tried to reach back to stop them, they slammed me on the ground,” Freeman said.

It’s illegal to conduct a body cavity search outside, where people other than the one conducting the search could see it taking place.

Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne Schwartz told msnbc.com she could not comment on the matter since it was a pending investigation. Police chief Edward Flynn said in a news conference in March the cavity search complaints go back a couple of years. The department’s internal investigation will determine whether searches violated department policy, state law, or both, The Journal Sentinel said.

Improperly conducted body searches can be construed under Wisconsin law as sexual assaults because of their invasive nature. It’s not clear how much penetration allegedly occurred during the searches.

John Birdsall, a Milwaukee defense attorney, said that if the claims are true, police are abusing their authority.

“One thing is clear, if they’re doing rectal searches in the field, that’s just illegal,” he told the Journal Sentinel. “Clothes or no clothes, you can’t do a body cavity search. They don’t have the authority to do that.”

Milwaukee County prosecutors have launched a John Doe investigation, in which prosecutors can subpoena documents without public knowledge. The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office are monitoring the investigation, The Journal Sentinel reported, and could launch an investigation.

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Tallahassee Florida Police Officer Lyle Ottley Arrested, Suspended, And Charged With Aggravated Assault After Threatening Ex-Girlfriend’s Boyfriend With A Gun While In Uniform And Punching Holes In Wall And Door

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – A Tallahassee Police officer has been charged with aggravated assault without the intent ti kill and burglary with assault.

Lyle Ottley, 33, has been placed on paid suspension from the Tallahassee Police Department.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Ottley allegedly entered Herman Samuel’s home and threatened him with a gun. The report states that around 2 a.m., Samuel was sleeping next to officer Ottley’s ex-girlfriend Erica Brooks in their home.

Ottley was in uniform at the time when he allegedly banged on the front door and asked for some of their son’s belongings. The officer then entered the home uninvited and went inside the master bedroom, questioning Samuel about why he was there.

Ms. Brooks reportedly ran to a neighboring house owned by another local police man. While Mr. Ottley remained in her home, Ottley allegedly pulled out his hand gun and also punched the wall and bedroom door several times.

Samuel reported that he felt threatened for his life. We spoke to neighbors and they all stated that they had no idea that this had gone on right next door to them.

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340 Pound Beast Punched, Spit At, And Pepper Sprayed Piggly Wiggly Grocery Store Workers In Effort To Steal Groceries

ATHENS, GEORGIA – The Georgia woman, 26, was so determined to shoplift beer, bacon, cheese, and chicken wings from a Piggly Wiggly that she punched, spit at, and pepper-sprayed store workers who confronted her as she tried to flee the supermarket Wednesday afternoon, according to cops.

Appling, pictured in the adjacent mug shot, allegedly hid items worth $88.27 in a canvas bag. She “attempted to check out, only putting one item on the counter,” according to a worker quoted in an Athens-Clarke County Police Department report.

When a Piggly Wiggly employee–who had been tipped to the pilfering by a shopper–asked Appling about the concealed items, she tried to exit the store. After worker Jonathan Orr tried to stop Appling, she “pulled out some pepper spray and sprayed him in the face.”

Appling kept spraying as several workers tried to keep her from fleeing. The 340-pound Appling also allegedly punched Orr in the face and spit on the 28-year-old employee. As she successfully bolted from the Athens store, Appling “was dropping beer cans out of her purse.”

Responding to a 911 call, a cop reported spotting “a very large black female in a purple dress standing there screaming at two store employees” who followed her outside the Piggly Wiggly, which was filled with a choking cloud of pepper spray. Police then arrested Appling, whose rap sheet includes several prior shoplifting convictions and outstanding arrest warrants in three Georgia counties.

Cops prepared an inventory of the items Appling sought to swipe: five packages of cheese; eight cans of Coors Light; vegetable oil; chicken wings; and five packages of bacon. As first reported by the Athens Banner Herald, she was charged with a variety of crimes, including aggravated assault, theft, simple battery, and disorderly conduct.

While in police custody, Appling told a cop to add whatever charges he wanted “because she was going to plea bargain and half of the charges would be dropped anyway,” according to the report. She also asked Officer Nathaniel Franco if her arrest would make the police blotter, requesting that the cop make his report “more interesting so that her arrest would make” the department’s compendium of notable incidents.

The unemployed–and now incarcerated–Appling “also commented that store personnel shouldn’t chase people like that because they could get themselves hurt.” Or shoplifters could get busted.

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Hooded Mob Of With Masked Faces Attack Diners At Tinley Park Illinois Restaurant With Clubs And Hammers

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – It was the middle of the lunch rush Saturday, and Mike Winston was working in the kitchen of his Tinley Park restaurant, the Ashford House, when a waitress screamed a fight had broken out in the dining room.

Police call the melee at the restaurant a targeted assault by a mob that Winston said wielded metal batons and hammers. Ten diners were hurt in the attack, and three of those were hospitalized.

Tinley Park police had five suspected assailants in custody, and Winston said 18 young men, all wearing hooded jackets and obscuring their faces with scarves and other coverings, stormed into the restaurant.

“They came running in the door single file,” said Winston, who owns Ashford House, 7959 W. 159th St., and the adjacent Winston’s Market.

Winston, and police, said the men knew who their targets were, and that the attack wasn’t a random act of violence. Winston said the mob “targeted” a group of 20 diners, all of whom were from out of state.

“Once they attacked the table, they went and started hitting random people,” Winston said.

Along with hammers, the men used what Winston described as “old-fashioned police batons” as well as metal batons.

“Four or five people got knocked over the head pretty good, enough to require stitches,” he said.

He chased after one of the attackers “and had him on the ground, then five guys got out of a car and started kicking the [crap] out of me,” Winston said.

Winston said he was kicked in the back of the head and suffered several bruises, but he was the only restaurant employee who was hurt.

“They did a whole lot of damage,” he said. “They flipped over tables, they broke half the dishes.”

Surveillance cameras inside the restaurant captured the attack, and footage was turned over to Tinley Park police, Winston said.

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Former Houston Texas Plice Officer Andrew Blomberg Acquitted By All White Jury After Being Caught On Video Brutally Beating Black Child Along With At Least 6 Other Officers

HOUSTON, TEXAS – The day after an all-white jury acquitted a former Houston police officer for his role in the beating of a 15-year-old African American burglary suspect, community activists rallied a crowd of at least 200 people on the courthouse steps to protest.

Andrew Blomberg was acquitted by a jury in Houston on Wednesday in the alleged beating and stomping of Chad Holley two years ago.

The verdict was criticized by the Houston Police Department on Thursday.

“I understand the jury’s verdict, I just have to respectfully disagree,” Police Chief Charles McClelland said, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Protesters carrying signs with slogans like, “No justice, no peace. Stop the racist police,” and “Justice for Trayvon Martin” circled in front of the Harris County Courthouse and a phalanx of media cameras.

Some of them chanted that Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos have to go — even though both officials issued statements saying they disagreed with the verdict.

Blomberg, 29, was one of four officers fired for their role in the beating of Holley in March 2010 when police apprehended him while he was apparently fleeing a burglary.

His acquittal came amid heightened tension after the fatal shooting of black Florida teen Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman earlier this year.

Court docs: Trayvon Martin shooting ‘ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman’

Prosecutors have released hundreds of pages of new evidence including witness interviews, crime scene photos, and the medical examiner’s report. NBC’s Kerry Sanders reports.

Holley’s beating was videotaped by a security camera at a nearby business showing at least seven officers involved, kicking and stomping him as he lay face down on the ground.

All seven were fired, but four, including Blomberg, were charged with official oppression.

The remaining three defendants will learn of their court dates on Monday. Holley, who was convicted of burglary and sentenced to probation, has filed civil suits against the officers involved.

After the acquittal, Lykos said she respectfully disagreed with the verdict and said prosecutors were “prepared to go to trial on the three remaining cases.”

Blomberg told media after the verdict was rendered the incident had nothing to do with race, and that Holley was simply a “fleeing burglary suspect.”

But community activists disagreed, and spoke out angrily against police brutality at the courthouse rally on Thursday.

“The cops standing on the street corner, the ones who cower in the lobby of the courthouse — those no good bastards are never going to change unless you make them change,” said activist Quanell X.

Quanell X told the crowd that two black jurors out of a pool of 75 were stricken, and encouraged the black community to respond to jury summons in the future.

“All-white juries can never happen again,” he said.

Other activists present at the rally asked people to sign a petition for an independent civilian review board to examine cases of police oppression and brutality.

Speaking to the Houston Chronicle on Thursday, Lykos pointed out that jury pools are created randomly from prospective jurors who say they can be impartial. She also highlighted that Blomberg’s defense team struck the two black jurors from the jury pool.

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Seattle Washington Police Object To Reforms That Would Help Eliminate Random Beatings By Officers, Often For Minor Offenses

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – The Seattle Police Department is objecting to reforms proposed by the Justice Department as wildly unrealistic and expensive, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

The DOJ presented its confidential settlement proposal to the city at the end of March, after finding that Seattle police regularly used illegal force, often for minor offenses. The DOJ threatened to sue unless the problems were fixed.

The AP reviewed a copy of the proposal Tuesday, which shows the DOJ wants the city to change policies, add training for officers and hire more sergeants to supervise patrol officers. The city must also agree to the appointment of an outside monitor, at city expense.

A Seattle Police analysis of the DOJ’s proposal, also reviewed by the AP, takes issue with the cost of the reforms — $41 million, according to a preliminary estimate — as well as the four- to six-month timelines for many of them. It complains that the 1-to-6 ratio of sergeants to patrol officers that prosecutors are seeking, as opposed to the department’s current ratio of 1-to-8, is not a standard found in most major city police agencies, and would take, conservatively, two to three years to accomplish.

“Plainly stated, the overwhelming majority of programs proposed by DOJ cannot be implemented in less than one to three years, if at all,” the analysis reads. “These timelines can only be described as impossible and prompt serious questions about the analytical thoroughness and organizational experience of those who proposed them.”

The DOJ’s proposal calls for reaching the 1-to-6 ratio of sergeants to officers in six months, but appears to give some flexibility by saying that before that, the city and police department should evaluate the ratio to determine whether the suggestion is appropriate.

In the first year, the analysis said, officers would be recruited and trained to fill in for promoted sergeants. The sergeant exam must be announced a year in advance, according to civil service laws, and by city rules, the exams are given every other year. Any shortcut to the rules can result in appeals, and typically no more than 20 percent of those taking the exam are promoted.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is due to present his response to the DOJ’s proposal this week, which he expects will be followed by “good-faith negotiations” between the city and DOJ. If no agreement is reached by the end of the month, the city expects to face a lawsuit from DOJ on June 1.

Last week, the DOJ sued tough-talking Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, Ariz., over allegations that his department racially profiled Latinos. It was only the second time since the verdict in the Rodney King police brutality case and Los Angeles riots that the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against a law enforcement agency with which it was unable to reach an agreement.

McGinn first announced the cost estimate of $41 million on Monday, prompting the U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle to describe the figure as inflated. The city is facing a budget hole of about $30 million.

“The budget numbers being projected by the city are simply wrong,” Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Bates said in a written statement Monday. “The cost of any agreement will not be remotely close to the figure cited today. We are confident that once the city understands our proposed agreement, it will conclude that what we cannot afford is further delay.”

The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment Tuesday.

The Justice Department launched its formal civil rights investigation early last year, following the fatal shooting of a homeless, Native American woodcarver and other incidents of force used against minority suspects.

Surveillance cameras and police-cruiser videos captured officers beating civilians, including stomping on a prone Latino man who was mistakenly thought to be a robbery suspect, and an officer kicking a non-resisting black youth in a convenience store.

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Medical Records Show That Zimmerman Got A Brutal Beating Before Shooting And Killing Druggie Who Attacked Him

SANFORD, FLORIDA – A medical report compiled by the family physician of accused Trayvon Martin murderer George Zimmerman and obtained exclusively by ABC News found that Zimmerman was diagnosed with a “closed fracture” of his nose, a pair of black eyes, two lacerations to the back of his head and a minor back injury the day after he fatally shot Martin during an alleged altercation.

Zimmerman faces a second degree murder charge for the Feb. 26 shooting that left the unarmed 17-year-old high school junior dead. Zimmerman has claimed self defense in what he described as a life and death struggle that Martin initiated by accosting him, punching him in the face, then repeatedly bashing his head into the pavement.

Also today, a trove of documents are being examined by lawyers for both the defense and prosecution as part of discovery in Zimmerman’s trial — including 67 CDs worth of documents, video of Martin on the night of the shooting, his autopsy report and videos of Zimmerman’s questioning by police.

Zimmerman’s three-page medical report is included in those documents that the defense could use as evidence.

The morning after the shooting, on Feb. 27, Zimmerman sought treatment at the offices of a general physician at a family practice near Sanford, Fla. The doctor notes Zimmerman sought an appointment to get legal clearance to return to work.

The record shows that Zimmerman also suffered bruising in the upper lip and cheek and lower back pain. The two lacerations on the back of his head, one of them nearly an inch long, the other about a quarter-inch long, were first revealed in photos obtained exclusively by ABC News last month.

But the report also shows Zimmerman declined hospitalization the night of the shooting, and then declined the advice of his doctor to make a follow-up appointment with an ear nose and throat doctor.

In addition to his physical injuries, Zimmerman complained of stress and “occasional nausea when thinking about the violence.” But he was not diagnosed with a concussion. The doctor noted that it was “imperative” that Zimmerman “be seen with [sic] his psychologist for evaluation.”

According to the report, prior to the shooting Zimmerman had been prescribed Adderall and Temazepam, medications that can cause side effects such as agitation and mood swings, but in fewer than 10 percent of patients.

A neighbor told ABC News that the day after the shooting he saw Zimmerman as he spoke to officers outside his home. He too recalled seeing black eyes and significant swelling — as well as a bandage over his nose.

Moments after the shooting Zimmerman told eyewitnesses he shot Martin in self defense. He later told officers his head was being pounded into the pavement and that he feared for his life, but that it was only when Martin seemed to reach for the gun wedges in his waistband that Zimmerman drew his weapon and fired directly into Martin’s chest — killing him.

The medical notes may bolster Zimmerman’s claim that he acted in self-defense because he was being attacked. However, the prosecution contends that Zimmerman instigated the confrontation after profiling the teen, who was walking home after buying skittles and ice tea. They prosecution says Martin was breaking no laws and was not disturbing anyone as he walked back to his father’s girlfriend’s home.

Zimmerman was granted a $150,000 bail and has since been in deep hiding since his April 20 bail hearing.

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Censored: White Newspapers Ignoring Black On White Crime

US – When two white newspaper reporters for the Virginian-Pilot were driving through Norfolk, and were set upon and beaten by a mob of young blacks — beaten so badly that they had to take a week off from work — that might sound like news that should have been reported, at least by their own newspaper. But it wasn’t.

The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel was the first major television program to report this incident. Yet this story is not just a Norfolk story, either in what happened or in how the media and the authorities have tried to sweep it under the rug.

Similar episodes of unprovoked violence by young black gangs against white people chosen at random on beaches, in shopping malls, or in other public places have occurred in Philadelphia, New York, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, Los Angeles, and other places across the country. Both the authorities and the media tend to try to sweep these episodes under the rug.

In Milwaukee, for example, an attack on whites at a public park a few years ago left many of the victims battered to the ground and bloody. But when the police arrived on the scene, it became clear that the authorities wanted to keep this quiet.

One 22-year-old woman, who had been robbed of her cell phone and debit card, and had blood streaming down her face, said, “About 20 of us stayed to give statements and make sure everyone was accounted for. The police wouldn’t listen to us, they wouldn’t take our names or statements. They told us to leave. It was completely infuriating.”

The police chief seemed determined to head off any suggestion that this was a racially motivated attack by saying that crime is color-blind. Officials elsewhere have said similar things.

A wave of such attacks in Chicago were reported, but not the race of the attackers or victims. Media outlets that do not report the race of people committing crimes nevertheless report racial disparities in imprisonment and write heated editorials blaming the criminal-justice system.

What the authorities and the media seem determined to suppress is that the hoodlum elements in many ghettoes launch coordinated attacks on whites in public places. If there is anything worse than a one-sided race war, it is a two-sided race war, especially when one of the races outnumbers the other several times over.

It may be understandable that some people want to head off such a catastrophe, either by not reporting the attacks in this race war, or by not identifying the race of those attacking, or by insisting that the attacks were not racially motivated — even when the attackers themselves voice anti-white invective as they laugh at their bleeding victims.

Trying to keep the lid on is understandable. But a lot of pressure can build up under that lid. If and when that pressure leads to an explosion of white backlash, things could be a lot worse than if the truth had come out earlier, and steps taken by both black and white leaders to deal with the hoodlums and with those who inflame them.

These latter would include not only race hustlers like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson but also lesser-known people in the media, in educational institutions, and elsewhere who hype grievances and make all the problems of blacks the fault of whites. Some of these people may think that they are doing blacks a favor. But it is no favor to anyone who lags behind to turn their energies from the task of improving and advancing themselves to the task of lashing out at others.

These others extend beyond whites. Asian-American schoolchildren in New York and Philadelphia have for years been beaten up by their black classmates. But people in the mainstream media who go ballistic if some kid says something unkind on the Internet about a homosexual classmate nevertheless hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil when Asian-American youngsters are victims of violence.

Those who automatically say that the social pathology of the ghetto is due to poverty, discrimination, and the like cannot explain why such pathology was far less prevalent in the 1950s, when poverty and discrimination were worse. But there were not nearly as many grievance mongers and race hustlers then.

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Los Angeles County California Deputy Sheriff Adrienne Myers Arrested, Charged After Attacking Another Deputy – Incident Happened When She Was Arrested For Threats – Previously Arrested After Drunken Brawl With Other Deputies At A Park

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy arrested last year on suspicion of assaulting fellow deputies has been accused of kicking another deputy in the groin this week, authorities said.

The latest incident occurred after sheriff’s officials arrested Deputy Adrienne Myers, 36, on suspicion of making threats against a former friend, an official said. As Myers was being booked into the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, she allegedly lashed out. She was restrained soon after the groin kick, authorities said.

While she was handcuffed and being escorted to a booking cell, she allegedly kicked another deputy in the groin without provocation, officials said.

That deputy was not injured, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said, but Myers is now also being investigated for battery on a peace officer.

The deputy who was kicked worked at the same sheriff’s station, in Norwalk, where Myers used to work, an official said.

Myers declined to comment through Whitmore. Gonzalez could not be reached for comment.

“Obviously, we take this very seriously,” Whitmore said. “The investigation will move forward, and the appropriate action will be taken.”

Myers was arrested in October after an early-morning brawl among three off-duty deputies at a La Mirada park. On-duty deputies were called after gunshots rang out. They found their three colleagues bloodied and apparently drunk, an official said.

Myers and the two other deputies were on their way home after being out at a bar when Myers and Deputy Judith Gonzalez began arguing. The argument allegedly turned physical and spilled out of the car.

Eventually, Myers stopped fighting Gonzalez and began fighting with the third deputy, an official said. Gonzalez allegedly went back to the car to get her gun. As Myers was on top of the third deputy, Gonzalez fired her weapon. No one was hit, according to the official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the case with the media.

Gonzalez was arrested on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon and Myers on suspicion of felony battery.

Myers has been on paid leave since that incident, Whitmore said.

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Veteran Philadelphia Pennsylvania Police Officer Ricardo Gonzalez Arrested, Suspended, Charged After Attack On His Wife

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – Philadelphia Police Officer Ricardo Gonzalez, 33, is accused of abusing his wife. He was arrested and charged for an incident that happened on March 31.

On that date, authorities say Gonzalez was off-duty when he engaged in a physical altercation with his spouse.

He was charged after an investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and Internal Affairs Bureau.

Gonzalez, who is assigned to the 9th District, faces charges of simple assault, terroristic threats and related offenses.

He is a 14-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey will suspend Gonzalez for thirty days with the intent to dismiss.

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Winston Salem North Carolina Police Officer Rudolfo Zermeno Arrested, Suspended, And Charged After Attack On His Girlfriend

WINSTON SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA – Yesterday at about 5:00 PM Winston Salem police officers responded to an alleged assault on a female.

Upon arrival, Maria Fedelina Aguilar described an assault which was committed against her by her boyfriend, Rudolfo Zermeno.

Ms. Aguilar and Mr. Zermeno have lived together for several years and have 3 children together. According to Ms. Aguilar, the two became involved in an argument during the early morning hours of 05-08-12 and Mr. Zermeno assaulted her by slapping her in the face with an open hand and throwing a television remote control striking her on the right elbow. Mr. Zermeno is currently employed as an Officer with the Winston Salem Police Department.

This matter was assigned to Detectives with the Criminal Investigations Division for investigation. Based on the information obtained during the investigation, a Warrant for Arrest was obtained charging Mr. Zermeno with Assault on a Female. He was taken into custody at the Public Safety Center without incident and placed in the FCLEDC under no bond.
Mr. Zermeno had his first appearance this morning before Judge Graham and was given a $1000.00 Secured Bond. Additionally, Mr. Zermeno was ordered to have no contact with Ms. Aguilar. At the time of this release, Mr. Zermeno is still in the custody of the FCLEDC.

Investigation into this matter is continuing by the Criminal Investigations Division, as well as the Professional Standards Division. Officer Zermeno has been placed on Administrative Leave as is customary in any investigation of this type. Officer Zermeno has been serving as a police officer with this agency for 3 years. A photo of Officer Zermeno is attached to this release.

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Douchebag Milwaukee Wisconsin Police Officer Richard Schoen Fired After Attack On Woman Motorist – Punched Handcuffed Woman In Patrol Car, Pulled Her Out By Her Hair, And Ended With Knee To Her Abdomen

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – A Milwaukee police officer has been fired for using excessive force on a woman arrested during a traffic stop, the department announced on a website Monday evening.

Richard Schoen, 42, punched the woman in her face while she was handcuffed in his squad car before pulling her out by the hair and striking her with his knee, according to a posting on a department website, The Source.

Police Chief Edward Flynn fired Schoen on May 1, according to the website. Schoen had been with the department nine years.

Schoen pulled the woman over about 9 p.m. on Sept. 22 in the 4100 block of N. 51st Blvd. The reason she was pulled over was not disclosed. The woman was arrested after becoming argumentative and using profanity and was taken to the District 7 police station, the website states.

After arriving at the station’s garage the woman began to stomp on the floor of the squad, complaining that her left leg hurt. Schoen opened the rear passenger door and tried to pull her out by the bottom of her shirt.

He then entered the rear passenger compartment and struck the woman in the face before pulling her out of the car by her hair. When the woman was on the floor of the garage, Schoen struck her in the abdomen with his knee, according to the website posting.

The posting also did not identify the woman nor state whether she was charged with any offense as a result of her arrest.

It cited the department’s code of conduct, which states, “We use the minimum force and authority necessary to accomplish a proper police purpose. We demonstrate self-discipline, even when no one is listening or watching.”

The department posted the announcement at 6:13 p.m.

Although the posting did not state whether Schoen would be charged criminally, the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office did not file charges, according to Anne Schwartz, spokeswoman for the Police Department.

Contacted by email Monday night, Schwartz said she was not at her office and could not provide more information.

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Murder: Video Shows Fullerton California Police Officers Manuel Ramos, Jay Patrick Cicinelli And At Least 4 Others Brutally Beating Unarmed Homeless Man While He Screamed In Pain And Plead For Help – Died 5 Days Latter

FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA – A graphic video played at a hearing Monday to determine whether two California police officers should stand trial in the beating death of a homeless man showed them kicking and punching the mentally ill man as he lay on the ground — screaming in pain and begging for help.

The victim, Kelly Thomas, died five days after the beating on July 5.

Manuel Ramos, a 10-year veteran of the Fullerton, California, police department, is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, while Cpl. Jay Patrick Cicinelli faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and felony use of excessive force in the same case.

Both have pleaded not guilty.

The black-and-white video was played during a preliminary hearing for the two officers.

It begins with Thomas — a 37-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia — sitting and being told by Ramos to put his feet out and hands on his knees.

The officers were responding to a call about a homeless man looking into car windows and pulling on handles of parked cars.

In the video, Thomas is slow to cooperate.

Ramos then tells him: “You see my fists? They’re getting ready to f— you up.”

Thomas, who is unarmed and shirtless, stands and another officer walks over. They hit him with their batons and hold him on the ground as he begs for help.

“Ok, I’m sorry, dude. I’m sorry!” he screams. At one point, Thomas says he can’t breathe. The officers tell him to lie on his stomach, put his hands behind his back and relax.

“Ok, here, here, dude, please!” he says.

Other officers arrive.

At times, trees block the view of the camera and it’s not always clear who is doing what as officers pile on top of Thomas.

One uses a Taser stun gun.

Thomas cries out for help and. toward the end of the beating, for his father: “Dad! Help me. Help me. Help me, dad.”

His voice gets softer and trails off.

By the end of the video, he is lying in a pool of blood as the officers wonder out loud what to do next.

One can be heard saying: “We ran out of options so I got to the end of my Taser and I … smashed his face to hell.”

Thomas suffered brain injuries, facial fractures, rib fractures, and extensive bruising and abrasions, according to prosecutors.

The Orange County coroner listed his manner of death as a homicide and said he died after having his chest compressed, leaving him unable to breathe.

The FBI is investigating possible civil rights violations in his case.

Six Fullerton officers, including Ramos and Cicinelli, were put on paid leave after his death. The case drew widespread attention to the police department of Fullerton, located about 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

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Norfolk Virginia Police Make One Arrest After Pack Of Dozens Of Black Savages Attacked Innocent White Couple

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA – Police have arrested a 16-year-old in connection with a mob attack by large numbers of black teenagers against a young white couple in a car, a case which has sparked national outrage.

As WND reported in a story posted on the popular Drudge Report, the couple was pummeled April 14 by dozens of black teens, and the Virginian-Pilot newspaper did not report the incident for two weeks, despite the fact the victims, Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami, are both news reporters for the paper.

Police arrested the suspect this morning, but authorities will not release his name due to his age. According to the Virginian-Pilot, he has been charged with throwing a missile at a vehicle, a felony, as well as two counts of simple assault by mob, destruction of property and participation in a riot, all misdemeanors.

Editor’s note: Click here to read more as WND reports on the developing wave of black-on-white crime in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin shooting

The attack was first reported in an opinion piece by columnist Michelle Washington.

“Wave after wave of young men surged forward to take turns punching and kicking their victim,” Washington wrote, describing the onslaught that began when Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami stopped at a traffic light while driving home from a show on a Saturday night. A crowd of at least 100 black young people was on the sidewalk at the time.

“Rostami locked her car door. Someone threw a rock at her window. Forster got out to confront the rock-thrower, and that’s when the beating began. …

“The victim’s friend, a young woman, tried to pull him back into his car. Attackers came after her, pulling her hair, punching her head and causing a bloody scratch to the surface of her eye. She called 911. A recording told her all lines were busy. She called again. Busy. On her third try, she got through and, hysterical, could scream only their location. Church and Brambleton. Church and Brambleton. Church and Brambleton. It happened four blocks from where they work, here at the Virginian-Pilot.”

Washington said neither suffered grave injuries, but both were out of work for a week. Forster’s torso ached from blows to his ribs, and he retained a thumb-sized bump on his head. Rostami reportedly fears to be alone in her home, while Forster wishes he’d stayed in the car.

Pilot editor Denis Finley addressed the paper’s decision not to cover the attack in a front-page column today.

“Some have assumed the worst and accused The Pilot of everything from liberal hand-wringing to outright lying about the incident,” he wrote. “We did not cover up anything. What would we gain by protecting some thugs who beat up two of our reporters? The accusation is ludicrous.

Dave Forster

“We bend over backward to treat ourselves the same way we would treat any other member of the community. In fact, we go overboard at times to make sure there is no perception that we have treated ourselves favorably. Based on the facts, this story did not cross the bar to be published because as a general rule, The Pilot doesn’t publish stories about simple assaults.”

In her column about the assault, Washington said the day after the beatings, Forster searched Twitter for mention of the attack, and one post in particular chilled him.

“I feel for the white man who got beat up at the light,” wrote one person.

“I don’t,” wrote another, indicating laughter. “(do it for trayvon martin)”

Trayvon Martin is the unarmed black teen who died after being shot by a community-watch captain with white and Hispanic parents, George Zimmerman, in Sanford, Fla., sparking a wave of outrage long after the incident.

But at a press conference today, interim Norfolk Police Chief Sharon Chamberlin said the department is not investigating the case as a hate crime.

“At no time in our investigation or in statements taken from the victims did it appear this assault was racially motivated,” she said.

Just yesterday, a police spokesman told WND authorities were not sure if the attack was racially motivated.

“Could it have been? Yeah, it could have, I guess,” said police spokesman Chris Amos. “We certainly haven’t ruled that out, but we haven’t seen anything that jumps out at us other than someone throwing a rock at someone’s car.”

“A whole lot of racial implications have been made. We don’t know the motive of this. Race didn’t become a factor until Twitter comments later. No one at the scene said it was racially motivated. They didn’t tell us then and they didn’t hear any [comments such as] ‘Remember Trayvon Martin.’”

Rostami estimated there were around 100 people in the crowd, with about 30 near their car.

However, Chamberlin said police think only a few people in the crowd participated in the attack.

“It is important to clarify that 30 people did not carry out the assault,” she said. “There was a large group in the vicinity, but our investigation and the statements of the victims show that no more than a handful of people were involved.”

She said the crowd had emerged from three entertainment venues around the same time on the night of the attack.

“This is a situation where you had a whole bunch of events let out all at once, you had a lot of people on the street, you had an assault occur and that was isolated with a small number of people,” Chamberlin said. “The streets of Norfolk are safe. We are a vibrant city, we are growing, we are changing each and every day and citizens should not judge our streets in light of this particular thing.”

The police investigation is continuing. Amos told WND suspects are “facing felony charges, if we can find them and identify and if our victims can identify them.”

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Norfolk Virginia News Media Hides Story About White Couple Attacked By Dozens Of Black Savages – Even The Newspaper They Worked For, Virginia Pilot, Didn’t Report On Beatings Until 2 Weeks Latter

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA – There’s outrage in Norfolk, Va., today after a white couple was attacked by a group of dozens of black teenagers, and the local newspaper did not report on the incident for two weeks, despite the victims being employees of the paper.

Even today, the Virginian-Pilot did not cover the crime as news, but rather as an opinion piece by columnist Michelle Washington.

“Wave after wave of young men surged forward to take turns punching and kicking their victim,” Washington wrote, describing the onslaught that began when Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami stopped at a red light while driving home from a show on a Saturday night. A crowd of at least 100 black young people was on the sidewalk.

“Rostami locked her car door. Someone threw a rock at her window. Forster got out to confront the rock-thrower, and that’s when the beating began. …

“The victim’s friend, a young woman, tried to pull him back into his car. Attackers came after her, pulling her hair, punching her head and causing a bloody scratch to the surface of her eye. She called 911. A recording told her all lines were busy. She called again. Busy. On her third try, she got through and, hysterical, could scream only their location. Church and Brambleton. Church and Brambleton. Church and Brambleton. It happened four blocks from where they work, here at the Virginian-Pilot.”

Washington says neither suffered grave injuries, but both were out of work for a week. Forster’s torso ached from blows to his ribs, and he retained a thumb-sized bump on his head. Rostami reportedly fears to be alone in her home., while Forster wishes he’d stayed in the car.

The columnist admits the story has not, until today, appeared in the Virginian-Pilot.

“The responding officer coded the incident as a simple assault, despite their assertions that at least 30 people had participated in the attack,” Washington explains. “A reporter making routine checks of police reports would see ‘simple assault’ and, if the names were unfamiliar, would be unlikely to write about it. In this case, editors hesitated to assign a story about their own employees. Would it seem like the paper treated its employees differently from other crime victims?”

Washington says the day after the beatings, Forster searched Twitter for mention of the attack, and one post in particular chilled him.

“I feel for the white man who got beat up at the light,” wrote one person.

“I don’t,” wrote another, indicating laughter. “(do it for trayvon martin)”

Trayvon Martin, is the unarmed black teen, who died after being shot by a community-watch captain with white and Hispanic parents, George Zimmerman, in Sanford, Fla., sparking a wave of outrage long after the incident.

The newspaper is coming under heavy criticism today from residents in the greater Norfolk area, known as Hampton Roads.

“It is unbelievable that the Virginian-Pilot would BURY this story for two weeks for politically correct reasons. That is sad and disgusting,” said David Englert of Norfolk. “Someone should be fired or resign over the decision not to report this attack. It is a sad enough commentary on our society and community to read about how the responding police viewed this crime, but for our only newspaper to decide that they will hide from the truth rather than report the truth is PATHETIC! Any attack by a mob of people on any innocent victim should be put under a bright spotlight for all involved to be judged and exposed as appropriate, and to make sure that the criminal justice system does its job to protect those who obey the law.”

William Tabor of Chesapeake, Va., complained: “Surely the Pilot knew about it. A racially motivated attack is certainly news. Was it not politically correct enough to be reported? Is civilization suspended in Norfolk after dark? If we can’t rely on the police for protection, and our [news] media fails to warn us of such hazards, we can only rely on ourselves.”

Charles Chandler of Norfolk indicated: “I am not sure what I am angrier about. This story, or the crowd of black teens who needlessly and thoughtlessly beat two white victims. Or am I just angry that this still occurs in the year 2012. Nearly fifty years after the marches and the speeches and the declaration of civil liberties for all people. Clearly we are nowhere near the dream Dr. King envisioned. I am angry. I am angry at the calloused cop who stated “this is what they do”. I am angry at the Pilot for hiding it under a bushel.”

And Douglas Gaynor of Virginia Beach brought up the need for self-defense, saying, “If the young lady was armed and trained, she could have whipped out P345 and taken out a few thugs.”

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Pack Of Savage Black Beasts Brutally Attacked Innocent White Couple In Norfolk Virginia – Police Officer Called It “Simple Asault” And Told Victim To Shut Up And Get In Her Car, Pointed To Public Housing Saying “It’s What They Do…”

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA – Wave after wave of young men surged forward to take turns punching and kicking their victim.

The victim’s friend, a young woman, tried to pull him back into his car. Attackers came after her, pulling her hair, punching her head and causing a bloody scratch to the surface of her eye. She called 911. A recording told her all lines were busy. She called again. Busy. On her third try, she got through and, hysterical, could scream only their location.

Church and Brambleton. Church and Brambleton. Church and Brambleton.

It happened four blocks from where they work, here at The Virginian-Pilot.

Two weeks have passed since reporters Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami – friends to me and many others at the newspaper – were attacked on a Saturday night as they drove home from a show at the Attucks Theatre. They had stopped at a red light, in a crowd of at least 100 young people walking on the sidewalk. Rostami locked her car door. Someone threw a rock at her window. Forster got out to confront the rock-thrower, and that’s when the beating began.

Neither suffered grave injuries, but both were out of work for a week. Forster’s torso ached from blows to his ribs, and he retained a thumb-sized bump on his head. Rostami fears to be alone in her home. Forster wishes he’d stayed in the car.

Many stories that begin this way end much worse. Another colleague recently wrote about the final defendant to be sentenced in the beating death of 19-year-old James Robertson in East Ocean View five years ago. In that case, a swarm of gang members attacked Robertson and two friends. Robertson’s friends got away and called for help; police arrived to find Robertson’s stripped, swollen corpse.

Forster and Rostami’s story has not, until today, appeared in this paper. The responding officer coded the incident as a simple assault, despite their assertions that at least 30 people had participated in the attack. A reporter making routine checks of police reports would see “simple assault” and, if the names were unfamiliar, would be unlikely to write about it. In this case, editors hesitated to assign a story about their own employees. Would it seem like the paper treated its employees differently from other crime victims?

More questions loomed.

Forster and Rostami wondered if the officer who answered their call treated all crime victims the same way. When Rostami, who admits she was hysterical, tried to describe what had happened, she says the officer told her to shut up and get in the car. Both said the officer did not record any names of witnesses who stopped to help. Rostami said the officer told them the attackers were “probably juveniles anyway. What are we going to do? Find their parents and tell them?”

The officer pointed to public housing in the area and said large groups of teenagers look for trouble on the weekends. “It’s what they do,” he told Forster.

Could that be true? Could violent mobs of teens be so commonplace in Norfolk that police and victims have no recourse?

Police spokesman Chris Amos said officers often respond to reports of crowds fighting; sirens are usually enough to disperse the group. On that night, he said, a report of gunfire in a nearby neighborhood prompted the officer to decide getting Forster and Rostami off the street quickly made more sense than remaining at the intersection. The officer gave them his card and told them to call later to file a report.

The next day, Forster searched Twitter for mention of the attack.

One post chilled him.

“I feel for the white man who got beat up at the light,” wrote one person.

“I don’t,” wrote another, indicating laughter. “(do it for trayvon martin)”

Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen, died after being shot by a community watch captain with white and Hispanic parents, George Zimmerman, in Florida.

Forster and Rostami, both white, suffered a beating at the hands of a crowd of black teenagers.

Was either case racially motivated? Were Forster and Rostami beaten in some kind of warped, vigilante retribution for a killing 750 miles away, a person none of them knew? Was it just bombast? Is a beating funny, ever?

Here’s why their story is in the paper today. We cannot allow such callousness to continue unremarked, from the irrational, senseless teenagers who attacked two people just trying to go home, from the police officer whose conduct may have been typical but certainly seems cold, from the tweeting nitwits who think beating a man in Norfolk will change the death of Trayvon Martin.

How can we change it if we don’t know about it? How can we make it better if we look away?

Are we really no better than this?

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Video Catches Brutal Beating Of Subdued Man By Meriden Connecticut Police Officer Evan Cossette – Police Chief’s Sun – Faces At Least Two Other Brutality Complaints

MERIDIAN, CONNECTICUT – A Connecticut police officer has been captured on video throwing several punches at a subdued man on the floor and then proceeding to Taser him while another officer holds him.

The officer, Evan Cossette, who works in Meriden, is being sued by the man, Joey Bryans, after the 30-year old claimed that the video evidence showed police brutality.

The grainy and out of focus video-tape from the early morning of January 23 of this year shows Bryans leaving MidSate Medical Centre for a cigarette.

According to police reports, the hospital staff were worried Bryans might injure himself because he was drunk and contacted Cossette and another Meriden police officer, Mark Nowak

The pair were already at the hospital as part of an unrelated call.

Walking out into the hospital car-lot wearing only a white T-shirt, Bryans is seen to be followed by Cossette and Nowak.

Unfortunately, the camera goes out of focus and moves away from the scene for around 10-12 seconds.

When it returns, Cossette’s right arm can be viewed hitting Bryans at least five times while Nowak holds his legs.

The video then features Cosette reaching into his belt for a Taser and shocking Bryans twice, the first for nine seconds and the second time for four seconds according to police records.

However, the official report of the incident differs from the account seen on the video.
Watched by the hospital security guards the police officers continue to work to subdue Bryan allegedly using excessive force

Watched by the hospital security guards the police officers continue to work to subdue Bryan allegedly using excessive force

Cossette wrote that Bryans was running away from the hospital when he is clearly walking and says that both he and Nowak shouted several verbal commands to Bryans to stop running.

In addition, Cossette reported that Bryans ‘tensed his arms and body up, forming fists maintaining an aggressive fighting posture.’

He also claims that Bryans ‘spun around and engaged him in a physical altercation’ which meant that the pair were ‘forced to bring him to the ground’.

The gap in the grainy and inconclusive video between Nowak first grabbing Bryans to when Cossette is clearly punching him is 12 seconds.

Meaning that the ‘aggressive fighting posture’ by Bryans must have occurred during that time period.

Cossette wrote in his report that the punches had ‘little to no effect’, which forced him to use the Taser

Already under investigation by a federal grand jury, Officer Evan Cossette has had three police brutality complaints made against him in just over a year and received a written warning for one.

However, in this case the Internal Affairs investigator at Meriden police ruled that Cossette had not violated any police procedures.

Bryans’ attorney, Sally A. Roberts, declined to comment at length, saying only that the video ‘speaks for itself.’

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Brazilian Hooker Injured Last Year By US Embassy Staffer And 2 Marines Now Suing US Government – Embassy Tracked Down Whore And Paid Medical Bills For Broken Collarbone She Sufffered After Being Tossed From A Car

WASHINGTON, DC – A Brazilian prostitute injured last year in a scuffle with a U.S. Embassy staffer and two Marines is now suing the federal government — a development in the aftermath of the Secret Service prostitution scandal in Columbia.

The incident occurred in late 2011 in the city of Brasilia when at least one of the Americans pushed the woman from a car outside of a nightclub.

The Embassy tracked down the women and paid her medical bills, but she now intends to sue, a senior U.S. official has confirmed to Fox News.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday the incident has been fully investigated and that the Marines and the embassy staff member have been punished.

“I have no tolerance for that kind of conduct, not here or any place in the world,” Panetta told reporters in Brazil.

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Congressman Assaulted By TSA Agent At San Antonio Texas Airport

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – U.S. Rep. Francisco Canseco said he was assaulted by a TSA agent at the San Antonio International Airport.

The Texas Congressman said the security agent went too far during a pat-down earlier this month.

“The agent was very aggressive in his pat-down, and he was patting me down where no one is supposed to go,” said Canseco. “It got very uncomfortable so I moved his hand away. That stopped everything and brought in supervisors and everyone else.”

Canseco told the KENS 5 I-Team the agent said he too was assaulted when Canseco pushed his hand away.

According to TSA, neither man was cited.

A week later when going through the San Antonio International Airport, Canseco was once again selected for a pat-down.

“I did not see it as a coincidence,” he said. “I asked them why are you going to pat me down again, so we discussed it further and after discussing it further, they patted me down.”

However, before the discussion was over San Antonio Police Department officers were called to the security check point area.

Again, no one was cited.

TSA issued the I-Team the following statement about the incident:

“TSA incorporates random and unpredictable security measures throughout the airport. Once a passenger enters the screening process, they must complete it prior to continuing to a flight or secure area.”

Canseco said his experience illustrated changes in the airport security are needed.

“It is very important that Americans feel safe and secure as they travel in our nation’s airways – safe and secure from acts of terrorism and all that. But, I also think that TSA sometimes gets too aggressive, and it’s not just about me it’s about every American that goes through those TSA scanners.”

The I-Team requested video from TSA of both incidents. A TSA spokesperson said our request is being reviewed.

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Task Force Faults University Of California Police For Attacks On Protesters – While Chief Stood Around Filming Their Efforts With Her Cellphone

DAVIS, CALIFORNIA – The long-awaited task force report on the pepper-spraying incident at the UC Davis campus in November was released Wednesday, and it includes a number of criticisms against police and campus administrators.

The conclusion of the task force was that the Nov. 18 incident “should and could have been prevented.”

The 13-member task force had plenty of blame to go around, finding Chancellor Linda Katehi and her administration responsible for a breakdown in communication and finding Chief of Police Annette Spicuzza at fault for a lack of leadership.

The report cites one officer whose name was redacted as saying while officers pepper sprayed seated students and protesters “the chief was standing in the surrounding crowd filming the actions with her cell phone.”

Task force investigators also found fault with the officers wielding the pepper spray, specifically the most recognized officer, Lt. John Pike. Though they were not allowed to interview Pike for the report “the task force found no justification for the officers’ use of pepper spray.”

The task force also didn’t buy the officers’ initial claim they felt surrounded by a hostile crowd because officers could easily be seen walking those arrested through the crowd.

Nikko Reynoso was part of the crowd pepper-spayed that day.

“I hope people are going to be accountable,” she said. “I didn’t think it would affect me, but it did. It carried. It was thick it was in my mouth on my clothes in my eyes.

But not everyone agrees with the report, or the blame.

“As someone who was there, I saw repeated warnings of students who were sitting in a line,” Nelson Harris said. “I think to not comply with that, they got exactly what they deserved.”

The 190-page “Reynoso Task Force Report” said the decision to use pepper spray against students who had gathered on the quad for an “Occupy UC Davis” protest against tuition costs “not supported by objective evidence and not authorized by policy.”

Among the other findings in the report:

The incident was not managed according to plan.
The pepper spray used (MK-9) was not an authorized weapon for UC Davis police offiers and officers were not trained in how to use it.
Chancellor Katehi bears responsibility for deploying police at 3 p.m. to remove tents rather than earlier in the day or the night before
Chancellor Katehi bears primary responsibility for failing to communicate her position that physical force should be avoided.
Lt. JPike bears responsibility for the use of pepper spray on the students.

The report is highly critical of the actions of Police Chief Spicuzza before and after the incident and states “the command and leadership structure of the UCDPD is very dysfunctional.”

Spicuzza and Pike were placed on administrative leave after the incident.

RAW VIDEO: Police Pepper Spray Students

UC President Mark Yudof issued a statement after the report’s release saying in part that, “Even a cursory reading of the report confirms what we have known from the start: Friday, Nov. 18 was a bad day for the UC Davis community and for the entire UC system.

“We can and must do better. I look forward to working with Chancellor Katehi to repair the damage caused by this incident and to move this great campus forward.”

The release of the report was delayed after the UC Davis police union sued to block it, saying including names of officers would subject them to harassment. A judge OK’d the release of the report after names of most of the officers were redacted.

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Baltimore Maryland Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld II Says Attack On White Tourist By Pack Of Savage Black Beasts Wasn’t A Hate Crime

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Baltimore’s police chief today said that the videotaped beating of a white tourist does not appear to be a hate crime, but rather “drunken opportunistic criminality” on the part of a gang of Charm City assailants.

In a radio interview, Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III urged Baltimore residents to “distinguish between criminality and racially motivated crime.” Bealefeld, who is white, warned against “race-baiting” and “fear-mongering” in light of the Trayvon Martin shooting and other recent racially charged incidents.

“There’s no doubt it’s a crime,” Bealefeld said of the March 17 assault. “We need to vigorously hold criminals accountable, and we have to be careful not to be pulled into this race-baiting.”

As Baltimore cops investigate the videotaped beating of a tourist on St. Patrick’s Day, a second clip showing the brutal attack could help police identify members of the mob who knocked the victim to the ground, stole his belongings, and even tore his pants off.

The video, seen above, was shot by an onlooker outside a downtown courthouse, where the tourist was sucker-punched by an attacker. The victim, wearing a Mountain Dew shirt, crumpled to the sidewalk and hit his head.

While on the ground, the man was set upon by about ten attackers, who stole his Tag Heuer watch, money, iPhone, and keys to his Audi, according to police. The dazed and defenseless victim is also punched, kicked, and even hit with a shoe by several assailants. In a final indignity, the man is “teabagged” by a male attacker.

The 1:26 cell phone video–shot by a cameraman who cackled as the beating transpired–was first uploaded to the WorldStar Hip Hop web site on March 30. It was included as part of a 14:22 “fight compilation” of 12 clips showing assorted mayhem.

In a TV news report Friday (which included another view of the Baltimore attack), a detective pledged to hunt down the man’s attackers. “We want to bring these people to justice,” said Det. Nicole Monroe.

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White Man Beaten By Pack Of Savage Black Beasts Who Shouted “Trayvon” Before Brutal Attack

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Police are investigating the “racially motivated” beating of a 27-year-old man who was walking home from midtown bars early Saturday when he said he was jumped by five to eight men who shouted “Trayvon” before the attack.

The exclamation was an apparent reference to Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old from Miami who was shot and killed in February walking back to his father’s girlfriend’s house in Sanford.

His shooter, George Zimmerman, has not been charged.

The case of Martin, an unarmed black teenager who was killed by Zimmerman, a Hispanic crime-watch volunteer, has stirred conversations across the country about race, crime and profiling.

Investigators believe that case was the catalyst for the beating Saturday in Gainesville.

“We do believe that the crime was racially motivated,” Gainesville Police Department spokeswoman Cpl. Angelina Valuri said.

The assailants were black, while the victim is white, Valuri said.

She said the victim had been drinking and could not provide a description of the attackers or their vehicle, only that it was a mid-size vehicle.

But Valuri said his injuries were consistent with being jumped by a group.

During what he told police was a five-minute beating, he sustained injuries to the left eye, abrasions to his palms and a cut on his right kneecap, and Valuri said he would likely have “permanent disfigurement to the left side of his face.”

He was taken to Shands at the University of Florida for treatment.

The attack occurred at about 2:45 a.m. in the 3200 block of Southwest 23rd Terrace.

The victim told police that a vehicle was coming east on Southwest 32nd Place when it stopped at 23rd Terrace.

A group of men got out and told him he was walking too slowly, the victim told police.

They then yelled “Trayvon,” according to a GPD report, and proceeded to beat him.

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New Orleans Louisiana Police Officers Sentenced To Just 6 To 65 Years In Federal Prison After Opening Fire On Unarmed Citizens After Katrina – Department Wanted To Prosecute Two Survivors For Lying After Official Investigation Resulted In Report Full Of Lies

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – A federal judge Wednesday sentenced five former New Orleans police officers to prison terms ranging from six to 65 years for the shootings of unarmed civilians in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, prosecutors said.

The shootings occurred on the Danziger Bridge on September 4, 2005, six days after much of New Orleans went underwater when the powerful hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast. The ex-officers were convicted in August on a combined 25 counts of civil rights violations.

U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt imposed the stiffest sentence on former officer Robert Faulcon, who was handed a 65-year term for his involvement in shooting two of the victims. Former sergeants Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius got 40 years for their roles in the incident, while ex-officer Robert Villavaso was sentenced to 38 years.

The lightest term went to former detective sergeant Arthur Kaufman, who was sentenced to six years for attempting to cover up what the officers had done, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in New Orleans.

The men were accused of opening fire on an unarmed family, killing 17-year-old James Brissette and wounding four others. Minutes later, Faulcon shot and killed Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old man described by Justice Department officials as having severe mental disabilities and who was trying to flee the scene when he was shot, according to the Justice Department.

At the time, New Orleans police said they got into a running gun battle with several people. Prosecutors said Kaufman wrote the department’s formal report on the incident, which concluded the shootings were justified and recommended the prosecution of two of the survivors “on the basis of false evidence.”

During the trial, the defense asked the jury to consider the stressful circumstances the officers were operating under following Katrina. The shootings took place during a week of dire flooding, rampant looting and death by drowning, and police were strained by suicides and desertion among their ranks.

But U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the prison sentences send the message that “when the crisis we face is the most threatening, that when the challenges are the greatest, the rules don’t go out the window.”

“In fact, that’s when the discipline, when the honesty of our public servants, our police and the men and women of law enforcement are most critical,” Letten said.

Romell Madison, brother of victim Ronald Madison, told reporters after Wednesday’s proceedings that his family was happy with the sentences, even though prosecutors had to enter into plea agreements with several other officers to obtain the convictions.

“I think it made a big difference, even though they did give them lower sentences, that they did come forth and testify to get the truth out,” Madison said. “At least we got to the truth.”

Five other officers, including a lieutenant, have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison terms of up to eight years in the case for conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Letten said the plea deals were necessary to break a “logjam” that had prevented investigators to get the whole story of what happened on the Danziger Bridge, in New Orleans East.

The Justice Department brought charges after a similar case brought by local prosecutors foundered. Thomas Perez, the head of the department’s civil rights division, said the feds inherited a “cold case” when they took over in 2008.

“There were many, many New Orleans police officers who performed courageous, selfless acts of heroism in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,” Perez said. “But regrettably, the acts of heroism of so many have been overshadowed by the misconduct of a few.

“What we learned in this trial — what we learned in these convictions — is that the Constitution never takes a holiday. The Constitution applies every day of every week, and no police officer can take it upon himself or herself to suspend the Constitution.”

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division launched an investigation into what it called “patterns or practices” of alleged misconduct by New Orleans police in the aftermath of Katrina, which killed nearly 1,500 people in Louisiana and more than 1,700 across the Gulf Coast. Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said Wednesday that his department “will continue to take bold and decisive actions to right the wrongs inside the department, some of which we now know go back seven full years.”

Mary Howell, a lawyer for the Madison family, said those promised reforms are “the most critical part in all of this.”

“This just can’t ever happen again,” she said.

Lance Madison, who was with his brother on the bridge that September day, told reporters that he is grateful that his brother had received justice. But he added, “I try to avoid the Danzinger Bridge, because when I go there, it just brings back memories of what I went through.”

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Santa Monica California College Police Pepper Sprayed Crowd Of Non-Violent Students After Officer Lost His Balance – Female Student Also Attacked By Police For Pointing Finger

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA — Campus police at Santa Monica College pepper sprayed a crowd of students Tuesday after they disrupted a Board of Trustees meeting.

Roughly 100 students began chanting “Shame on you!” at the board members from outside the meeting, which took place in the Business Administration building.

The group reportedly caused a campus police officer to lose his balance, which apparently led to the use of pepper spray.

As seen on this video on the Patch’s Web site, students began running out of the hall as it filled with vapor.

The board was forced to end the meeting when paramedics were called to treat nearly 30 people.

Two people were taken to the hospital, according to the Santa Monica Fire Department.

Students told CBS2 reporter Suzie Suh that the incident should not have escalated to that point.

They said they were demanding to have a say in a new course program that could begin as early as this summer.

The program, which would be funded privately, would offer core courses at prices that would be three times the cost of state-funded courses.

School officials argue that it would offset major cuts in state funding.

The students, with the exception of a few student delegates, were not allowed inside the room where the meeting was held.

“It was a mixed crowd. There were elderly members, there were students, and there were children as well,” according to a student at the protest.

She added that one student delegate inside the meeting, upset after being pepper sprayed, pointed her finger at an officer when she was “grabbed by her neck and thrown down to the ground by her neck.”

“Right now we don’t even know what condition she’s in. I’m sure she’s in the hospital,” the student said.

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Savannah Georgia Police Officer Sgt. Allan Clairmon Fired After Beating His Wife

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA – A Savannah police sergeant has been fired after he was arrested on charges related to a dispute with his wife.

Savannah-Chatham County police spokesman Julian Miller says the officer, Sgt. Allan Clairmont, was terminated for “conduct unbecoming of an officer.” He had worked for the department since 2003.

The Savannah Morning News reports Clairmont was arrested Tuesday in neighboring Port Wentworth after his wife reported he forced her to leave a restaurant where she was dining with friends. She told police he later hit her in the face and side several times.

Court papers show the woman filed papers to divorce Clairmont in 2011, but the divorce has not been finalized. It was not known if Clairmont had hired a criminal attorney.

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Jefferson Parish Louisiana Deputy Sheriff Dwayne Guynes Arrested, Suspended, And Charged With Domestic Violence After Attack On His Girlfriend – Sexual Battery And Other Allegations Are Also Pending

JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA – A Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office patrol deputy has been suspended after he was arrested this past weekend in New Orleans and booked on domestic violence charges. Deputy Dwayne Guynes, 34, an officer with the 2nd District in Harvey, has been suspended indefinitely as a result of his arrest, said Col. John Fortunato, spokesman with the Sheriff’s Office.

Guynes has been a member of the Sheriff’s Office since October 2007, Fortunato said. No details about his arrest were available Monday evening.

New Orleans police spokesman Frank Robertson said the incident occurred Saturday in the 100 block of Chartres Street in the French Quarter.

“He got into a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, and we booked him with domestic battery,” Robertson said, adding that no rape was involved.

But shortly after his arrest by NOPD, Fortunato said a woman contacted the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to report that she had been a victimized by Guynes in Jefferson Parish and neighboring jurisdictions.

It’s not clear whether the woman who contacted the Sheriff’s Office is the same victim from the case in New Orleans. Fortunato did not reveal any details of those allegations, but said the crimes were sexual in nature and also included battery.

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Veteran New York City Subway Attendant Attacked Customer – Who She Violently Beat Over 10 Cents

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – A New York City woman says she was attacked by a subway station attendant for taking too long to find cash.

She spoke exclusively to CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman on Thursday.

Janet Ojeda admitted she exchanged words with the woman in the token booth, but when the clerk allegedly came out and picked her up by the neck, choking her, well, even a few hours later, Ojeda got emotional talking about it.

“Cause she was choking me, like … I couldn’t get no air. She was looking at me like she wasn’t gonna let go. I felt like I was [going to pass out] ’cause I couldn’t even move my legs. She lifted me up from the ground by the neck,” Ojeda said.

“It was scary.”

Ojeda showed Guzman the bruises she claims were the result of the alleged assault. Police and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the station agent inside the booth at the 138th Street station in the Bronx as Phylathia Monroe, 45. The MTA said she has nearly 20 years on the job.

The confrontation began at around 5:30 a.m. Ojeda was going to work and was, she said, 10 cents short on a MetroCard when Monroe called for the next customer through. Ojeda said she found the dime, but that’s when the argument began. She claimed Monroe got out of the booth, put her finger in her face and punched her.

“I told her to let me go, and I was like … you’re gonna get arrested right now,” Ojeda said.

Ojeda said she eventually got free and then went from the station to a local NYPD precinct and filed a report.

Four officers went into the station and arrested Monroe on a misdemeanor assault charge. Ojeda hired attorney Justin Blitz.

The MTA suspended Monroe pending an investigation. If convicted on the assault charge, Monroe could face a year behind bars.

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Disgraced And Suspended Mount Sterling Ohio Police Chief Mike McCoy To Quit After Officer Scott O’Neil Used Taser Weapon Twice On 9 Year Old Boy Who Wouldn’t Put On His Shoes – Police Force Shut Down By Village Council Taser Attack

MOUNT STERLING, OHIO – Embattled police Chief Mike McCoy announced last night that he will soon resign from his village post, though he insisted it has nothing to do with the fact that one of his officers shocked a 9-year-old boy twice with a Taser last week.

McCoy, who was placed on paid leave late last week after he did not tell Mount Sterling Mayor Charlie Neff of the incident, said he wasn’t pressured to resign.

Instead, after an hour-long, closed-door meeting between his personal attorney and village officials, McCoy read a statement that said the village’s declining budget keeps him from doing his job.

He said he did nothing wrong by not immediately telling Neff what had happened because, as chief, he felt he needed to check into the incident himself first.

“I did what I was supposed to do to maintain the integrity of the incident,” McCoy said.

Neff said McCoy wasn’t asked to quit, but he added that the past few days “have been tough.” He said that lawyers are drafting a separation agreement and the council is expected to accept McCoy’s formal resignation at its meeting in two weeks. McCoy will not be reporting back to his $49,900-a-year job, though.

In the meantime, the entire part-time police force remains disbanded and the Madison County sheriff’s office will patrol the village. There was no discussion of hiring a new chief or bringing back officers, and last week’s incident is being reviewed by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Among the 70 or so people at the meeting was Michelle Perry, whose son Jared was shocked by Mount Sterling police Officer Scott O’Neil last Tuesday morning.

Mrs. Perry didn’t comment, but her attorney, Tracy Comisford, said after the meeting that when O’Neil came to arrest her son for truancy, Mrs. Perry never expected that he would be subdued with a Taser. “She certainly never wanted this to happen,” Comisford said.

Village officials released the police report yesterday. According to O’Neil’s written account:

He went to the boy’s S. Market Street home about 8:30 a.m. to serve a complaint filed against Jared for truancy.

Jared — listed on the report as between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-8 inches tall and between 200 and 250 pounds — refused to cooperate. He begged his mother to let him go to school rather than with the officer, but Perry told her son it was too late.

O’Neil wrote that after repeated warnings, he pulled Jared from the couch, but he “dropped to the floor and became dead weight … flailing around,” and the boy lay on his hands to prevent being handcuffed.

O’Neil demonstrated the electrical current from the Taser into the air “as a show of force.” Then, he wrote, Perry told her son to do as O’Neil said or he would be shocked.

The report indicates that after being shocked once, Jared still didn’t cooperate and was shocked a second time. An ambulance was called, but Jared had no sign of injury; Perry signed a waiver for medical treatment. Jared was taken to the sheriff’s office, and a delinquency count of resisting arrest was added to his truancy charge.

As people left the meeting last night, many offered McCoy support and said they stand behind the police department. Resident Heather Rice said all the facts about what happened last week aren’t yet known, and McCoy has simply become a scapegoat.

“This isn’t about a Taser,” she said. “This is about forcing this village to lose its police force.”

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Disgraced And Suspended Mount Sterling Ohio Police Chief Mike McCoy To Quit After Officer Scott O’Neil Used Taser Weapon Twice On 9 Year Old Boy Who Wouldn’t Put On His Shoes – Police Force Shut Down By Village Council Taser Attack

MOUNT STERLING, OHIO – Embattled police Chief Mike McCoy announced last night that he will soon resign from his village post, though he insisted it has nothing to do with the fact that one of his officers shocked a 9-year-old boy twice with a Taser last week.

McCoy, who was placed on paid leave late last week after he did not tell Mount Sterling Mayor Charlie Neff of the incident, said he wasn’t pressured to resign.

Instead, after an hour-long, closed-door meeting between his personal attorney and village officials, McCoy read a statement that said the village’s declining budget keeps him from doing his job.

He said he did nothing wrong by not immediately telling Neff what had happened because, as chief, he felt he needed to check into the incident himself first.

“I did what I was supposed to do to maintain the integrity of the incident,” McCoy said.

Neff said McCoy wasn’t asked to quit, but he added that the past few days “have been tough.” He said that lawyers are drafting a separation agreement and the council is expected to accept McCoy’s formal resignation at its meeting in two weeks. McCoy will not be reporting back to his $49,900-a-year job, though.

In the meantime, the entire part-time police force remains disbanded and the Madison County sheriff’s office will patrol the village. There was no discussion of hiring a new chief or bringing back officers, and last week’s incident is being reviewed by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Among the 70 or so people at the meeting was Michelle Perry, whose son Jared was shocked by Mount Sterling police Officer Scott O’Neil last Tuesday morning.

Mrs. Perry didn’t comment, but her attorney, Tracy Comisford, said after the meeting that when O’Neil came to arrest her son for truancy, Mrs. Perry never expected that he would be subdued with a Taser. “She certainly never wanted this to happen,” Comisford said.

Village officials released the police report yesterday. According to O’Neil’s written account:

He went to the boy’s S. Market Street home about 8:30 a.m. to serve a complaint filed against Jared for truancy.

Jared — listed on the report as between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-8 inches tall and between 200 and 250 pounds — refused to cooperate. He begged his mother to let him go to school rather than with the officer, but Perry told her son it was too late.

O’Neil wrote that after repeated warnings, he pulled Jared from the couch, but he “dropped to the floor and became dead weight … flailing around,” and the boy lay on his hands to prevent being handcuffed.

O’Neil demonstrated the electrical current from the Taser into the air “as a show of force.” Then, he wrote, Perry told her son to do as O’Neil said or he would be shocked.

The report indicates that after being shocked once, Jared still didn’t cooperate and was shocked a second time. An ambulance was called, but Jared had no sign of injury; Perry signed a waiver for medical treatment. Jared was taken to the sheriff’s office, and a delinquency count of resisting arrest was added to his truancy charge.

As people left the meeting last night, many offered McCoy support and said they stand behind the police department. Resident Heather Rice said all the facts about what happened last week aren’t yet known, and McCoy has simply become a scapegoat.

“This isn’t about a Taser,” she said. “This is about forcing this village to lose its police force.”

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Mount Sterling Ohio Police Chief Mike McCoy Suspended And Force Disbanded After Nutcase Officer Scott O’Neil Twice Used Taser Weapon On 9 Year Old Victim Who Wouldn’t Put On His Shoes

MOUNT STERLING, OHIO – Officials in the Madison County village of Mount Sterling expect a packed house tonight when the village council meets for the first time since suspending Police Chief Mike McCoy and essentially disbanding the police force on Friday.

Mayor Charlie Neff issued the suspensions after he was told that a village police officer had shocked a 9-year-old boy with a Taser earlier in the week during an arrest. Neff said McCoy should have immediately reported the incident to Neff and council members. He did not.

Officer Scott O’Neil, who used the Taser twice Tuesday morning on 9-year-old Jared Perry, did not respond to calls on Friday for comment. Village officials, however, released a copy of O’Neil’s report this morning.

The sheriff’s office had requested an officer check the boy’s S. Market Street address on because there was an outstanding unruly juvenile complaint filed against him because he was truant from school.

According to O’Neil’s written account: He arrived at the home just before 8:30 a.m. to take the boy into custody. Jared refused to cooperate and wouldn’t put on his shoes to go with the officer. He begged his mother, Michelle Perry, to let him go to school rather than with the officer, but Perry told her son it was too late.

O’Neil wrote that after repeated warnings, he pulled Jared from the couch but the boy “ dropped to the floor and became dead weight … flailing around.” The officer wrote that Jared — who is listed as between 5 foot 5 and 5 foot 8 inches tall and between 200 and 250 pounds — laid on his hands to prevent being handcuffed.

The report indicates that O’Neil warned that he would use the Taser, and demonstrated the electrical current into the air “as a show of force” to gain the boy’s cooperation. He wrote that Jared’s mother was telling her son to do as O’Neil said or else he would be shocked.

O’Neil wrote that after he shocked Jared the first time, he still refused to cooperate and so he was shocked a second time.

It took both O’Neil and the boy’s mother to get Jared to his feet, once handcuffed. He was breathing heavily but uninjured, and Perry signed a waiver of medical treatment. Jared was taken to the sheriff’s office and charged with delinquency counts of unruliness for his truancy and resisting arrest. O’Neil wrote that Jared’s mother thanked him for his help.

O’Neil said that he immediately notified Chief McCoy about what had happened. McCoy has not publicly commented since his suspension. Perry has not been able to be reached for comment.

The Madison County sheriff’s office is patrolling the village while it all is sorted out. Council President Lowell Anderson said council will have to decide tonight whether to permanently disband the force.

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Man Beat Son Who Wouldn’t Watch Obama’s State Of The Union Address

STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT – A North Stamford father trying to make his pre-teenaged son listen to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech last month was arrested on a warrant Wednesday and accused of striking his son with a coffee mug when the youth would not pay attention.

Mohamed Shohan, 49, of 55 Mather Road, Stamford, was charged with third-degree assault, disorderly conduct and risk of injury to a child. He was released after posting $5,000 bond and will be arraigned on the charges at state Superior Court in Stamford Thursday.

Youth Bureau Sgt. Joseph Kennedy said police were made aware of the assault Jan. 27 when the youth was brought to Stamford Hospital for treatment of an injury to his face. When police interviewed the 11-year-old boy, he told them the two sat down at home to watch the address the day after his father recorded it, Kennedy said.

When the boy kept acting out, the father lost his temper and grabbed a coffee mug his son was holding and hit him in the face with it, causing a bruise to the bridge of his nose, it is alleged.

When interviewed, Shohan could not explain how his son was injured, police said. Police then obtained an arrest warrant for Shohan.

“The father ended up overreacting quite a bit,” Kennedy said.

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Henderson Nevada Police Officers Caught On Video Brutally Beating Unresisting Man In A Diabetic Shock – Attackers Names Hidden From The Public

HENDERSON, NEVADA – Adam Greene is on his stomach as a pack of police officers pile on him, driving their knees into his back and wrenching his arms and legs. One officer knees him in the ribs; another kicks him in the face.

“Stop resisting,” officers on the video yell, but Greene, his face pushed into the pavement, hasn’t resisted. He doesn’t even move — maybe can’t move — because he’s gone into diabetic shock caused by low blood sugar.

The video, recorded more than a year ago by a police car dashboard camera, was released Tuesday by Greene’s lawyers. The same night, the Henderson City Council approved a settlement of $158,500 for Greene. His wife received $99,000 from Henderson, which is just under the minimum amount that requires council approval.

Nevada Highway Patrol troopers also participated in the traffic stop but do not appear to kick or knee Greene on the video. The state has agreed to pay $35,000 to Greene for a total of $292,500 between the two agencies.

It was a Highway Patrol vehicle camera that captured the incident.

CAUGHT ON TAPE

A Highway Patrol trooper enters the scene first, gun drawn, and kicks the driver’s window of Greene’s four-door sedan. After several moments, the trooper opens the door.

The trooper, his gun still raised, then gives Greene conflicting commands. He first tells him not to move, then tells him to come forward.

A second trooper quickly cuffs Greene’s wrist and pulls him from the car, which rolls forward until an officer stops it.

Greene flops to the ground, clearly dazed as five officers rush him. A sixth officer, with Henderson police, enters the frame late and delivers five well-placed kicks to Greene’s face.

“Stop resisting mother (expletive)!” one officer yells.

Greene doesn’t scream until a second Henderson officer knees him in the midsection — and then does it three more times. Greene was later treated for fractured ribs.

Police suspected Greene was intoxicated as he weaved among lanes about 4 a.m. on Oct. 29, 2010, and finally stopped his car near Lake Mead Parkway and Boulder Highway in Henderson.

But that wasn’t the case, which they soon discovered after they searched Greene.

“Call in medical,” one officer says in the video. “We found some insulin in his pocket. … He’s semiconscious.”

“Let’s get medical out here. He’s a diabetic, he’s probably in shock,” the officer later tells dispatch.

Greene’s lawsuit said officers then forced him to stand by a patrol car in handcuffs and blow into a Breathalyzer, despite being injured. Paramedics later arrived and treated him for low blood sugar.

Greene was released without a citation, and officers apologized to him for “beating him up,” the lawsuit said.

He immediately went to a hospital, where he was treated for the broken ribs and the bruises to his hands, neck, face and scalp, the lawsuit said.

One of the harsher moments in the video comes near the end of the clip, when one officer can be heard laughing loudly.

One officer notes that Greene “was not a small guy.” An officer laughs and says, “I couldn’t take him by myself.”

OFFICERS NOT IDENTIFIED

None of the officers was named in the lawsuit, and authorities have not released their names.

Henderson police said a sergeant involved was disciplined. The sergeant remains employed with the department.

Greene’s lawyers were planning to hold a news conference today about the incident.

Greene’s case, while shocking, is not unique.

Alan Yatvin, a legal advocate for the American Diabetes Association and a Philadelphia attorney, said police across the country frequently mistake low blood sugar — called hypoglycemia when blood sugar is exceptionally low — for intoxication in people with diabetes.

A Web search on the issue returns dozens of video clips and stories similar to Greene’s.

Symptoms of hypoglycemia include shakiness, dizziness, hunger, pale skin, moodiness, aggressive behavior, loss of consciousness and even seizures.

“You need police to be trained in what to look for,” Yatvin said. “The problem is, there’s no authority over all police departments. Every department has its own procedures, and states have different rules and training regimens.”

Henderson police said in a statement that the department’s use-of-force methods were modified after the Greene incident. The statement noted a 30 percent reduction in use-of-force incidents from 2010 to 2011. The specific policy changes were not detailed.

William Sousa, a criminal justice professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said training for crisis issues is not consistent through departments. Some departments train every officer, and some departments train just a few.

And it is unknown how effective crisis training is, Sousa said.

“Anecdotal evidence is that even officers trained for this will come upon situations they have to diagnose quickly, and act quickly, and those result in cases where you have something (like Greene’s case),” he said.

The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes wear a bracelet indicating their condition, but “police still have to look,” Yatvin said.

It is unknown whether Greene was wearing a medical bracelet, but it wasn’t mentioned in the lawsuit.

Yatvin, who specializes in police misconduct cases, added that it is “very troubling” for the average citizen to think police could arrest or assault them because of a medical condition.

“I have a hard time imagining a scenario where it’s necessary to kick an unarmed man and break his ribs,” he said.

The scenario likely would not have been seen at all had the Highway Patrol camera not been rolling.

At the time of the incident, Henderson police did not have dashboard cameras. Those were added to Henderson police vehicles in June, more than eight months after the incident with Greene.

Such an event would not have been captured on video in Las Vegas because the Metropolitan Police Department doesn’t have cameras in cars.

Sousa said the trend with agencies has been moving toward dashboard cameras.

“It works both ways,” he said. “There’s usually resistance from officers at first, but as years go by it may become no big deal, because you get an objective recording that often helps the officers.”

This wasn’t the first high-profile incident involving a medical episode in Clark County. In both cases, the Highway Patrol was involved.

Las Vegas doctor Ryan Rich, 33, died in January 2008 after trooper Loren Lazoff used a Taser on him five times.

Rich’s vehicle had crashed into two vehicles and then the center median on Interstate 15.

Lazoff said Rich appeared intoxicated, dazed and was combative, but an autopsy later revealed he only had seizure medication in his system. Rich had been diagnosed with the seizure disorder shortly before he died.

The Clark County Coroner’s inquest jury ruled the death excusable.

Rich’s family sued Taser International last year. The Highway Patrol was not named in the lawsuit.

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Fags Sue After Being Attacked By Off-Duty Cleveland Ohio Police Officer, Beaten Again A Week Latter By On-Duty SWAT Officers, And Tossed In Jail On Bogus Charges – Without Pants

CLEVELAND, OHIO –  Two gay men who say they were punched and pinned to the ground by an off-duty police officer before being called offensive names and jailed without their trousers have sued the city and its police over what they call anti-gay bias.

Steven Ondo and Jonathan Simcox said the off-duty officer, who was a neighbor, complained about a noisy argument on the street and attacked them last April and had them arrested. A week later, they said, they were arrested by SWAT officers and were punched again at their home while lounging in T-shirts and underpants. They said they were denied a chance to get their pants and weren’t provided with any in jail for a day.

The men were charged with assaulting the officer but were acquitted Oct. 20 in a non-jury trial.

Ondo, 22, and Simcox, 25, filed the U.S. District Court lawsuit against the city and its police last month and asked for unspecified damages. They said their goal was to deter biased treatment by police.

During the second arrest, the lawsuit says, the officers repeatedly referred to Ondo and Simcox as “faggots” and said “faggots don’t get to wear pants to jail” when they were transported to the city lockup. Simcox’s brother was at the house and asked if he could get the pants for them, but police refused, although he was allowed to get their shoes, the lawsuit says.

Police usually allow cooperative arrested people to retrieve their clothing.

A top city official said Friday the city wouldn’t discuss details of the litigation.

“The city of Cleveland is aware that the lawsuit has been filed and will appropriately address this legal matter in court,” interim Law Director Barbara Langhenry said in an email.

Ondo and Simcox could not be reached Friday. No phone was listed for Ondo in court records, and a phone number for Simcox provided by his attorney wasn’t accepting calls.

Attorney Dan Chaplin, who represented Ondo in the criminal case, said each man weighs about 120 to 130 pounds and they were tossed around like rag dolls by their 225-pound neighbor.

About a week later, he said, a SWAT team calling them “fags” and “queer” arrested them at their home at about 5:30 a.m. on a warrant accusing them of assaulting a police officer. The team then put them in a police van and drove around for a couple of hours making other arrests, he said.

“They were humiliated and embarrassed. They were shackled to strangers while they were in their underwear and they couldn’t leave,” Chaplin said. “And the other guys that were arrested were allowed to get clothes on.”

At the jail, he said, police mocked them, telling them “fags don’t deserve to wear pants” and asked them questions about their sex lives.

“It was just real old-fashioned gay bashing by the Cleveland police department,” he said.

Cleveland police and the city’s Office of Professional Standards said no complaint had been filed in the case, mayoral spokeswoman Andrea Taylor said.

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