The feds are now charging a former Hendry County (FL) deputy who body slammed a handcuffed man for merely talking. This was his second time being fired. Although he attempted to falsify the police report so as to appear justified, the entire thing was caught on his supervisor’s body cam. Also, thank you for bringing us over 500,000 subscribers on Youtube!
Media report here.
A LaSalle, Colorado police officer has been charged with second degree murder after he shot a man in a dollar store parking lot, during an investigation about a car’s suspicious paint job. It was the officer’s third day of training with that police department. Can a police officer shoot a man attempting to flee a suspicious paint job investigation?
Here’s the uncensored use of force clip:
Andru Kulas was arrested by the Fort Collins Police Department in the early morning hours of August 29, 2021. He was pretty drunk and was expressing some criticism of the officers as they wrote him a citation for trespassing at a rooftop bar. When he refused the actual piece of paper, one of the officers attempted to shove it into his shirt pocket, which escalated the situation into the man being pepper sprayed at close range, among other things. He just filed a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Here’s the media coverage, including the raw bodycam footage.
Here’s the full Complaint:
Here’s the full Internal Affairs report:
Vancouver Police Department Officer Andrea Mendoza allegedly pulled a man’s pants down and threatened to charge a Taser onto his exposed genitals. This occurred immediately after police were called to Walmart due to suspected shoplifting. The man had already said he was “done” resisting by that point, body camera footage shows. But she threatened him again and held the Taser against his skin for 24 seconds.
On Tuesday, the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office filed fourth-degree assault charges against the officer. The local police union has, of course, objected to the prosecutor’s decision. Apparently, all of the criminal charges against the shoplifting suspect were dropped.
Here’s the raw footage, provided by the City of Vancouver.
New footage showing dash cam video of the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department using a K9 to make an arrest. Here’s the footage:
When a K9 is deployed on a citizen, that individual is “seized” for Fourth Amendment purposes. Assuming the seizure itself was lawful, the issue is whether the seizure may be “unreasonable” due to being an excessive level of force. The deployment itself of a police K9 during the course of a seizure may be unreasonable, depending on the circumstances.
Courts look to the Graham Factors: the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect is actively resisting or evading, and most importantly, whether the suspect poses an immediate safety threat to the officer, or others.
The Fourth Circuit held, as early as 1995, that the improper deployment of a police dog that mauls a suspect constitutes excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Specifically, deploying a dog against a suspected bank robber in a narrow alleyway without warning and a fair opportunity to surrender was unreasonable and excessive. Furthermore, doing so where the suspect was surrounded by police officers is itself unreasonable and excessive, even where a warning is given. (Kopf v. Wing (4th Cir. 1991).The Fourth Circuit has also held that sending a police dog into a home that contained a burglary suspect, without warning, resulting in severe injuries to the homeowner, was an excessive force violation. Vathekan v. Prince George’s County (4th Cir. 1998).
Repeatedly over the years, the Court has held generally that the use of serious or violent force, i.e., disproportionate force) in arresting or seizing an individual that has surrendered, or who is not actively resisting or attempting to flee, and who does not present a danger to others, is an unreasonable excessive force violation.
The 7th Circuit has denied qualified immunity to a police officer where he failed to call off a police dog that was mauling a “non-resisting (or at least passively resisting) suspect.” Becker v. Elfreich (7th Cir. 2016). That Court also denied qualified immunity to an officer who commanded a dog to attack a suspect who was already complying with orders, and where there were multiple backup officers present. Alicea v. Thomas (7th Cir. 2016).
The Fourth Circuit cited that last case in 2017 as providing “fair warning” to police officers that they will lose qualified immunity where an officer deploys a police dog against a suspect was was “not in active flight at the time he was discovered,” but was “standing still, arms raised….” Booker v. S.C. Dep’t of Corr. (4th Cir. 2017). The Court also cited a 6th Circuit case where officers deployed a police dog to apprehend a suspect that had given police no indication that he presented a danger to others, and was not actively resisting but “lying face down with his arms at his side.” Campbell v. City of Springboro (6th Cir. 2012).
The Fourth Circuit has also cited an 11th Circuit case denying qualified immunity where the officer ordered his K9 to attack a suspect that had previously surrendered and complied with the officer’s order to lie on the ground. Priester v. City of Riviera (11th Cir. 2000).
Generally speaking: Where K9s are deployed, a warning should be given, along with an opportunity to surrender, where possible. Deploying K9s on suspects who have been already subdued, surrounded, or who are not actively resisting or evading arrest, is also likely excessive force, with or without a warning. Deploying K9s on suspects who pose no immediate threat is generally going to be unreasonable. K9s should only be deployed where there exists a serious immediate safety threat in a tense, fast-moving situation, where there’s some actual reason for doing so.
Raw version of body cam:
There’s a jury trial in Euclid, Ohio this week where Euclid police officer, Michael Amiott is being prosecuted for a use of force incident following the 2017 traffic stop of Richard Hubbard. Amiott is charged with two counts of assault and one count of interfering with civil rights. Cell phone video showed the officer repeatedly punching Richard Hubbard after he was pulled over for an unspecified moving violation.
Hubbard was accused of resisting arrest after allegedly refusing Amiott’s orders, and the ensuing struggle resulted in Hubbard being hit multiple times while on the ground. The criminal charges against Hubbard were later dropped, and while he suffered no permanent injuries, the city later agreed to a $450,000 settlement with both him and the owner of the car he was driving.
Following a 45-day suspension, Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail fired Amiott from the police force, but an independent arbitrator reinstated him a year later. Nevertheless, Amiott was arrested and charged in Euclid Municipal Court in August of 2019 following further investigation, and his trial was subsequently delayed two years by COVID-19.
The entire trial has been live streamed on Youtube by WKYC and some of the testimony has been interesting. This is what we’re dealing with by the way, in the mission to obtain some accountability where citizens are violently victimized by the government.
Also, this isn’t his only excessive force incident:
You may have seen the video posted last week about Mount Hope, WV, police department officer Aaron Shrewsbury. Since the video was posted, I’ve received a lot of information from the public, including from other police officers. That’s always an indication, in my experience and opinion, that there’s a real problem there. I was told today by credible sources that Officer Shrewsbury has now been suspended with pay. I have not received verification of this as of yet, however. As you will see below, his supervisor / Chief of Police, had already signed off on the use of force I’m about to discuss, so hopefully he’s not in charge of the internal investigation…. In the video about what happened to Mr. Beckett, I mentioned that kid from Ohio who had his own encounter with Officer Shrewsbury last year. Let me tell you more.
On August 15, 2021, several police agencies responded to a 911 call from Ace Adventures Complex, a vacation and white water rafting facility located in Minden, Fayette County, West Virginia. There was a verbal altercation that took place at the complex. 20 year old Nathan Nelson, from Ohio, had been visiting his sister, who worked at Ace Adventures Complex. At some point they became involved in some sort of altercation or argument involving multiple other individuals.
Several police agencies arrived, including Officer Shrewsbury from the Mount Hope Police Department. Marijuana was found in the car belonging to Nathan and his sister. Officer Shrewsbury arrested Nathan and placed him in handcuffs.
According to Shrewsbury’s subsequent police report, he handcuffed Nathan and escorted him to a police cruiser. While standing beside the cruiser, nathan allegedly became angry and asked, “why he was fu&cking being arrested.” Shrewsbury then asked him to stop swearing, and then advised him he was being arrested for disorderly conduct and possession of a controlled substance. Nathan responded, “this was fucking bullshit,” to which Shrewsbury responded, “yeah it is,” and that, “I wasn’t knowledgeable about how things were done in Ohio where he was from, but in West Virginia, possessing marijuana and other illegal and dangerous drugs, using profanity in public and fighting in the streets definitely are all illegal here.”
Shrewsbury then wrote in his report that, “I turned away from the male subject briefly to get an Oak Hill officers’ attention to unlock the police vehicle, so I could place the male subject safely inside of it,” but that “As I turned back to the male subject, he turned his head toward me and pursed his lips while making a noise as if he were clearing his throat of flem and filling his mouth with it and sputum. He then moved his head towards me in a motion that made me believe that he was going to spit on me. Observing this, I then rapidly used a straight arm with an open palm to divert the male subject’s head away from me, making physical contact with the left side of his head and facial area. The maneuver was abrupt, but did not cause him to fall to the ground.
By all means, review the pertinent portions of Officer Shrewsbury’s report for yourself:
After the strike to Nathan’s face, Shrewsbury then placed Nathan, still handcuffed, in the rear of the Oak Hill police cruiser, essentially abandoning him there for the Oak Hill officers to find.
Ultimately, Nathan was only charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Nathan maintains that he wasn’t resisting Shrewsbury in any way. And contrary to what Officer Shrewsbury wrote in his police report, Nathan maintains that it went down a little differently. Nathan says that he was told by Shrewsbury, “if you don’t shut up, I’m gonna take these handcuffs off and do one of those old West Virginia ass whoopins.” After apparently not liking Nathan’s response, Nathan states that Officer Shrewsbury, who started to walk away, quickly turned around and punched him in the face with a close fist right hook, with Nathan still handcuffed and not physically resisting in any way.
I discussed in the previous video about Officer Shrewsbury that he had been decertified as a police officer while working at the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office in 2015, for lying and dishonesty as a police officer. The next year, Shrewsbury ran for the position of Magistrate Judge in Fayette County, touting his law enforcement experience – not mentioning his decertification – and also bragging that he was a professional boxer.
A review of old social media also reveals at least one past boxing photo of Officer Shrewsbury.
The physical trauma inflicted to Nathan corroborates that, and corroborates Nathan’s recollection of being punched with a closed-fist right hook, rather than the word salad written by Officer Shrewsbury.
Nathan was discovered by other police officers, sitting in the back of a police cruiser, covered with blood, with his tooth laying in his lap, his shirt covered with blood, suffering in severe pain. These other officers took Nathan into their custody and transported him to a nearby hospital, where he underwent emergency treatment. Nathan’s jaw was broken in two different places. He was going to require immediate surgery. He ended up being transported all the way back to Ohio to a specialist surgeon at Ohio State University, for the necessary surgery on his jaw.
Excerpts of Nathan’s medical records from Plateau Medical Center Emergency Room:
So you have a 20 year old kid, handcuffed, charged only with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, punched in the face by a police officer claiming to have experience as a professional boxer, knocking out at least one tooth, and fracturing his jaw in two places, requiring transport by ambulance, all the way to Ohio for surgery, where he spent four days hospitalized.
One of the police officers from the nearby Oak Hill Police Department who discovered Nathan injured and bleeding in the back of the police cruiser, and who transported him to the emergency room of the nearby hospital, noted in her report that she didn’t even know who had arrested and handcuffed Nathan, even identifying the design of the handcuffs she removed from him at the hospital.
Another Oak Hill officer noted in his report that he was “made aware that an officer had punched the male” [arrestee] and placed him in into the other Oak Hill officer’s car, basically abandoning him there with no information or documentation.
Laughably, in his subsequent written police report, Officer Shrewsbury filled out a use of force report that contained almost no information about the force that he used, or the reason for using it. Mind you, I don’t believe his report even alleged that Nathan spit at him, just that he allegedly heard sounds that he alleges were leading up to a spit. Importantly, Nathan wasn’t charged with spitting, or attempting to spit on any police officer.
Police use of force incidents are judged by the federal courts using the Graham Factors, which are going to easily show that this was an unreasonable and excessive use of force. Here you have an individual charged with an extremely minor crime, who is handcuffed, who is not physically resisting, but rather only running his mouth, expressing criticism, who is punched in the face with tremendous force, by a large police officer who claims to be a boxer.
While that police officer claims he heard pre-spit sounds, that same police officer has already been decertified for lying as a police officer. Thus, it’s probably for the best if Officer Shrewsbury is suspended. All of this begs the question about why the town of Mount Hope, West Virginia hired him in the first place, and why they appear to have let him escape real supervision.
Make sure you subscribe and follow-along to hear what’s happening next, because we’re learning more by the day, and lawsuits are looming.
Greensboro (NC) Police Officer Matthew Hamilton was indicted for manslaughter last week for the shooting of Joseph Lopez back in November of 2021. He was also fired and sued. The bodycam footage was just released. Let’s take a look and discuss the relevant law.
For some reason this is age restriction, even though you basically see nothing….
Here’s the federal Section 1983 civil rights lawsuit, currently pending:
The small town police department in Westover, West Virginia was recently exposed for their corruption and misconduct. Take a look at this dash cam video featuring two police officers who won the town a 1.1 million dollar settlement in two lawsuits, including the brutal use of force captured in this disgraceful body cam footage.
Here’s the text of the lawsuit itself, with all of the allegations:
But there’s more…. Accusations of corruption surfaced, which is shocking, I know.
The over 90-minute meeting that involved former Westover Police Chief Rick Panico, Lt. John Morgan, Westover city attorney Tim Stranko and Westover City Councilman Steve Andryzcik took place in September 2020. The meeting came on the heels of Panico’s resignation and the release of a letter signed by 11 Westover Police officers calling for the removal of Officer Aaron Dalton for a number of abuses of power….
The conversation during the meeting was mostly focused on the conduct of Mayor Johnson and his relationship with Officer Aaron Dalton. Pancio and Morgan described concerns that Mayor Johnson subverted the chain of command within the police department and created an environment that made it impossible to hold Dalton accountable for his actions.
Dalton is facing multiple lawsuits over civil rights violations and more accusations came to light in the meeting, including claims that Dalton had sexual intercourse with a woman while on duty and later was harassing her. Pancio claimed in the meeting that Mayor Johnson told him to “make it go away.”
This reminds me of the time I spent in Parkersburg, West Virginia years ago, where the mayor held an excessive force planning meeting with all the local police officers, resulting in at least one blowing the whistle on him….