Deaths and Injuries in Police Custody

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Trooper tases teen on ATV. Police video reveals what happens next.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/04/13/police-video-michigan-state-police-taser/499525002/

As 15-year-old Damon Grimes lay dying in the middle of Rossini Drive last August, Michigan State Police Trooper Mark Bessner crouched over his body.

“He’s got a pulse, and he’s breathing. He’s unconscious,” Bessner said into his police radio, adding later, “He slowed down. We tased him, and he crashed out.”

Grimes had been driving about 35 mph on an ATV when Bessner — a passenger in a moving patrol car — fired his stun gun at the teen during a chase on Detroit’s east side.

Over 25 hours of video and audio detail an ATV crash in Detroit involving 15-year-old Damon Grimes, who was allegedly tased by Michigan State Police trooper Mark Bessner during a chase in August of 2017.

Grimes slammed into the back of a parked truck and flew off his ATV. The impact of the crash ripped gashes into his forehead, both cheeks and upper lip and dislocated his skull. Doctors pronounced him dead on arrival at St. John Hospital.

Bessner, who resigned from his job amid a criminal investigation, has been charged with murder.

To better understand what happened the evening of Aug. 26, the Free Press used the Michigan Freedom of Information Act to request extensive records related to the crash. It received almost 11 hours of footage captured by cameras mounted in patrol cars, on nearby businesses and worn by Detroit Police officers, who also responded to the incident.

The Free Press also obtained almost 16 hours of audio recordings from police radios and phones as well as more than 600 pages of documents and more than 500 photos. Michigan State Police took six months to provide those records, which were heavily redacted. For example, State Police withheld all footage captured from the camera in Bessner's squad car, and also blurred the video of Grimes.

Still, the video and audio files that were turned over by MSP show elements of the chase and its aftermath from dozens of angles and perspectives with candid, real-time comments provided by police officers seeing the events unfold in front of them.

Communities across the nation are equipping officers with body cameras to document police contacts with the public. Detroit Police began wearing them in 2016 but little footage from their cameras has become public — until now.

The chase is on

"Give us priority," Bessner is heard saying into a police radio. "Chasing an ATV east on Rossini from Reno. It's a red quad. Black male, black shirt."

A security camera mounted on the Embassy Coney Island restaurant at the corner of Gratiot and Rossini was pointed at the parking lot, but in the background, it showed a view of Rossini where Grimes' ATV appears followed closely by a State Police patrol car. Just as the ATV exits the camera frame, it bounces back into the frame after striking a parked Ford F-150 pickup. The security camera footage didn't include sound, but police cameras did.

“He flipped,” Detroit Police Officer J. Williams said before quickly reporting the accident over his radio.

Williams and his partner, Officer Cameron Boersma, pulled up about 20 seconds after the crash. As they stepped out of their police cruiser, Bessner was bent over Grimes, who lay in the middle of the street beside the pickup, his overturned ATV nearby.

Michigan State Police were patrolling in area that day as part of the Secure Cities Partnership, an initiative launched in 2012 to bring additional police resources to high-crime areas of Detroit, Flint, Saginaw and Pontiac.

The videos the Free Press obtained show a view from another security camera, and appear to depict the overhead emergency lights on Bessner’s squad car activating 24 seconds after the crash. State Police policy requires troopers to turn on their emergency lights, sirens and in-car video recording systems during a pursuit.

Asked this week, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office wouldn't comment on whether the lights were on during the chase, saying she couldn't discuss evidence before trial.

Around the time of the crash, State Police issued two news releases saying the lights had been on during the chase. Asked again this week, First Lt. Mike Shaw, a department spokesman, declined to comment because the criminal case is pending.

He said the cameras typically are activated in one of several ways. They begin recording automatically when a trooper turns on the emergency lights. Troopers also can activate them by pushing a button on the dash or by turning on a microphone worn on the trooper's belt.

“Have EMS step it up,” a person at the scene urged soon after the first two Detroit police officers arrived. As police waited for the ambulance, Grimes’ condition quickly worsened.

“I don’t know if he’s got a pulse anymore,” a voice is heard over the radio.

As another Detroit patrol car arrived, officers radioed for another update on the ambulance, noting Grimes' pulse was weakening.

Officers disgusted

“His pulse is weakening because he was on that fuckin' thing, and you chased his ass,” Detroit Police officer Kimberly Buckner muttered to herself as she stepped out of her vehicle, her body camera recording every step and word.

As she walked toward Grimes, an unidentified Detroit police officer reached out his hand to cover the lens of Buckner's body camera quietly saying: "They fuckin' tased his ass while he was cruisin'."

The body camera views come only from Detroit Police. State Police don't have them.

State Police reported over the radio that “he’s fading fast.” The ambulance arrived about seven minutes after the crash — about a minute faster than the city’s average response time for life-threatening calls.

By then, a crowd had gathered in the neighborhood watching as ambulance crews loaded Grimes onto a stretcher. Witnesses recorded the scene on cell phones, some questioning the pace at which first responders were moving.

“He is dead because if he wasn’t they’d be rushing,” a woman said on a witness recording obtained by the Free Press.

'A bad-ass 15'

Officer Emily Stephenson's body cam shows her approaching a fellow Detroit Police officer, whose name is not clear from the video. She asks whether police should escort the ambulance to the hospital.

“Hell no,” he responded, noting the ambulance has lights and sirens, and escorts are reserved for police. “If an officer was shot, we’ll do that.”

Shortly after the ambulance pulled away, Buckner approached that same officer and said Grimes' mother needed to be at the hospital.

“That’s a grown-ass man,” he said of Grimes, a 6-foot-1, 234-pound teenager.

“No, he’s 15,” she replied. “He’s 15 years old.”

“He’s a bad-ass 15,” the male officer said, later adding: "No sympathy at all for bullshit. Motherfucker wanna be grown, ya act grown, you gotta fuckin' deal with it.”

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Wednesday that supervisors weren't aware of the officer's comments until the Free Press asked about them.

After reviewing the body camera video himself, Craig ordered an internal investigation and pulled the 22-year veteran from his position of neighborhood resource officer. He has been reassigned to a non-patrol duty.

Craig called the remarks insensitive and said he expects better of officers at a critical scene.

"It's troubling, especially when you talk about a young man who lost his life," Craig said.

Without defending the comments, Craig said the officer who made them may mistakenly have thought Grimes' injuries were not life-threatening.

Craig declined to name the officer, citing the investigation. The Free Press identified him from a photograph as Neighborhood Police Officer Aubrey Wade. When reached by telephone Wednesday, the officer declined comment, saying he was speaking to his lawyer at the time.

Other Detroit Police officers at the scene appeared more sensitive, trying to get Grimes' mother to the hospital to see her son. One appeared to express disgust with the use of a stun gun in that situation.

“They tased his ass while he was driving,” Buckner whispered to Stephenson, “causing him to flip and crash.”

Unanswered questions

Many details surrounding the chase remain unclear because Michigan State Police heavily redacted the written reports in addition to the videos and audios.

In a typed report Berger filed after the incident, he said that he and Bessner were on Reno near Fairmount when they observed Grimes popping a "wheelie" on his ATV.

“The 4-wheeler ATV continued to approach our fully marked MSP patrol vehicle at a high rate of speed southbound Reno St. as I was driving northbound Reno St.,” Berger wrote.

State Police redacted what Berger said happened after that. Later, Berger's report said EMS loaded Grimes onto a backboard then a cot. An autopsy concluded Grimes died of blunt force head trauma.

“After EMS arrived on scene and transported the ATV driver, Tpr. Bessner and I followed critical incident protocol and separated ourselves from other troopers and sergeants,” wrote Berger, who was later suspended.

Witness reports

Residents in the neighborhood recorded the aftermath on cell phone video, voicing their emotions.

“They don’t give a damn,” a man said while police investigated after sundown. “They’re gonna still go home to their wife and kids and still get paid.”

People in the area said police can't be trusted.

“They’re supposed to protect and serve,” a man’s voice is recorded saying.

One witness also reporting seeing a piece of a police Taser, and quickly concluded that it was used on Grimes. Witnesses spotted a pair of earbuds, which a police photo shows lying in a pool of blood.

Police and prosecutors would not say whether Grimes was wearing the earbuds when he crashed.

That evening, as a Detroit firefighter hosed blood from the street, a woman, who identified herself as Grimes' cousin, said they are cleaning up the blood.

“Unbelievable,” she said in the video. “Fifteen years old — killed by the State Police. Unbelievable.

Murder charge, lawsuit

Within hours of the crash, Detroit Police brass and Grimes' family demanded answers about the teen's death.

“You guys had a pursuit today ... and now our bosses want some information,” a Detroit police sergeant said to a State Police dispatcher in a recorded conversation.

Detroit Police policy prohibits high-speed chases for traffic offenses and misdemeanors but State Police allowed them at the time. After the crash, State Police announced a policy review and suspended chases in Detroit involving traffic or misdemeanor violations. That policy was later adopted statewide.

State Police halted their Detroit patrols in September after Grimes’ death and they have not resumed.

Craig told the Free Press that he and State Police Col. Kriste Etue decided together that, “given the seriousness of this offense, that the Secure Cities aspect, meaning troopers being deployed in the 9th Precinct, would be terminated for now."

When Grimes' family sought answers about his death, State Police told them the case was still being investigated, and that reports are available under the Freedom of Information Act, according to documents obtained by the Free Press.

State Police took six months to provide the records the Free Press requested under FOIA.

By then, Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger had filed *snipped*

This is so horrible, so heartbreaking.

I can hardly talk about it, but both my son's are biracial African-American. The last time I saw my youngest son was when he came home for his birthday, over a year ago last February. I haven't seen him since he left to go find work. I've gotten a trail of medical emergency response bills from all over the US. The scariest notices came from Michigan, Maryland, Rhode Island, NYC (where he was falsely arrested), and the last notice I got came from Florida. I've been worried sick over my youngest sons safety. He's not well. And because by law he's considered an adult, no law enforcement agency will intervene.

That's all can reveal publicly in our community, but I'm brokenhearted over how both my son's have been treated and I know a lot of my youngest son issues center upon racial inequality, prejudicial treatment and no social supportive network to intervene on behalf of either of my boys.

JUST the other day, I was visiting with another rider on public transit, probably as old as my youngest son. He said was from Detroit looking for work. I showed him a picture of my youngest son and asked if by chance he'd seen him. He hadn't. I gave him some money to buy food, and gave him an litany of resources here to find work.

Thanks always,

Kätzchen

[Andrea]

Utah Man Shot and Killed While Complying with Police Commands to Show His Hands

http://atlantablackstar.com/2018/04/18/utah-cops-order-black-man-remove-hands-pocket-fatally-shoot/

Newly released body camera footage shows the moment Utah officers opened fire on an unarmed Black man as he removed his right hand from his pocket — which the officers instructed him to do.

West Valley City police officers pursued 20-year-old Elijah James Smith on April 8, as he matched the description of a suspect accused of stealing from a nearby cell phone store, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Police said Smith hopped the fence to the backyard of a home in an effort to flee, but the homeowner asked him to leave. That’s when he barged into another neighborhood home and hid in its garage.

When officers arrived at the second home, a 13-year-old boy answered the door and told them a man had enterered into his house. Two other children, aged 9 and 10, were also inside the home at the time of the incident.

Police soon went down to the garage where they found Smith standing next to the car.

“Put your hands up now. Let me see your hands,” officers shout repeatedly from the stairs that led to the garage. Smith initially only raised his left hand but left his right hand tucked in his pocket, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Another officer is heard ordering the man to take out his other hand, after which Smith raised his right elbow as he removed his right hand.

Three shots are fired, one of them striking Smith. At the same time one officer fired their weapon, another officer discharged their stun gun, which didn’t reach the suspect. Smith would later die from his injuries.

After the shooting, authorities said they found a “modified” screwdriver on the floor next to the Smith. Investigators think it was the object tucked in his right-side pocket when he was reluctant to remove his hand.

In a news conference, West Valley City Police Chief Colleen Jacobs said officers perceived Smith as a threat because he “rapidly” removed his hand from his pocket, despite the fact that they instructed him to do so. The officer who fired the shots has since been placed on administrative leave, according to the newspaper.

News of Smith’s killing sparked protests across the community.

” …Once again, it’s clear that police will see whatever they want to see in order to justify violence against people of color,” Dave Newlin, a local activist with Utahns Against Police Brutality, told The Salt Lake Tribune via email.

“I see a terrified young man with his hand in the air, desperately and clearly trying to put up his other hand exactly as police have demanded,” Newlin added. “I see someone who’s trapped after running for his life, who knows that at any moment, the violent racism of Utah’s police could take his life, as indeed it does.”

[Andrea]

‘I can’t breathe’: Former NFL player completely unconscious after being slammed to the ground by police

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/cant-breathe-former-nfl-player-completely-unconscious-slammed-ground-police/

While shouting “I’m not even doing nothing! I’m not even fighting back!” former NFL defensive back Desmond Marrow was grabbed by police and slammed to the ground.

According to 11Alive news, however, Marrow appeared to go limp after being pinned to the ground by three white Henry County Police officers.

Marrow was warned he was going to get tased, handcuffed first then pressed against a white truck. One officer lifted his right leg and Marrow was then thrown to the ground.

Off camera, a person can be heard saying that the incident is “unbelievable.”

An officer was seen leaning near Marrow’s head with his hands around the handcuffed man’s throat.

“I can’t breathe,” Marrow can be heard saying. The plea for help a haunting reminder of the chokehold from New York Police that killed Eric Garner.

Marrow then went completely limp.

In a Facebook post, Marrow explained that officers tried to say that he had a gun in his pocket, however, it was only a cell phone. He said that the police “knocked my teeth out, slammed me on my head and choked me out until I was unconscious. In addition I suffered a shoulder strain and a concussion.”

In a separate interview, Marrow revealed how terrifying the incident was.

“I was fully cooperating with the officers with ZERO resistance. I thought I was going to die. I was sure I was passing out or dying.”

No videos show what occurred that led to the incident. It is unclear if there is any body cam video.

[Andrea]

Death of black man during arrest in Louisiana ruled homicide

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/14/us/jefferson-parish-sheriffs-office-suspect-death-homicide/index.html

The death of a 22-year-old African-American man shortly after a struggle with police last week has been ruled a homicide, authorities in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana said Monday.

Keeven Robinson, of Metairie, died last Thursday, following a police chase and an altercation with narcotics detectives from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, located outside of New Orleans, according to authorities.

An initial autopsy found significant traumatic injuries to the soft tissue of Robinson's neck, said Jefferson Parish Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich, who cautioned that the results from the autopsy, which was conducted Saturday, are preliminary and more tests need to be conducted.

Cvitanovich said the findings are consistent with compressional asphyxia, which will likely be cause of death at the end of the process.

The four detectives involved in the incident are white, said Sheriff Joseph P. Lopinto, who declined to release their names at this point.

"I understand ... this investigation will be under a microscope, understand it fully," Lopinto told reporters.

Gaylor Spiller, president of the West Jefferson Parish NAACP branch, said Robinson's family is also seeking a second independent autopsy.

"I like the fact that Sheriff Lopinto stepped up to plate, and he's doing his part," Spiller said, according CNN affiliate WDSU. "He knows that the NAACP will be on his trail."

Robinson was being investigated by narcotics detectives early Thursday, Lt. Jason Rivarde, spokesman for Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, told CNN.

Undercover detectives assigned to the case tracked Robinson down at a local gas station and tried to arrest him, according to Rivarde. But Robinson jumped back in his vehicle and led police on a chase after spotting them, Rivarde said.

The suspect rammed several police cars before crashing his vehicle, according to Rivarde.

Robinson took off on foot, jumping several fences before deputies caught him in a backyard of a nearby residential neighborhood, Rivarde said.

Rivarde says a struggle ensued with deputies who eventually handcuffed Robinson. Once handcuffed, detectives noticed Robinson was not breathing, Rivarde said. Detectives administered life saving techniques before Robinson was taken to a local hospital where he died, Rivarde said.

The agency is not equipped with body cameras or dash cameras, according to Rivarde.

"They were in a struggle," Lopinto said. "They used force." He added that the officers admitted to using force during the arrest.
But the sheriff said he's "not coming to the conclusion that this was a chokehold."

Lopinto said he contacted the Louisiana State Police on Saturday after he was told of the initial findings, and asked them to assist in the investigation.

The sheriff said he has "every faith" in his officers to do their job well.

"I know they have the expertise because this is what they do every day, but I also understand that an independent set of eyes is something that's appropriate in a case like this," he said.

The four detectives involved in the arrest were read their rights and have given statements, Lopinto said.

They are being reassigned to administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation, the sheriff's said.

The FBI's Civil Rights Task force is also looking into the matter after he contacted them Saturday, the sheriff said.

The actions of the coroner's office were largely praised Monday by Robinson's family.

Hester Hilliard, an attorney for Robinson's family, thanked the coroner's office "for their professionalism and their transparency."

"Today is just as hard as Thursday for this family. They're grieving, and today they had to find out that Keeven lost his life at the hands of another," she said, according DSU. "And that's very, very hard for them."

"Now, it's time for us to move on to making funeral arrangements for a 22-year-old that should not have died," she said.

In an interview with CNN, Hilliard said she is hoping "to see the same justice for Keeven as with any other individual who has died at the hands of someone other than the police."

"We are hoping for a thorough investigation, an arrest and prosecution of those that caused his death unjustifiably," she said.

[Andrea]

https://www.facebook.com/shaunking/photos/pcb.1814863611885882/1814863501885893/?type=3&theater

This woman was kidnapped and raped by a Texas State Trooper— OFFICER HUBBARD, she is now being held hostage in Ellis County Jail!

Sherita Dixon Cole just happens to be a close personal friend of Civil Rights Attorney and my close friend Lee Merritt. These are the facts he was able to get together after speaking with Sherita’s family:

On May 20th, 2018 at approximately 1:30AM Sherita Dixon Cole was pulled over in Waxahachie, TX by a Texas State Trooper— Officer Hubbard, near a abandoned car dealership (I287 South & I35 South). She was told she was being stopped because Hubbard expected she was driving while intoxicated. Cole voluntarily performed and passed all dui/dwi protocol including a breathalyzer. However, Hubbard decided he “didn’t like [her] attitude” and that he was going to take her to jail anyway. He handcuffed her hands behind her back and placed Cole in the front passenger seat of his patrol vehicle. Hubbard then took a seat beside Cole and placed his hand on her thigh. He asked her if she wanted to go home as he hiked up her skirt. He told her that she could earn her way home, if she really wanted to go.

Cole had called her boyfriend to the scene of the stop when she was first pulled over. He arrived just as the officer began to accost her. Hubbard asked Cole who was in the car. When she explained it was her fiancé he asked her was he armed. When she said he was not, Hubbard retorted “If you tell him what happened he will be armed and his fire arm will be visible when I have to shoot him.” Hubbard went out to speak with Cole’s boyfriend and allowed him to speak with her briefly in his presence. She told him that she passed the DUI/DWI protocol but the officer said he was taking her in anyway “because of [her] attitude.” Hubbard immediately ended the conversation and told Cole he was taking her to the Ellis County Jail. Her fiancé told Hubbard that he would follow them to the jail but Hubbard warned him that he could not follow him and would be arrested if he tried. Cole’s fiancé drove a short distance up the road and waited for the officer to head toward the jail.

Instead, Hubbard reentered the patrol car after placing Cole back into front passenger seat with her hands cuffed behind her back. He drove the car behind the vacant dealership and told Cole “why don’t you just give me some of that sweet pussy you have been given your fiancé and then you can go home.” Cole begged Hubbard to just take her to jail. He placed his hands back up her skirt and penetrated her vagina, warning her “not to be stupid!” He explained, she could “go home tonight” if she just gave him what he wanted. When Hubbard’s patrol car didn’t come up the road, Cole’s fiancé looped around the highway and made its way behind the dealership. When Hubbard saw the car approaching he drove off while Cole’s fiancé followed at a distance. Hubbard maneuvered his vehicle down back streets and was successfully able to lose the vehicle tailing him. He told Cole that he knew a place where they could go and where he could get what he wanted so she did not have to go to jail. He continued to pull at her clothes and place his hand down her shirt and up her skirt. Cole continued to beg to just be taken to jail as her boyfriend searched for her. Finally, Hubbard relented and drove back to the highway and to Ellis County jail where she was booked for DUI/DWI. Cole currently remains in police custody but has been allowed to speak with her family and fiancé. We are actively working to get her released and to get the full identify of this officer in order to get him off the streets.

This woman is a mother and a corporate professional. She didn’t just make this up. A horrible crime was committed against her and it needs to be deal with immediately.

Sherita we are getting you out and getting you justice!

[Andrea]

Taylor police face federal lawsuit over rough arrest caught on video in 2016

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/taylor-police-face-federal-lawsuit-over-rough-arrest-caught-on-video-in-2016

TAYLOR, Mich. - A Metro Detroit man is accusing Taylor police officers of using excessive force during a 2016 arrest outside his home.

"I stopped at a stop sign, and they followed me home from there," Cody Meredith said.

What started as a drive home for Meredith ended with him landing in the back seat of a Taylor police car with injuries from the arrest.

"Somebody I expected to protect me basically didn't protect me," Meredith said.

On March 29, 2016, two Taylor police officers saw Meredith heading home at 2:30 a.m. Police reports claim he "braked heavily in order to not run a stop sign" and "(went) 35 mph in a 25 mph zone."

Meredith was just a block from his house, and when he turned into his driveway, he didn't use a turn signal, according to police. That's when the officers turned on their lights.

"Not using your turn signal is not a crime," said Amir Makled, Meredith's attorney.

The incident was captured on audio and video. The audio recording began the moment officers turned the lights on. At the time, Meredith was already out of his car.

"Oh s---, get back in the car, man," an officer said.

"Where you guys coming from? Get up off me," Meredith said.

Video shows a fight ensuing, and that's the core of a federal lawsuit.

"I was tased twice," Meredith said.

"An officer said stop. Why didn't you stop?" Local 4's Jermont Terry said.

"At that point, in my mind, I'm thinking, 'Why did I get stopped?'" Meredith said. "Why did I get followed home when they could have pulled me over before I got to my home?"

Video shows several blows being thrown during the fight.

"Look at that: one, two, three right to his face," Makled said. "They still haven't told him what he did wrong."

"There was no opportunity to say anything," Meredith said. "As soon as they got close to me they threw me to the ground and started beating me."

Taylor police claim the then-18-year-old resisted officers, resulting in the aggressive takedown.

"Outrageous conduct," Makled said. "Totally against the policy and procedure of any law enforcement agency."

Meredith and his attorneys said police used excessive force, especially when additional officers arrived.

"They join in on the fray, and he's continued to be kicked while a supervisor is there," Makled said.

Makled said the supervisor witnessed an officer kneeing Meredith in the back while he was already in handcuffs.

"I was being choked," Meredith said. "I was being beaten. I was in handcuffs being kicked in my face. There was a lot of stuff going on."

The incident happened in front of Meredith's mother's house, and he can be heard in the video screaming for her during the arrest.

Meredith has since moved out of Taylor and hopes to move forward. He said he never resisted officers and didn't deserve to end up in the hospital.

"They're police officers," Meredith said. "I'm a black male. That answers the question. They're going to do and say what they can to protect themselves."

But the officers aren't saying much. Local 4 requested an interview with the police chief, but he said he isn't allowed to talk about the case, the lawsuit or the actions of five officers. That's especially troubling to attorney Cyril Hall, who believes the case points to bigger problems with Taylor police.

"I don't believe it's isolated because we've had one of the officers listed in the complaint," Hall said. "He's been sued on other occasions (for excessive force)."

In the video, an officer told Meredith, "Shut the f--- up you piece of s---" and claimed Meredith had a warrant out for his arrest.

Meredith didn't have any outstanding warrants, and the moment that police realized they had the wrong person was caught on video. But police did find a small bag of marijuana inside the car when the searched it.

"They had no right to go into the vehicle," Makled said.

"It feels good to beat me a--?" Meredith asked in the video.

"No, you gripped onto me, buddy," an officer said.

"I didn't grip you guys at all," Meredith said.

"Yeah, you did," two police officers said.

Meredith said it isn't easy for him to watch the video of the arrest, even though two years have passed.

"It puts a terrible feeling in my body," Meredith said. "I feel empty, like I was worth nothing."

He said it's hard for him to visit his mother's house.

"Every time I go to the house I pull up and I look at that little spot and I remember every little thing and how it happened," Meredith said. "It's not a place I like to be. I don't call it home anymore. Your home is where you're supposed to feel safe. I don't feel safe there. I don't even feel safe being in the area."

Meredith said he hopes nobody else will experience what he did.

Police charged Meredith with drug possession and two counts of assaulting a police officer. Meredith had a medical marijuana card, so the drug possession charge was dropped.

Taylor police insisted in reports that Meredith was resisting arrest. But he now has a criminal record for what he feels was an incident escalated by Taylor police. He's seeking more than $70,000 in damages from the lawsuit.

The Taylor Police Department hasn't revealed if any of the officers involved were disciplined or whether they remain on the force.

[Andrea]

It has been determined this never happened and the officer was very professional.

Originally Posted by Andrea

Taylor police face federal lawsuit over rough arrest caught on video in 2016

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/taylor-police-face-federal-lawsuit-over-rough-arrest-caught-on-video-in-2016

TAYLOR, Mich. - A Metro Detroit man is accusing Taylor police officers of using excessive force during a 2016 arrest outside his home.

"I stopped at a stop sign, and they followed me home from there," Cody Meredith said.

What started as a drive home for Meredith ended with him landing in the back seat of a Taylor police car with injuries from the arrest.

"Somebody I expected to protect me basically didn't protect me," Meredith said.

On March 29, 2016, two Taylor police officers saw Meredith heading home at 2:30 a.m. Police reports claim he "braked heavily in order to not run a stop sign" and "(went) 35 mph in a 25 mph zone."

Meredith was just a block from his house, and when he turned into his driveway, he didn't use a turn signal, according to police. That's when the officers turned on their lights.

"Not using your turn signal is not a crime," said Amir Makled, Meredith's attorney.

The incident was captured on audio and video. The audio recording began the moment officers turned the lights on. At the time, Meredith was already out of his car.

"Oh s---, get back in the car, man," an officer said.

"Where you guys coming from? Get up off me," Meredith said.

Video shows a fight ensuing, and that's the core of a federal lawsuit.

"I was tased twice," Meredith said.

"An officer said stop. Why didn't you stop?" Local 4's Jermont Terry said.

"At that point, in my mind, I'm thinking, 'Why did I get stopped?'" Meredith said. "Why did I get followed home when they could have pulled me over before I got to my home?"

Video shows several blows being thrown during the fight.

"Look at that: one, two, three right to his face," Makled said. "They still haven't told him what he did wrong."

"There was no opportunity to say anything," Meredith said. "As soon as they got close to me they threw me to the ground and started beating me."

Taylor police claim the then-18-year-old resisted officers, resulting in the aggressive takedown.

"Outrageous conduct," Makled said. "Totally against the policy and procedure of any law enforcement agency."

Meredith and his attorneys said police used excessive force, especially when additional officers arrived.

"They join in on the fray, and he's continued to be kicked while a supervisor is there," Makled said.

Makled said the supervisor witnessed an officer kneeing Meredith in the back while he was already in handcuffs.

"I was being choked," Meredith said. "I was being beaten. I was in handcuffs being kicked in my face. There was a lot of stuff going on."

The incident happened in front of Meredith's mother's house, and he can be heard in the video screaming for her during the arrest.

Meredith has since moved out of Taylor and hopes to move forward. He said he never resisted officers and didn't deserve to end up in the hospital.

"They're police officers," Meredith said. "I'm a black male. That answers the question. They're going to do and say what they can to protect themselves."

But the officers aren't saying much. Local 4 requested an interview with the police chief, but he said he isn't allowed to talk about the case, the lawsuit or the actions of five officers. That's especially troubling to attorney Cyril Hall, who believes the case points to bigger problems with Taylor police.

"I don't believe it's isolated because we've had one of the officers listed in the complaint," Hall said. "He's been sued on other occasions (for excessive force)."

In the video, an officer told Meredith, "Shut the f--- up you piece of s---" and claimed Meredith had a warrant out for his arrest.

Meredith didn't have any outstanding warrants, and the moment that police realized they had the wrong person was caught on video. But police did find a small bag of marijuana inside the car when the searched it.

"They had no right to go into the vehicle," Makled said.

"It feels good to beat me a--?" Meredith asked in the video.

"No, you gripped onto me, buddy," an officer said.

"I didn't grip you guys at all," Meredith said.

"Yeah, you did," two police officers said.

Meredith said it isn't easy for him to watch the video of the arrest, even though two years have passed.

"It puts a terrible feeling in my body," Meredith said. "I feel empty, like I was worth nothing."

He said it's hard for him to visit his mother's house.

"Every time I go to the house I pull up and I look at that little spot and I remember every little thing and how it happened," Meredith said. "It's not a place I like to be. I don't call it home anymore. Your home is where you're supposed to feel safe. I don't feel safe there. I don't even feel safe being in the area."

Meredith said he hopes nobody else will experience what he did.

Police charged Meredith with drug possession and two counts of assaulting a police officer. Meredith had a medical marijuana card, so the drug possession charge was dropped.

Taylor police insisted in reports that Meredith was resisting arrest. But he now has a criminal record for what he feels was an incident escalated by Taylor police. He's seeking more than $70,000 in damages from the lawsuit.

The Taylor Police Department hasn't revealed if any of the officers involved were disciplined or whether they remain on the force.