Deaths and Injuries in Police Custody

[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.

[Andrea]

New Jersey cop caught on camera punching 20-year-old woman drinking beer during beach arrest

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/n-caught-camera-punching-woman-beach-arres-article-1.4013088?cid=bitly

A hotheaded New Jersey cop is under investigation after a viral video showed him pummeling a young mother on the beach in front of horrified Memorial Day weekend revelers.

What began as a day of fun in the sun Saturday turned into a beach-blanket beatdown after a Wildwood cop was caught slugging a 20-year-old woman in the head at least two times while trying to handcuff her, according to video of the encounter.

The disturbing clash was caught on a cell phone camera by a woman who had been napping on the Jersey Shore. Her video showed the officer straddling the woman in the sand, and whaling away at her head as he ordered her to "stop resisting."

The woman, who was arrested, and later identified by police as Emily Weinman, cried out, "You're not allowed to hit me like that! I didn't do anything wrong," while struggling under the tight grip of two officers.

Weinman, in a Facebook post quoted by Newsweek, said her 18-month-old daughter was among those who witnessed the beatdown.

Neither the officer who hit Weinman, another cop who grabbed her legs nor a third who stood by has been identified. Two of the cops have been placed on desk duty, pending the results of the internal probe, officials said.

The arrest took place on a beach in the resort city about 30 miles south of Atlantic City.

Weinman, who lives in Philadelphia, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault by spitting bodily fluids at a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction and being a minor in possession of alcohol.

The footage, shared on Twitter Saturday night, has since gotten more than 2.3 million views.

Weinman, in a Facebook post that has since been removed, said she had been drinking a beer, according to NJ.com. The website said she was approached by officers on the beach around 4 p.m. Weinman said she passed a Breathalyzer test and cops followed her when she went to make a phone call.

"I asked them don't they have something better to do as cops than to stop people for underage drinking on the beach," the Facebook post said. That's when Weinman claims an officer said, "I was gonna let you go but now I'll write you up."

Weinman said she refused to give the officer her name. She said she tripped and fell as she was backing away, and that's when the officer tackled her.

Weinman turns 21 in September, according to court records.

Philadelphia's KYW-TV said Weinman kicked an officer in the groin during the arrest, but the video does not appear to show it.

Weinman pleaded guilty to simple assault and reckless endangerment in November for a 2016 arrest, records show.

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano told Philly.com that the officers were wearing body cameras that will show Weinman insulting and spitting at them. Wildwood Police Chief Robert Regalbuto found the video upsetting, authorities said.

"Chief Regalbuto stated that while he finds this video to be alarming, he does not want to rush to any judgment until having the final results of the investigation," the department said in a statement posted on Facebook.

[Kätzchen]

Anybody following the police brutality story on national news, down in Mesa (on TV)?

I cried while watching a young black man be taken down by police, suckered punched (over and over again, and in the face) by an officer of African American ethnicity.

This is nearly what happened to my oldest son, nearly nine years ago. I hate that this is going on. I hate that it's happened to my eldest son. I hate that it happens to anyone.

It hurts my heart. It makes me sick at heart for victims of police brutality.

[Andrea]

Report: Police officer fired after traffic stop involving his daughter’s boyfriend

LORAIN, Ohio —

An Ohio police officer has been fired following an investigation into a traffic stop involving his daughter's boyfriend.

Fox 8 reports the incident took place on April 16, when Lorain police Patrolman John Kovach, a 26-year veteran of the force, initiated a traffic stop investigators determined was purely personal and an "abuse of power."

Dashcam video of the incident shows an agitated Kovach approach a stopped vehicle.

"You can get out," Kovach said.

"For what?" the driver asks.

"You're going to jail."

"For what?"

"Have a seat in my car. We'll make (expletive) up as we go."

Kovach later told investigators the driver was his daughter's boyfriend and that he did not approve of the relationship.

Police say Kovach found the boyfriend by tracing his daughter's computer to a friend's home in the neighborhood.

According to The Chronicle, the boyfriend did as he was asked and sat in Kovach's cruiser. Three other passengers were left in the stopped car.

The mother of two of the passengers came out of her nearby home. Kovach told the woman his daughter's computer was in her house. She initially gave him permission to search the home but later requested he come back with a warrant.

Kovach allegedly then threatened to give the woman's daughter a $300 ticket for not wearing a seat belt.

The mother says she is calling 911, and at this point Kovach noticed his daughter in the stopped vehicle. She initially refuses order to go with Kovach, saying she is 18 and cannot be arrested without cause, but eventually gets in the cruiser.

"You have to give me a reason, by law. Daddy, why are you pushing me? Why are you (expletive) pushing me? Why are you doing this?" she asks.

"Get in the car," Kovach orders.

While this is all going on, Kovach has reportedly been ignoring dispatchers trying to send him to a road rage incident.

“These actions are not acceptable for members of our police department and we felt it warranted immediate dismissal,” Safety-Service Director Dan Given said.

Police Chief Cel Rivera said the actions were “an abuse of police authority and a serious departure from appropriate protocol…they are contrary to the mission, values and policies of the Lorain Police Department.”

The police department’s union is appealing the decision.

Kovach told fellow officers that his ex-wife had alerted him to a post that his daughter's boyfriend made on Facebook, saying he was going to “put (Katlyn) out” as a prostitute to make money for the two of them.

However, when interviewed by Lt. Ed Super, the ex-wife said she did not know what Facebook post Kovach was referring to. She did say that she believed he was trying to be a father and did “not want him to lose everything” as she and Kovach have concerns about the daughter's boyfriend.

[Andrea]

Prosecutors Haven't Charged Miami-Dade Cops Despite Footage Showing Them Beating Man, Lying About It

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-dade-cops-beat-man-and-lied-but-faced-no-discipline-10471151

Ephraim Casado allegedly did nothing but throw a bottle from his car on March 27, 2017. According to documents and footage New Times obtained, Miami-Dade County cops responded by repeatedly punching him in the face, grinding his body into the asphalt, and painfully hoisting him into the air by his arms before arresting him on charges of "resisting an officer with violence," criminal mischief, and misdemeanor cannabis possession.

After reviewing body-camera footage from the ordeal, prosecutors dropped the case and wrote that the video evidence directly contradicted what the cops claimed had happened. MDPD detectives punched the suspect on video and later lied on their arrest affidavits, prosecutors discovered last August. But State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle's office never charged the officers.

"I reviewed the body-worn camera footage and was troubled by what I saw," Assistant State Attorney Natalie Pueschel wrote in an August 9 close-out memorandum clearing Casado of any wrongdoing. "It is my belief that these officers were less-than-truthful about the actual events that occurred during this incident."

Despite the clear violations detailed in the memo, MDPD spokesperson Det. Alvaro Zabaleta confirmed that the two officers involved are still active and that the department's internal affairs investigation "revealed no criminal or administrative wrongdoing; therefore, there is no disciplinary action forthcoming." Internal Affairs ruled that Pueschel's account of the events was inaccurate.

The memo from Rundle's office details what seems to be a laundry list of policy violations, if not downright violations of the law. Officers claimed that Casado refused to pull over and that when he finally stopped in front of his house, he exited the car "concealing his hands" before "committing a battery upon the detective" outside his home on NW 91st Street in West Little River.

But when prosecutors obtained the body-camera footage, the clip clearly contradicted the cops' sworn arrest affidavits. Prosecutors wrote that the footage actually shows Casado exiting his car calmly with his hands in the air and that the cops forced him out of his car at gunpoint before punching him.

In the gruesome body-camera footage, which New Times also obtained, the video show Casado exiting his car by sticking his hands directly in the air above his head — and a cop then grabs Casado by the arm and whips him around and pins him onto the trunk of the car.

Another video begins by showing a cop pummeling Casado in the face.

"You just punched me in the face!" Casado yells.

"Fucking right I did," the cop responds.

In separate footage from a different officer, Casado is shown slipping out of the officers' grasp, before an officer grabs him by the wrist and pulls him to the ground. Casado briefly rolls on top of the officer before a team of cops handcuffs him.

In a different clip, Casado can be heard screaming in pain in the back seat of the police car. Seconds later in the same clip, one of the cops turns to the camera and says to another officer: "Don't say anything. The cameras are rolling." Casado also repeatedly complains that officers put him in handcuffs "without reading [him his] rights."

"My head is bleeding and my mouth is bleeding!" Casado shouts in one portion of the footage. "What's your badge number?"

"What are you going to do about it?" one officer asks sarcastically in response. Another officer repeatedly refuses to tell Casado's friends and family why he's being detained.

Casado then kicks the door of his police car a few times — the officers respond by ripping Casado from the car and placing him face-down on the sun-baked asphalt. He screams in agony as a team of cops pins him to the ground, uses a "hobble" restraint to tie his ankles together, cuffs his arms behind his body, and hoists him into the air by his wrists, yanking his arms backward in a painful position.

Prosecutors noted the officers seemed to switch their body cameras on and off during the struggle:

Casado filed a lawsuit in federal court last week against MDPD and the officers involved. His lawyer, Igor Hernandez, told New Times yesterday that Casado was stuck living on house arrest for four months while he waited for prosecutors to drop the case. Hernandez said that in addition to getting punched in the face "six or seven times," Casado was also "in the process" of getting a new job but lost his chance because he was stuck at home while the case progressed.

"This case should not have been filed, but they proceeded due to all the allegations that the cops made up," Hernandez said. "The physical aspect of this case is one thing, but the loss of liberty too was probably even worse. Plus, this is just not right — cops can’t just be doing this kind of stuff."

The county has not yet responded to the lawsuit in court; MDPD does not comment on active lawsuits.

Why hasn't Rundle's office charged any of the officers involved with lying in their sworn statements? Her spokesperson, Ed Griffith, said only that the decision not to charge the cops was "addressed in the case file."

Rundle's office has been criticized repeatedly for refusing to discipline police officers and state employees for wrongdoing. She has never charged a Miami-area cop for an on-duty killing during her 25 years as the county's top prosecutor. This past April, she quietly cleared an MDPD cop for fatally shooting a Liberty City man despite the fact that her own prosecutors confirmed 27-year-old Anthony Ford was unarmed.

This is also not the first time Rundle's prosecutors have declined to take action after mentioning in close-out documents that cops have lied in sworn reports. In 2012, prosecutors wrote that then-City of Miami Police Lt. and Fraternal Order of Police President Javier Ortiz had written sworn documents that were "inconsistent" with video evidence taken at the scene of a police-involved beating. Rundle's office never charged Ortiz with a crime.

Earlier this year, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez vetoed the creation of an independent civilian oversight panel that would have investigated complaints against Miami-Dade County Police officers. MDPD Director Juan Perez stood in front of the county commission in February and argued there is "no widespread mistrust of his police department" and, therefore, the panel was "not needed."

[Andrea]

Officer who fatally shot East Pittsburgh teen Antwon Rose charged with criminal homicide

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officer-who-fatally-shot-east-pittsburgh-teen-antwon-rose-charged-n886896

The suburban Pittsburgh police officer who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Antwon Rose has been criminally charged after prosecutors say that he was never threatened during the incident and acted with "no justification."

East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld turned himself in on Wednesday after being charged with one count of homicide, according to court records.

"You can't take somebody's life under these circumstances," District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. said during a news conference.

Rose, a rising 17-year-old senior and honor student at Woodlands High School, was shot three times, including in the back, on June 19 as he and another teen ran away from a vehicle during a traffic stop. The vehicle had matched the description of a car connected to a drive-by shooting earlier that night.

Zappala told reporters that the evidence supports a case for third-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison, but added that he believed prosecutors could argue first-degree murder, which would send Rosfeld to prison for life if convicted.

In a video posted on social media by a bystander in a nearby home, Rose and Zaijuan Hester, 17, are seen getting out of the passenger side of a silver Chevy Cruze. As they begin to run, shots are heard and the witness gasps and asks, "Why are they shooting at them?"

Earlier in the day, surveillance cameras captured a light-colored Chevy Cruze that was involved in a drive-by shooting, according to an affidavit. The video showed the rear passenger window rolled down before a handgun emerged and fired .40 caliber bullets. Casings from those bullets at the scene of the shooting were later positively identified as having come from a .40 caliber Glock found under the back portion of the Chevy's passenger's seat.

Detectives said that the person in the front passenger seat, where Rose had been sitting, did not fire any of the shots, the complaint said.

“Antwon Rose didn’t do anything except be in that vehicle,” Zappala said.

One person was struck by the gunfire and transported to a local hospital "where he was treated for a grazing gunshot wound to the abdomen," according to the affidavit.

After the traffic stop was made, the driver of the Chevy Cruze was ordered out of the car by the officers when Rose and the other male "bolted from the vehicle on foot," Allegheny County Police Superintendent Coleman McDonough later said.

McDonough said Rose was unarmed but that two semi-automatic handguns were found on the floor of the vehicle.

Rose was struck by bullets fired by Rosfeld in the arm, face and abdomen, according to the affidavit. A medical examiner determined the bullet to the abdomen hit Rose's heart and lungs, and was determined to be the fatal shot.

The driver of the vehicle was arrested and later released without charges. The driver told police he was operating as a jitney driver, McDonough said.

Hester was taken into custody late Monday night on a probation violation, according to NBC News affiliate WPXI. He was charged with attempted homicide Wednesday morning in relation to the drive-by shooting that caused the initial traffic stop, WPXI reported.

Zappala said that Hester has not cooperated with investigators.

Rosfeld, 30, had been sworn into the East Pittsburgh Police Department just hours prior to the shooting. He was an officer in other departments in the area, according to WPXI.

Immediately after the shooting, Rosfeld had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Zappala was deeply critical of the East Pittsburgh Police Department during Wednesday's news conference, saying he has concerns "about the lack of policies and procedures in East Pittsburgh" and that the city has "a lot of answering to do."

The City of Pittsburgh Fraternal Order of Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

According to the affidavit, Rosfeld told investigators inconsistent stories about believing Rose had a weapon. Initially, he said, he thought he saw something dark that he perceived as a gun, but when asked to repeat his story, Rosfeld told detectives that he did not see a gun.

In regard to the inconsistency, Rosfeld told investigators he saw something in Rose's hand but was not sure what it was, according to the affidavit.

Rose died later that night on June 19 at a nearby hospital. His funeral was held on Monday.

After what appeared to be inaction by the district attorney's office, protests took place in Pittsburgh outside the Allegheny County Courthouse over the latest fatal shooting involving a white officer and an unarmed black male.

Rosfeld was arraigned Wednesday morning. His next court date is scheduled for July 6.

The officer was remorseful, Zappala said, adding, "You do not shoot someone in the back if they're not a threat to you."

Rosfeld's bail was set at $250,000, according to court documents. He was released from custody after posting unsecured bond, according to WPXI.

The prosecution, much less conviction, of on-duty police officers involved in fatal shootings is rare.

From 2005 to 2017, 82 officers across the United States have been charged with murder or manslaughter resulting from on-duty shootings, according to research by Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. In the last 13 years, only one officer was convicted of intentional murder, according to Stinson.