Police Brutality 2013

Archive for 2013

Cop Breaks 84 Year Old’s Neck For Touching Him

Posted on: December 6th, 2013 28 Comments

An elderly man is in critical condition after being thrown to the ground by a police officer. It happened Saturday night near North Orange Avenue after police say Daniel Daley put his hands on the cop. The World War II veteran is out of surgery. He suffered an injury doctors at Florida Hospital say only about 10 percent of people are lucky enough to survive.
Daley left the Caboose Bar and headed to his car across the street Saturday night.

Witnesses say the 84-year-old was upset when he saw his car was about to be towed. The Ivanhoe Grocery owner recently posted signs warning drivers because customers of other businesses were parking in their spots. Several people, who didn’t want to go on camera, say it has led to plenty of arguments the past few weeks, but none with the potentially deadly consequences that happened Saturday.

The police were called and say Daley, who’d been drinking, put his hands on the officer. Witnesses say he put his hands on the officer three times and the cop warned him to stop each time.

Police say Daley made a fist and said ‘I’m not leaving until I knock this cop out. Another witness says the officer then violently hip checked him and took him to the ground. Daley ended up in Florida Hospital with a broken neck.

There’s nothing that deals with the elderly in the Orlando Police Department’s use of force policy. However, it does define imminent danger as a situation that could lead to death or great bodily harm.

An Orlando police sergeant and spokesperson said this situation should qualify as imminent danger, but many residents don’t think so.

“I don’t think anyone needs to be thrown to the ground and have their neck broken because they were parked in the wrong spot,” said Gabby Aparacio, store customer. “I mean he’s an old man. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been drinking or not. How belligerent can you be?”

“I know when I get angry, I ball my fist. It doesn’t mean I’m going to hit you. I think he had no right to do so,” said Nataya Benway.

Family of Man Killed For Playing With Hose Nozzle Got $6.5 Million

Posted on: December 3rd, 2013 11 Comments

A fatal police mistake in 2010 left the Zerby family without their beloved father and son. Three years later, an unanimous verdict awarded $6.5 million to the family of the deceased Douglas Zerby, shot to death by two police officers.

The tragic incident took place in Long Beach, California, on December 12, 2010. The 35-year-old Douglas Zerby was sitting on his friend’s porch landing, playing with the nozzle of a watering hose that resembled a gun. He was intoxicated and kept pointing the nozzle in different directions which caught the attention of one of the neighbors who dialed 911. Within minutes, Zerby was ambushed by two cops who hid at two different positions nearby.

They never announced their presence or made any visual or verbal contact with Zerby. While playing with the nozzle, Zerby pointed at the direction where one of the cops was hidden, not knowing he was there. This caused both cops to shoot at Zerby, killing him on the spot.

His sister, Eden Marie Biele, was outraged by the way the police handled the situation.
“He never knew there was a problem. Police snuck down the corridor and shot him. He was killed in cold blood. He was a drunk sitting on a stoop fumbling with a hose nozzle.”

Zerby’s family got around one third of the money they asked for. His mother Pam Amici got $1 million, his father Mark got $2 million and his 10-year-old son River was awarded $3.5 million. None of the two officers guilty for Zerby’s death were dismissed and they never faced criminal prosecution.

Florida Man Mistaken For Car Thief Shot In His Driveway

Posted on: December 2nd, 2013 1 Comment

Roy Middleton, a 60-year-old man from Pensacola, Florida, was shot at 15 times by the police after being mistaken for a car thief. Thirteen out of fifteen bullets missed the target and Middleton survived, left with a shattered leg.

It was late at night when Middleton drove from a friend’s house and parked in his driveway. One of the neighbors mistook him for a car robber and dialed 911. Two Escambia County officers, sheriff’s deputy Jeremiah Meeks and Sgt. Matthew White responded to the call and drove to the scene. According to them, Middleton failed to obey their orders and lunged at them, which resulted in the shooting. They fired 15 shots altogether but hit Middleton only twice, shattering his leg. They handcuffed and arrested the injured man who was released after the identity mistake was cleared up.

As the result of the shooting, Middleton’s leg is held together by metal rods and he can’t walk without a walker. He claims that it took less that 30 seconds for the officers to shoot at him and that he wasn’t trying to disobey their orders.

“Why would I lunge at someone halfway down my driveway? How I’m going to lunge at them? With what? I was getting ready to do what they asked me – raise my hands, and I got shot during that.”
Middleton was unarmed, holding his car keys with a keychain flashlight on them when he was shot. He says that he was sober at the time and that he only had a couple of beers around 2 p.m. that day.

Sheriff David Morgan supports the officers’ story, claiming that it was the “herky-jerky” movements of the man that made them believe he was lunging at them. Roy Middleton is in the process of filing a suit against sheriff’s office for excessive use of force. Both officers are currently on paid administrative leave as the case is under investigation.

Some Ohio Cops Allowed to Drink and Work

Posted on: November 27th, 2013 2 Comments

Ohio-based newspaper Journal-News did an investigation on union contracts for local public safety offices, and there were some shocking findings. They have discovered several clauses that protect police officers and firefighters from being disciplined for consuming alcohol during or before working hours.

For example, in Lebanon, OH, officers are allowed to have a blood alcohol level of up to 0.04% while working. Police Chief Jeff Mitchell said that he had been trying to get the union representatives to change this clause to zero tolerance, but without success. Mitchell, who has been a Chief for nearly two years, did manage to add some changes to union contracts. One of previously existing clauses allowed officers to suck on a breath mint before being tested for alcohol, which is known to distort blood alcohol level readings in some cases. Mitchell succeed in getting the unions to remove this clause from the contracts, but he is still fighting for stricter policies.

Patrick Mulligan, an attorney who specializes in drunk driving cases in southwest Ohio, stated that the current DUI laws can lead to absurd situations, like drivers being cited for drunk driving by officers who have a higher blood alcohol level than them. Drivers under age 21 can be cited for blood alcohol level above 0.02% which is twice as less as the limit for police officers.

“It’s an interesting double standard,” he said. “I don’t think it’s one the general public would appreciate.”

Police officers from other cities such as Hamilton, Middletown and Mason work with a zero-tolerance policy regarding alcohol, and are placed on administrative leave for up to three days if suspected of having consumed alcohol before or at work. Mitchell hopes this will someday be the standard for all Ohio cities.

State Troopers Shoot at Minivan with Five Children

Posted on: November 20th, 2013 5 Comments

What started out as a traffic stop turned into a high-speed car chase and shooting as a Tennessee mom failed to obey police orders and tried to run away from the cops.

Oriana Ferrell was pulled over near Taos, New Mexico for driving 71 mph in a 55 mph zone. An officer asked her to turn the vehicle off and wait for him while he wrote the ticket, but when he moved away from the minivan Ferrell drove off. She pulled over again a couple of minutes later and the situation got even more heated.

One of the officers opened the driver’s door and tried to force Ferrell out of the car, but she wouldn’t budge. There were five children in the minivan, ages 6 to 18, and they were screaming at the cop to leave their mother alone. Her 14-year-old son got out of the car to defend her but the officer pulled a taser gun on him and he returned inside.

The dispute continued as Ferrell denied trying to run away from the police and she eventually got out of the car, but not for long. She ran back to the car struggling to break the cop’s grip, and the 14-year-old got out again, attacking the officer.

Both the boy and his mom managed to get inside the minivan and lock the doors so another cop came over for backup. The officers smashed the car window by the boy’s seat with a baton while the children inside were screaming in panic. Ferrell started the car and drove off, provoking the third officer to fire three shots at the back of the minivan full of children.

Four minutes later, Ferrell finally gave up and pulled over in front of a hotel. She and her son were arrested right away. The 14-year-old was charged with battery of an officer and was released shortly after.

The police found two marijuana pipes in the minivan and Ferrell was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia in addition to intentional abuse of a child, aggravated fleeing an officer, resisting an officer and reckless driving.

While there is no doubt that most of this could’ve been avoided if Ferrell had obeyed the orders in the first place, her attorney Alan Maestas said she was scared and acted out of fear.

“She was flat-out scared that something was going to happen to her children,” he said. “We ought to talk about the stupidity and recklessness of shooting at a car that has five children in it.” The question remains why lives of five children were endangered because of their mother’s irresponsible behavior.

SFPD Cops Attack Innocent Man, Neighbors Beaten For Helping

Posted on: November 19th, 2013 9 Comments

The heartwarming story about citizens of San Francisco making 5-year-old leukemia survivor Miles Scott’s dream come true couldn’t go without SFPD casting a dark shadow on the whole event. A black cyclist was beaten up after riding home from the Make A Wish Foundation happening for carrying what turned out to be a cupcake and juice.

21-year-old D’Paris Williams, known as DJ, was riding his bicycle and pulling up to his home at Valencia Gardens Apartments in Mission District. Two undercover cops in an unmarked vehicle got out of the car and grabbed DJ from behind, suspecting that he was carrying drugs.

It is still unclear whether they identified themselves as police officers before charging at DJ or not, but they went on to search him. The only thing they found was a cupcake and juice DJ had just bought at the corner store, but this didn’t stop them from beating the young black man.

One of the cops shoved DJ’s head into the building’s front door, then dragged him in the street where he was beaten until he blacked out. His sister, holding a newborn in her arms, was pushed by the second officer when she tried to intervene.

Several neighbors came to the rescue trying to make the cops stop, which resulted in three more people beaten by the police and taken in. One part of the incident was caught on tape and it shows the undercover cop running to a man and punching him in the face several times.

The man is later seen with a bloodied face, taken away in handcuffs. Police also arrested a man with HIV whose medical condition requires that he walks with a cane, considering the cane ‘a deadly weapon’.

DJ was taken to General Hospital for treatment, and then to the police station on Bryant Street. It is yet unknown if any charges will be pressed against him.

Man Arrested for Pot Possession Dies in Jail

Posted on: November 14th, 2013 3 Comments

A 22-year-old man has died in a Washington jail after the guards ignored his medical condition and calls for help during a fatal asthma attack.

Michael Saffioti turned himself in on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge and was placed in Snohomish County Jail, where he warned the staff about his severe asthma and debilitating dairy allergy. Nevertheless, when he was served oatmeal for breakfast, one of the guards he talked to convinced him it was safe for him to eat.

Two hours later, he was dead in his cell. The autopsy showed he died from asthma triggered by milk allergy.

Saffioti’s family has filed a $10 million lawsuit, claiming that their son asked to be taken to see a nurse after having some oatmeal, but his plead was ignored. He was sent back to his cell where he repeatedly pressed the call button and was further ignored. Less than 40 minutes later, he was found unconscious on the cell floor.

Jail staff tried CPR, but two hours after the incident he was pronounced dead at Providence Regional Medical Center.

His mother, Rose Saffioti, says that Michael’s dairy allergy was so severe he had to ask a girl what she had previously eaten before kissing her, and that he used pot and anti-anxiety meds to cope with his condition.

This wasn’t Saffioti’s first pot-related arrest, and Mrs. Saffioti says that jail authorities assured them he would be placed in the medical ward where the staff was familiar with his condition and had his food prepared separately. He was placed in general population instead, which turned out to be a death sentence for the young man.

In a sad ironic twist, the Washington state legalized recreational marijuana use just several months after Saffioti’s tragic death.

Two LAPD Cops Suspended For Alleged Rape of Several Women

Posted on: November 12th, 2013 13 Comments

LAPD officers Luis Valenzuela and James Nichols are under investigation for allegedly forcing women into performing sexual acts under threat of arrest, several times over the past five years. So far four women have made independent accusations against them, all involving a strikingly similar scenario.

All four women worked either as informants for Valenzuela and Nichols or have been previously arrested by them, so the two officers used that info to scare them into obeying. Valenzuela and Nichols would drive plain-clothed in an unmarked car and force women to get in, threatening to arrest them if they refuse to. They would drive to a secluded area where one of the officers would molest the woman while the other would keep watch.

The first case against the two officers was opened in January 2010, but the detective assigned to it was unable to locate the woman who made the accusation and the investigation was stopped. A year later, another woman reported being forced into oral sex by Valenzuela while Nichols was watching. This incident took place in 2009, but the woman hesitated to press charges because she was scared for her life and thought no one would believe her.

Her accusation reopened the case, but for 18 months the investigation didn’t show any progress. In July 2012, a member of the Echo Park neighborhood watch left a phone message to the Northeast Station claiming that the officers who patrol that area pick up prostitutes and release them in exchange for sex, which gave new material for the case.

The investigation identified two women who claimed they were raped by Valenzuela and Nichols on several occasions in the past five years.

Chief of police Charlie Beck has suspended the two officers and ordered discipline hearing panels to decide if they are guilty or not.

Sources close to the investigation claim that there is enough evidence so far to have them fired, but since according to Los Angeles city rules the chief of police doesn’t have the authority to fire an officer outright, they have to wait for the hearing.

Officer Shoots 12-Pound Dog Claiming It Threatened His Life

Posted on: November 8th, 2013 6 Comments

A six-foot-tall, nearly 300-pound probation officer Antoine Jones shot and killed a 12-pound dog during a routine visit, claiming he was frightened for his life.

Georgia probation officers Ronnie Simmons and Antoine Jones visited Sherry Shelton’s home at the Loblolly Estates Mobile Home Park to check on her son. When Sherry Shelton opened the door, her 2-year-old Jack Russell terrier/Cocker Spaniel mix named Patches started barking at Jones. She told the officer that Patches wouldn’t bite, but before she could react, Jones drew his gun and shot the dog through her chest. Some 30 minutes later, Patches died.

When terrified Shelton asked Jones for an explanation, he responded that he was afraid for his life.

“A little dog like that, you could stomp your feet or kick her out of the way or something, but he just shot her,” said Shelton in a statement.

The official statement from Georgia Department of Corrections justifies Jones’ act:

“On Oct. 7th, two Albany Probation Officers were conducting a field visit. During this time, an Albany Probation Officer was involved in an incident that required him to use use of force against an aggressive canine during a field visit. An incident report was filed and it was determined that the Probation Officer responded appropriately.”

13-Year-Old Carrying Toy Rifle Killed By Police

Posted on: November 7th, 2013 1 Comment

The case of 13-year-old Andy Lopez who was shot and killed by two Santa Rosa police officers has spurred a protest of hundreds of outraged citizens of his hometown.

The tragic incident happened on October 22, as young Andy was walking home after playing with his friends. They were playing with air-powered pellet guns and Andy was carrying one he borrowed from a friend. Two Sonoma County deputies spotted the boy walking down the street and mistook his toy gun for an AK-47 assault rifle.

48-year-old deputy Erick Gelhaus stepped out of the car and ordered the boy to drop the gun. As Andy instinctively turned around, Gelhaus fired eight shots, hitting him seven times and killing him at the spot.

Further investigation showed that Gelhaus’ reaction was so hasty his partner didn’t even have time to get out of the car before the shooting.

“We believe that the time period between the time the deputy told his dispatcher what his observations were and the time he advised on the radio that shots were fired was 10 seconds,” Lt. Paul Henry said.

Santa Rosa Police Department placed Gelhaus on administrative leave, pending an investigation.

Unfortunately, this is just another in a long line of incidents related to police mistaking gun replicas and toys for real weapons. Last year, a Texas eight-grader lost his life for carrying a pellet gun mistaken for a black Glock. U.S. police reports show there are around 200 such incidents per year.