Police Brutality 2013

Archive for 2013

Chicago Cop Fractures Woman’s Face at The Police Station

Posted on: March 28th, 2013 2 Comments

A series of lawsuits against Chicago police commander Glenn Evans doesn’t stop, and another case of police brutality linked to his name has been brought to court. This time he is being sued by a woman named Rita King, who was arrested, threatened and injured after a domestic disturbance complaint.

In April 2011, the police came to King’s door and one officer equipped with a taser arrested her and returned to the police station. During the questioning, King was handcuffed to the table. She refused to be fingerprinted until she was given the reason of her arrest, so the cops called for backup. In came commander Evans who pressed his fist against King’s nose and pushed it for three to five minutes, repeatedly threatening “I’m going to push your nose through your brain”.

This caused King’s face to bleed profusely but instead of providing medical care the cops took her fingerprints and released her. King tried to walk home but lost consciousness a block away from the station. She regained consciousness about half an hour later and called a friend who took her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a facial fracture.

What’s discouraging is the fact that Glenn Evans has got at least five other police brutality lawsuits behind him, all settled before trial. Despite this, he got promoted to commander in August 2012. King complained about officers having a “code of silence” that protects them and stated that “This de facto policy encourages Chicago Police officers to engage in misconduct with impunity and without fear of official consequences.”

Cops Raid Wrong House, Threaten Children and Kill Their Dog

Posted on: March 26th, 2013 41 Comments

Six children from Chicago are gonna remember this night as one of their most traumatizing experiences. The kids, aged 11 months to 13 years at the time, were rehearsing songs for the church choir with their grandmother Charlene Holly when eight armed officers burst through the door and started aiming guns at them, yelling “get on the ground!”.

One of the cops even asked Charlene to show the 11 month old’s hands to them at gunpoint. When she asked for the reason of the raid, she was handed a warrant for Sedgwick M. Reavers, the tenant of the apartment one floor above the Hollys. The warrant clearly stated ‘The second floor apartment located at 10640 S. Prairie Ave.

A yellow brick two flat building with the numbers 10640 on the front of the building.’ but the cops broke into the first floor apartment, cursing at the minors and telling them “This is what happens when your grandma sells crack”.

After the raid, Charlene found their family dog Samson dead in the upstairs laundry room, where he was presumably dragged to with a dog pole by one of the officers. The family kept Samson in the basement and he couldn’t have reached the laundry room on his own.

Charlene and Samuel Holly are now pressing charges on Chicago, police officer Patrick Kinney and eight John Does for putting the lives of their children in danger.

Chattanooga Officers Fired For Breaking Inmate’s Legs

Posted on: March 24th, 2013 4 Comments

Police officers Sean Emmer and Adam Cooley have been fired from the force after the surveillance video of Salvation Army’s halfway house showed their excessive use of force. The incident took place in June 2012 when federal inmate Adam Tatum (37) got into a dispute after refusing to take a drug test in Residential Re-Entry Center where he had just returned. Surveillance tape shows the two officers repeatedly hitting Tatum with batons, punching him in the torso, choking him and dragging him by the broken leg.

Police Chief Bobby Dodd said that he could count 48 strikes from Emmer’s baton and to him it was an example of excessive use of force strong enough to fire the two officers. Tatum spent more than two days in intensive care with multiple fractures of both legs. The damage to his left leg will most likely cause him to limp for the rest of his life.

Cooley and Emmers’ attorney, Bryan Hoss, claims that Tatum was on drugs at the time of the assault, but the hospital didn’t perform a blood test so there is no evidence to support it. Tatum’s attorney has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the Chattanooga Police Department , the City of Chattanooga, officers Emmer, Cooley, Smith and fourteen more officers for the violation of Tatum’s civil rights.

Guy Gets Arrested For Refusing To Open Up The Door

Posted on: March 19th, 2013 26 Comments

This outrageous video shows how cops are abusing their power, a man gets arrested for refusing to open up the door of his home with no justification at all. Video was recorded by TLC for a documentary reality series called “Police Women of Cincinnati”. If anyone knows the follow ups of this story please contact us or leave in a comment section bellow.

South African Man Cuffed to Police Van Dies

Posted on: March 15th, 2013 2 Comments

Just when dust from Oscar Pistorius murder case was starting to settle down, another incident involving South African police has hit the cover pages. A shocking cell phone video shows a brutal arrest of a man in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg. Mido Macia, age 27, was a minibus driver whose vehicle was blocking the road and the police had to intervene because of the traffic obstruction. The video starts by showing Macia arguing with several officers and resisting arrest as they’re trying to outpower him. The man is handcuffed to the back of the open police van with hands above his head and left sitting on the ground.

Things seem to have settled down, but the outrageous part of the video starts several seconds later. The van starts to move slowly, dragging the cuffed man along while a bunch of officers is walking behind it paying no attention to the man. At one point, the van accelerates and two cops lift Macia by his legs, trying to carry him, but they drop him and watch the van speed away, dragging helpless Macia along the road for about half a kilometer.

A couple of hours after the arrest, Macia was found dead in his cell. Medical examination shows he suffered from head trauma and internal bleeding which caused his death. Other inmates confirmed Macia was severely beaten while in custody. This is just another in series of incidents linked to South African police, which is considered one of the most violent police forces in the world with a high number of deaths linked to police brutality every year.

Racy Facebook Pic Gets Pennsylvania Chief Suspended

Posted on: March 11th, 2013 8 Comments

A Facebook picture of a Confluence police chief has caused his immediate suspension without pay. The photo shows chief Tom Keller intoxicated and barely able to keep his eyes open, his left arm wrapped around an unidentified woman’s waist and his right arm touching her crotch.

The woman is hugging Keller, posing with a gun in her hand and another gun sticking out of her jeans.

Confluence major Allen Gyorko sympathized with Keller, saying that “In the winter, people get a little, what you call, cabin fever, you know. And they do goofy things.” Still, Keller was put on administrative leave until they figure out the next best step in his case.

Keller doesn’t remember when the picture was taken and claims that someone had hacked his Facebook account in an attempt to embarrass him. He filed a complaint against the unknown hacker who made this photo public. Even though Keller isn’t doing anything illegal in the pic, it certainly doesn’t portray him in a positive light.

There is a line between police officers’ personal and professional life, but their position in the society obliges them to be more aware of their image and the example they’re setting to others.

Mentally Disabled Man in Custody Ruled a Homicide

Posted on: March 5th, 2013 8 Comments

Three Maryland sheriff’s deputies have been placed on leave after the death of a man they had taken into custody has been ruled a homicide. Lieutenant Scott Jewell, Sergeant Rich Rochford and Deputy First Class James Harris are currently under investigation regarding the death of a 26-year-old man named Robert Ethan Saylor.

Saylor, who had Down syndrome, was arrested in Regal Cinemas Westview Stadium 16 after a call from one of the employees. Saylor had watched Zero Dark Thirty but when the screening was over he refused to either leave or buy another ticket, reluctant to leave his seat.

The officers took him out by force as he was struggling and resisting them. He was handcuffed and placed face down on the ground when he became distressed and started showing signs of a medical emergency. The ambulance rushed Saylor to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where they could only pronounce him dead.

The Chief Medical Examiner’s ruling stated “the cause of death as asphyxia and the manner of death as homicide,” and further investigation is pending. Saylor’s family refused to give any comments.

Law Enforcement Misconduct Statistics

Posted on: March 4th, 2013 6 Comments

According to a recent study published by injusticeeverywhere.com police have bad reputation across United States with a reason. The following, is a look at the various police brutality rates across America. Of course, this begs the questions, are they really there to “protect and serve”?

$3.5 Million Settlement For Deadly Police Raid

Posted on: March 2nd, 2013 2 Comments

Five Connecticut towns are to pay $3.5 million to the family of a man killed by mistake in a SWAT team raid. This is believed to be the largest amount of money ever paid in a lawsuit settlement for police shooting.

On May 18th, 2008, a SWAT team formed from police officers of Easton and four nearby towns had stormed in Ronald Terebesi’s home looking for drugs.

Terebesi had a bad reputation among the neighbors for his eccentric lifestyle that included wild parties, prostitutes and drug use, but there was no ground for police to react until they got a call from a woman who identified herself as Chandra Parker. She claimed that Terebesi had been using cocaine, which was enough for the Easton Police Chief John Solomon to get a search warrant and gather a SWAT team.

No one bothered to check the woman’s allegations, and it was after the tragedy they learned she was a prostitute who gave them a false name. She was at Terebesi’s house the morning of the raid and left after a dispute with him.

She had a criminal record which included drug related charges and was on a two-year probation at the time. It’s most likely she wanted to take revenge on Terebesi after the quarrel.

Gonzalo Guizan was a man with no criminal record who was visiting his friend Terebesi to discuss a new business. At the time of the raid, he was sitting in the living room talking to Terebesi. As the raid began, officer Sweeney entered the house exploding several flash grenades to lighten up the area.

The debris from one of the explosions hit him and he mistakenly though he was being shot at. He yelled “I’m hit, I’m hit!” and shot at Guizan, killing him with 6 bullets. Terebesi was cuffed and taken out of the house. After the house search, no weapons were found, and the only thing the police found were two crack pipes and a small amount of cocaine. Officer Sweeney was even declared “Officer of the Year” for his actions during the raid.

Five years later, it looks like Guizan’s family will finally get justice for the loss of their son.

LAPD Cops Mistakenly Shoot Two Female Newspaper Carriers

Posted on: March 1st, 2013 4 Comments

When 47-year-old Margie Carranza and her mother, 71-year-old Emma Hernandez, drove off to deliver newspapers like they do every day, they had no idea they would become the victims of trigger-happy LAPD cops.

The two women work as newspaper carriers and travel around in a pickup truck, and following their usual route could have been fatal for them. On Torrance street, several police officers were on patrol in front of their captain’s house, protecting him from a suspected gunman. Christopher Dorner is a former Los Angeles Police Harbor Division officer who recently set out on a vengeful mission, trying to kill his former colleagues who fired him three years ago.

In a bloody rampage, he killed the daughter of one of the officers and her fiance, and shot three cops in Riverside County, killing one. Dorner even posted a manifesto online to explain his intentions, and in the light of recent events, the police were alert and ready for Dorner. Unfortunately, while defending their captain, they made protocol violations that could have cost two innocent women their lives.

Carranza and Hernandez drove through Torrance street when the police opened fire at them. The truck the two women were in was a different shade of blue and a different model from Dorner’s, but no one bothered to double check the suspect info before shooting.

They opened fire without a warning or the attempt to stop the vehicle, shooting to kill. The 71-year-old Hernandez was shot twice in the back while her daughter was hit in the hand. One of the neighbors said he heard around 20 shots, and one of the photos from the scene shows the newspaper truck riddled with bullets.

Carranza is physically okay but still deeply shaken, and her mother is in intensive care and it’s still unknown whether she’ll suffer permanent physical damage. The police called it a case of mistaken identity.