By Michael Allen, Wed, March
19, 2014
Alberto Troche is suing the
city of Orlando, Fla., and a police officer for arresting him because he was
filming police making another arrest on Dec. 7, 2013.
According to Troche's lawsuit,
he heard a man yelling for help, was worried that police officers were using
excessive force and started filming the arrest in downtown Orlando on his cell
phone, noted WESH.
During the arrest, Orlando
police told Troche and other citizens not to film (video below).
When one woman refused to stop
filming, Officer Peter Delio took “the cell phone by force without requesting
consent from the bystander to seize the cell phone,” claims Troche's lawsuit.
Delio then reportedly told the
crowd, "Listen to me, anybody else want to keep videotaping and I’ll take
your phone for evidence as well! Please! Continue videotaping! I encourage it!”
When Troche continuing filming
with his cell phone, Delio walked up to him and said, “Good, I’ll be taking
that.”
After Troche refused to give up
his cell phone, Delio took the phone by force, arrested him and placed Troche
in a police cruiser.
Delio’s arrest report claimed
that he told Troche that his phone contained evidence of a crime and that the
video would need to be taken for evidence. "Troche said he was not going
to provide the phone to me and thrust his left hand forward into my chest,”
Delio said.
However, according to the cell
phone video, those statements were not made by Delio.
Troche claims he was in jail
for 15 hours on charges of “resisting arrest without violence,” reports the
Orlando Sentinel.
Ultimately, the state
attorney's office dropped the case against Troche.
He is suing the city of Orlando
and Delio for violation of constitutional rights, false arrest and false
imprisonment.
Sources: Orlando Sentinel and
WESH
