Former cop gets 40 years in drug, weapons case

HAMMOND | A former downstate police officer was sentenced Friday to 40 years in federal prison for his role in a region drug dealing and weapons conspiracy, prosecutors announced.
John Smith, 56, of Indianapolis, was convicted in June of felony dealing of cocaine, two counts of attempting to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, two counts of possessing firearms in the furtherance of drug crimes and transferring firearms knowing they would be used in drug crimes, prosecutors confirmed in a news release.
Smith, who was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court used police credentials and firearms to protect illegal drug shipments, the release states.
Former Brooklyn, Ind., Town Marshal Terry Carlyle previously agreed to plead guilty to a cocaine distribution conspiracy charge in the same case and cooperated in the government investigation. In September, Carlyle was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Smith and Carlyle were arrested in April 2011 after an investigation by multiple federal and local agencies, including the Gary, Hammond, East Chicago and Lake County police departments.
"We will continue to investigate public corruption, including police corruption, and will vigorously prosecute and, upon conviction, seek substantial sentences for officers ... who abuse the public trust," U.S. Attorney David Capp said in the news release.

Garden Grove Policeman Sentenced To Prison For Sexual Assaults

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — A former Garden Grove police officer who was convicted of sexually assaulting three women was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison.

KNX 1070′s Mike Landa reports Jesse Andrew Green, 35, was convicted Sept. 6 on three sexual assault counts despite a denial of the charges when he took the stand during the trial, saying he understood that “no means no.” 

But Deputy District Attorney Eric Scarbrough disputed that claim, telling the jury Green called his victims names and told them he had given them sexually transmitted diseases.

Green, of Huntington Beach, lost his job as a police officer Nov. 24, 2010, about seven weeks after he was initially charged with sexually assaulting two of the victims.

The victims — identified in court only as Gina, Abigail and Marissa — felt “violated” and “also blamed themselves,” Scarbrough said.

Abigail, who met the defendant through the dating website Match.com, went on a second date with Green after he allegedly forced her to perform a sex act on him in January 2009, but she cannot say why, Scarbrough said.

All three “liked” the defendant and had consensual sex with him. But the prosecution alleged that at various times, Green would force the women to perform acts they objected to. He also said he was giving them a sexually transmitted disease, Scarbrough said.

Gina met Green online and went on a date with him in April 2006 and had consensual sex with him, Scarbrough said. However, when they were about to have sex on another occasion he grew angry when she asked him to use a condom. Scarbrough said Green sodomized Gina while calling her names such as “whore.”

Green met Marissa through mutual friends. The two exchanged text messages and she sent him “salacious” photos of herself in lingerie, Scarbrough said. They met for a date in November 2009 at an Italian restaurant in Newport Beach, and later when they were about to have sex, she angered him by asking him to wear a condom.

“That’s when she saw a change,” the prosecutor said, adding that the defendant became aggressive and insulted the woman, telling her “I have AIDS, now you’re going to have AIDS and no one will want you.”

He returned to being “a nice guy again” after they had sex, prompting Marissa to wonder, “am I over-reacting?” Scarbrough said.

When they started to have sex again, Green “turned her over” and sodomized her, Scarbrough said. She managed to push him away and ran off, with Green chasing her, saying, “Let’s talk,” the prosecutor said.

Barnett said even “after all the bad things the prosecutor said happened, the alleged victims are calling and dating the alleged rapist and sodomizer.”

He said Green first dated Gina in February 2005, and the two had consensual sex in November 2005, but the alleged sexual assault happened in April 2006. The attorney said Gina wanted a serious relationship, but Green did not.

Gina only went to police in May 2006 when he failed to show up to help her move, Barnett said.

Before Green dated Marissa, she sent him photos of herself in a provocative police costume, Barnett said.

When Marissa went to police a day after their date in November 2009 she did not initially tell officers about the claim that he had a sexually transmitted disease, Barnett said. She also falsely reported that a police dispatcher accused her of being a “cop hater,” but the 911 call does not reflect that, the defense attorney said.

Barnett said Abigail went on a second date with Green after he allegedly sexually assaulted her and that the two exchanged 67 telephone calls following the supposed attack.

One of those phone calls was a “happy birthday call” to the defendant, Barnett said, adding mockingly, “A happy birthday to my rapist.”

A fourth woman who alleged Green forced her to have sex was allowed to testify in the case, but the defendant was not charged with sexually assaulting her.

cop convicted of felonious assault for pointing gun

HOLLAND, MI - A jury found a former Wyoming police officer guilty of felonious assault for pointing a handgun at officers in Holland in July, records show.
Mark Armstrong, 56, was convicted Wednesday, Nov. 20, of two counts of felonious assault and a charge of felony firearms stemming from the July 25 incident in downtown Holland, jail records show.
Police were trying to talk to Armstrong about alleged threats made to his ex-girlfriend in Wyoming and other acquaintances and received a tip that his vehicle was in a parking lot at Ninth Street and College Avenue. Armstrong approached officers and then fled while flashing a handgun.
Police said that during a brief pursuit, Armstrong turned and pointed a .380 handgun at two officers. No one was injured.
Records show Armstrong is to be sentenced Dec. 30. He is lodged in Ottawa County Jail on a $30,000 cash or surety bond, records show.
Armstrong was fired from the Wyoming Police Department in 2011 for allegedly using two derogatory terms in reference to African Americans while with other officers in a report writing room, according to information previously obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. He had worked for the department for 26 years.

activists say chief’s shootings concern

By Lauren Gold, Pasadena Star-News

PASADENA>> Community activists said revelations this week that Police Chief Phillip Sanchez took part in five officer-involved shootings during his career as a police officer in Santa Monica are cause for concern.
The issue of police shootings is already a hot-button issue in Pasadena and the news of Sanchez’s own past added fuel to the fire for residents who have long advocated for community oversight of the police department. Sanchez oversees all officer involved shooting investigations and was chosen by City Manager Michael Beck after he was vetted by a secret panel of citizens.


Although Beck acknowledged he was aware of the shootings, Mayor Bill Bogaard said he had no prior knowledge of cases in which Sanchez fired on suspects.
“The revelations are cause for concern,” said Attorney Martin Gordon, of the Pasadena Community Coalition. “I believe at the minimum the community will ask, why there was no transparency about this during the original hiring process? Would this have produced a different outcome or a different oversight protocol? What should we do now?”
Gordon added that increased police oversight is still at the top of his list despite the City Council’s rejection last month of Councilman John Kennedy’s proposal to commission a study on the creation of an independent review body for the department. The majority of council members argued that the Public Safety Committee, made up of four council members, is sufficient oversight.


“Whether it is Chief Sanchez or someone else, it is clear that we need some clear form of community oversight of the PPD,” Gordon said. “The Public Safety Committee basically rubber stamps the Chief’s reports. That is not oversight. Having a robust oversight committee would not only help us deal with the myriad of issues facing the Police Department and their personnel, but also help us establish a more clear criteria of our expectations for any chief of the PPD and our officers.”
Sanchez’s officer involved shootings were revealed in a leaked video of a deposition in the lawsuit filed against the city by the family of Kendrec McDade, an unarmed teenager shot and killed by police last March. In the video, McDade family attorney Caree Harper, who is off camera, questions whether Sanchez can objectively evaluate his officers based on his own past shootings.


Sanchez says in the video that he feels he is able to make objective decisions on police shootings.
Police Department spokeswoman Lt. Tracey Ibarra said Sanchez was both criminally and administratively cleared in all the incidents, each of which involved an armed or thought-to-be-armed suspect in a dangerous 
“How is the chief going to objectively handle shootings like that when he’s been involved in five in the past?” Ertll said. “Even if he didn’t have those five officer involved shootings in his past I would still be advocating for (community oversight) because he’s the chief of police and we know that when someone is running an institution most of the time they will support the actions by their subordinates and I think a lot of times that’s why we need an independent commission to objectively review cases that involve officer involved shootings or other issues too.”


Former NAACP president Joe Brown said he was aware of Sanchez’s officer-involved shootings at the time Sanchez was hired, after being approached by the NAACP branch in Santa Monica. He said, the fact that others in the community including elected officials did not know that information proves there is a need in Pasadena for more transparency.
“If we had had transparency all of our elected persons in the city would have known what they know this morning and then it wouldn’t have been such a shock to the other readership for the newspaper,” Brown said. “I think now it’s going to make the chief a lot better because now he has nothing under the table, there is nothing that has not been revealed.”


Regardless of the chief’s personal record, Brown said there is no question that there are police issues in the city, and that he and other former NAACP presidents have begun working with Sanchez and other city officials to rectify them and improve relationships with the community.
Brown said the group, which included City Manager Michael Beck and Assistant City Manger Steve Mermell, met last week and plans to meet again next week.

“Our number one goal is so that Chief Sanchez will be able to see the citizenry in certain portions of this community are not receptive of the police techniques and tactics,” Brown said. “I believe there is going to be some tweaking of the policies that are on the table right now. ... We need to go back to the community stakeholders and share that something is being accomplished. It will help to move the city forward.”

Officer’s case put off to Jan. 9

JOHNSTOWN -The City Court case of a city police officer accused of felony statutory rape was adjourned Thursday until Jan. 9.
A court official said suspended Patrolman Adam Schwabrow will be back in court at 9 a.m. that day.
Schwabrow was to appear Thursday before Acting City Court Judge Lisa Lorman. But a spokesman for the office of Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy said defense attorney Michael McDermott of Albany asked for the adjournment and the judge granted it. McDermott didn't return a phone call seeking comment.
The 32-year-old Schwabrow was charged Sept. 19 by his own Police Department with third-degree rape, commonly known as statutory rape. He is accused of having sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl sometime over the past year and a half.

He is on unpaid leave from his city police officer position and another job as director of the Montgomery County Emergency Management Office.

Alabama A&M rape suspect a former Memphis police officer

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAAY) - A man charged with rape at Alabama A&M University is a former Memphis police officer who resigned after shooting and killing a 15-year-old boy.

Terrance Shaw, 29, was arrested Sunday and charged with first-degree rape and sodomy of his ex-girlfriend. She was visiting the Alabama A & M grad student at his off-campus apartment.

Court records show a friend of the victim's reported the incident. The victim went to the crisis center, where she was examined.

According to court records, Shaw is accused of raping a woman Nov. 16. Court records also indicate three other men witnessed the act.

Our ABC affiliate in Memphis, Local 24, spoke with Shaw on the phone, who denies the charges. Shaw says it was consensual.

Shaw was off-duty when he shot and killed 15-year-old Justin Thompson during what he said was a robbery attempt in September 2012. Shelby County's district attorney declined to pursue charges after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation finished its investigation of the incident.

According to FOX 13 in Memphis, Shaw befriended Thompson after seeing him panhandling on the street. Shaw said the night he shot Thompson he had received a text message from the teen asking for food. Records show Shaw called police to report the shooting but never identified himself as a police officer. Shaw resigned from the department in April during an administrative review of his conduct.

Shaw is out of the Madison County Jail on a $20,000 bond. His next court hearing is Dec. 4.

Officer Sues Police Dept.

An Atlantic City Police Officer claims he received a death threat after he complained about police misconduct to his superiors. Sergeant Mark Benjamin is now suing the department, which is already dealing with several allegations of police brutality.

Two separate lawsuits accuse Atlantic City police officers of using excessive force while arresting unarmed people. Sergeant Mark Benjamin, a 16-year veteran with the department, says he’s witnessed his share of misconduct as well as an officer releasing a K-9 on a person without reason.

“The technical term may be a whistleblower,” Benjamin said. “But I’m just a good cop and upstanding citizen reporting misconduct.”

Shortly after making the report however, Benjamin claims he himself became a victim. In 2012, he filed a lawsuit against the department stating he was the target of racial discrimination and retaliation after he spoke out. The suit claimed there was “criminal activity by members of the police department.”

“It was like the masses turned against me,” Benjamin said. “I reported things in reference to police misconduct and with that came the hostilities.”

Benjamin says he now fears for his life after a friend told him a hit was made against him.

“When I inquired what he meant by a hit, the individual specifically said I was being videotaped and that I better watch my back,” Benjamin said. “I took that as a threat. Just as he said, a hit means a hit.”

Benjamin says he reported the alleged threat to his superiors. After an investigation however, he was later told there was insufficient evidence to support it. NBC10 contacted a top police official who claimed he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit or the alleged threat. Court records show the Department has denied any wrongdoing however.

Benjamin says he already knows how other officers will respond when they hear about his allegations.

“They’re going to do what they’re going to do,” he said. “They’re going to say I went against the blue code. They’re going to say I’m a rat. They’re going to say they have a lack of respect for me.”

The police department and Atlantic City have denied any wrongdoing and are trying to get the lawsuit dismissed. Benjamin however continues to argue that his case should go to trial. 
  

Los Angeles Police Misconduct Lawyers Settle LAPD Civil Rights Case Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1596766#ixzz2lSvMdB7z

November 19, 2013

The Layfield Law Firm, APC is a full-service personal injury law firm representing injured victims and families throughout the nation. Recently, the firm reached a $975,000 settlement in a case involving violations of U.S.C. section 1983 by the LAPD (Rosales v. LAPD, Case No. CV12-00034DDP, Los Angeles, CA).

According to court documents, the case revolved around a confrontation between a local Los Angeles man and the LAPD on February 4, 2011 after a bar fight. The Layfield Law Firm contended that an LAPD officer shot a father of three without justification by using a beanbag shotgun without proper warning. This “head strike” incident resulted in serious head injuries as a result of the bean bag shotgun being used at close range while aimed at the victim’s head.

Court records state that a video had recorded the events of the shooting and that the LAPD allegedly destroyed key evidence. Attorney Philip J. Layfield – founder of The Layfield Law Firm – was able to effectively highlight evidence that supported claims that various LAPD officers lied, destroyed and failed to preserve evidence, and resorted to witness intimidation during the course of the investigation and pending case.

Attorney Layfield was able to utilize his firm’s resources to conduct a 2-year long investigation through the use of private detectives, forensic analysis, and indexing of thousands of pages of documents utilizing the most advanced technology to bolster his clients’ claims. His commitment to preserving his clients’ rights, to speaking out against injustice, and to working zealously on a case that needed to be addressed proved successful in earning a nearly one million dollar settlement. Thanks to the firm’s legal team, the clients will receive the compensation needed to pay for past and future medical expenses, as well as the additional emotional and economic damages they incurred.

The successful settlement is yet another example of the abilities of The Layfield Law Firm’s legal team to take on the most complex and difficult cases. Few firms are able to utilize the intellectual and financial resources of The Layfield Law Firm. For more information about the firm and the police misconduct cases the legal team handles, visit the firm’s website at: http://www.layfield-law.com/.

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The Layfield Law Firm, APC provides experienced personal injury and business litigation representation to clients throughout Southern California. The firm’s legal team has decades of combined experience and has recovered more than $70 million in compensation. The firm has office locations across Southern California, including El Segundo, Santa Monica, Riverside, Palm Springs, Newport Beach, and Ventura.

A Miami Gardens Store Owner Catches a YEAR of Police Abuse on Film (Vide...

Miami Gardens Store Owner Catches Police Misconduct on Hidden Cameras

Miami Gardens store owner Alex Saleh has enacted his own form of “zero tolerance.” Saleh installed 15 cameras to catch outrageous police behavior on video — including against his own store clerk, who was stopped and questioned more than 250 times by Miami Gardens police, 60 times for trespassing.

In addition to repeated questioning, Earl Sampson was searched more than 100 times and arrested and jailed 56 times, the Miami Herald reported.

“I never felt they had any probable cause,” Sampson told the Herald. “They hop out of the car and search me before they even ask me for my name.”

“The same one stop me 2 and 3 times a day,” he told CBS Miami. “I feel like I can’t even be in my own neighborhood anymore.”

Saleh said his Quickstop convenience store has never been robbed — he installed the cameras in June of 2012 to protect himself, his employees and his customers from the police.

“I seen the outrageous police abusing people in the community,” Saleh told CBS. “They’ve been treating the people wrong.”

He has since amassed more than two dozen videos. The Herald obtained some of them, along with Sampson’s 38-page criminal history, which includes one marijuana possession charge among many charges that were never pursued by prosecutors.

In addition to the aggression Sampson experienced at the hands of police, the videos show officers stopping and questioning citizens, searching them, arresting them for trespassing without reason, using what appears to be excessive force on people who are not resisting arrest, filing inaccurate police reports and searching Saleh’s store without a warrant.  

Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union Florida, said the Miami Gardens police chief has not done his job in stepping in.

“Where is the police chief in all this? In a police department in a city this size, this kind of behavior could not escape his attention,” Simon said.

“Doesn’t the City Commission know that they are exposing the city to either massive liability for civil rights violations? Either that, or they are going to wake up one day and find the U.S. Department of Justice has taken over its police department.”

Saleh, Sampson and their attorney Steve Lopez are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the police department.

Trial Involving CHP Officer for Police Misconduct to Commence Next Month

Torrance, California (PRWEB) November 20, 2013 

Attorney Alex Galindo with the law offices of Curd, Galindo & Smith, LLP announces that his client's case Cox v. State of California Los Angeles Superior Court Case No.: BC 473308 is scheduled to commence December 10, 2013.

Court documents indicate that on February 5, 2011, CHP Officer Ron McMillan was performing routine traffic patrol along the I-405 northbound near LAX. Officer McMillan noticed that the driver of a gold colored SUV was attempting to alert the officer. Officer McMillan immediately noted that the driver was angry. The driver was William Cox a 52 year old truck driver. Mr. Cox was attempting to summons the officer to complain about another motorist who was cutting off other motorist. Court records state that Officer McMillan a 10 year veteran with the California Highway Patrol pulled Mr. Cox over. Mr. Cox immediately complied and stopped his vehicle on the right shoulder and exited his SUV. Court documents state that upon exiting Mr. Cox began shouting at the CHP officer asking why he didn't pullover the vehicle that was cutting people off. The incident report and court records show that the entire incident was captured on the patrol car's video camera. The video which was lodged with the court shows Officer McMillan in an attempt to keep Mr. Cox safe requested that he place his hands on his head. Mr. Cox complied but when Officer McMillan attempted to handcuff him, Mr. Cox pushed away and asked what was going on. The lawsuit further alleges that Mr. Cox requested a supervisor and began to walk away back to his vehicle when Officer McMillan shot Mr. Cox in the back with a Taser. Officer McMillan contends that he fired the Taser as he felt that his safety was threatened by Mr. Cox. Mr. Cox fell face first and alleges that he suffered severe injuries. The complaint goes on to allege that Mr. Cox was taken to a nearby hospital where he was diagnosed with a wrist fracture and facial lacerations. 

On November 4, 2013, a Judge of the Superior Court denied the State's motion to dismiss the case which now allows the case to proceed to a jury trial.    

Mr. Cox contends that the Officer exercised excessive force and violated his civil rights. Mr. Cox seeks damages against the Officer and the CHP. The Officer contends that he acted in accordance with CHP policy and procedures and that he fired the Taser to protect himself. The trial is expected to last two weeks.

Mr. Galindo is a founding member of Curd, Galindo & Smith, LLP which is a full service law firm that represents both corporate and professional clients and those who have been seriously injured or have lost a family member due to an accident, defective product, police misconduct or negligence. The law firm has recovered millions of dollars for its thousands of clients since 1995 by winning complex and challenging business disputes, death and injury cases involving police misconduct, traffic collisions, work place injuries and defective products, including defective automobiles, against some of the world's largest companies and governmental agencies.

Mr. Galindo received his business degree from University of Southern California in 1982 and his law degree in 1985 from the University of Oklahoma. Mr. Galindo has been a lawyer and real estate broker for over 25 years. He has won numerous jury verdicts and settlements in the area of personal injury, products liability and civil rights/police misconduct cases. Mr. Galindo is a member of ABOTA which is an organization of attorneys representing both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases. All of the attorneys who belong to ABOTA have earned great distinction at trial. Mr. Galindo is a member of Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, NPAP (National Police Accountability Project), National Lawyers Guild, National Association of Realtors and California Association of Realtors.

Protests after shocking police brutality video emerges

Police in San Francisco are being accused of heavy-handed tactics after a video showing officers making several arrests at a block of flats.

The YouTube video, taken on a cell phone, has sparked claims of 'police brutality' as well as a protest at the Mission substation last night.

About 100 people marched along the road and stood outside the electricity distribution centre. Police watched over the protest in riot gear as the angry residents shouted 'police brutality', NBC reports.

Police Chief Greg Suhr said the incident originally started because a 20-year-old man was asked to stop riding their bike on the sidewalk but then escalated quickly into a 'tremendously resistive situation'.

D'Paris Charles Williams was arrested on Friday when members of the city’s violence reduction team ordered him to stop riding his bicycle on the sidewalk in the Valencia Gardens Housing Complex.

Mr Suhr said: 'Why the desperation to avoid this police contact which would be just a simple citation for riding on the sidewalk?

'From what I see in the video, the officers are also being punched at. Our rule is they can use whatever force reasonable to overcome the resistance,'

Police chief: Greg Suhr said the incident started when a 20-year-old man was asked not to ride his bike on the sidewalk

In the six-minute clip, several police cars are parked in the middle of the road and scores of people line the sides of the road shouting at the police.

Five officers were injured; two went to the hospital.

Lawsuit alleges police brutality

BRIDGEPORT -- A $10 million federal lawsuit claims Bridgeport police officials closed their eyes to a rampage by three rogue officers allowing them to leave a nearly two-year trail of abuse and brutality.

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"This was a deliberate indifference to the rights of citizens," said Gary Mastronardi, who with Robert Berke filed the lawsuit Friday against the city, Mayor Bill Finch, Police Chief Joseph Gaudett and members of the city's Office of Internal Affairs. "They didn't protect the citizens, they protected these cops. Gaudett is going to have some explaining to do."
The lawsuit alleges that since 2010, Sgt. Ronald Mercado and officers Robert Lawlor and Elson Morales were given a free hand by their superiors to beat up and abuse citizens. The suit lists nine specific incidents.
"We believe there are many more," Mastronardi said.
"The department has in place specific policies and procedures against the improper use of force," said Police Department spokesman Bill Kaempffer. "Allegations regarding unreasonable force are taken seriously and investigated by the Office of Internal Affairs under a procedure approved by the federal court. The department intends to defend its actions in investigating citizens' complaints against the allegations in this lawsuit."
But Mastronardi countered that the OIA's investigative process intimidates citizens from proceeding with their complaints against officers.
He said prospective complainants are told they could be prosecuted if they lie in their statements. He claimed detectives don't actively investigate claims, but instead send registered letters to the complainants asking them to come in and give statements.
"The system is set up so that the citizen is never believed unless a video is made public," he said.
Of the eight incidents identified in the lawsuit, two of the alleged victims never filed a complaint with OIA, and three did not respond to certified letters to provide signed, sworn statements so their cases were closed. One later withdrew his complaint.
Among the nine incidents of alleged brutality by the officers include the May 20, 2011, kicking and stomping by the officers of a man lying on the ground in Beardsley Park that was captured on video by a passerby that was posted a year later on YouTube, and the May 5, 2012, struggle between the officers and a man stopped for driving with tinted windows, also captured on video.
On May 20, 2011, Orlando Lopez-Soto was arrested in Beardsley Park following a chase by Morales and Lawlor.
A video taken by a citizen in the park shows that after twice being shot with stun guns by the officers, Lopez-Soto was repeatedly kicked in the head, face and body by Lawlor, Morales and officer Clive Higgins. The video was made public earlier this year and received national attention.
Lopez-Soto has a separate lawsuit pending against the officers in federal court.
In another videotaped incident, on May 5, 2012, Michael Stinson was driving in the P.T. Barnum housing complex when he was stopped by Mercado, Lawlor and Morales for driving with tinted windows.
A video taken by a citizen shows Mercado shoving Stinson on the ground and choking him while Lawlor and Morales repeatedly kick Stinson. Lawlor then shot pepper spray into Stinson's mouth.
Feliciano, Bracey, Santiago, Bravo, Lopez-Soto and Stinson have prior criminal records. Lopez-Soto pleaded guilty to gun and drug charges from the incident and is serving a 5-year prison term. Stinson later pleaded guilty to assault and drug charges in an unrelated incident and is serving a 5-year term.
"Ironically, Mr. Stinson and his lawyers assert a failure of the internal affairs process when it is in fact undisputed that Mr. Stinson himself failed to cooperate with their investigation of his claim," said Associate City Attorney Betsy Edwards.


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More Information

About the lawsuit
The lawsuit against several Bridgeport officials and the city includes the following allegations:
On Dec. 3, 2010, William Feliciano was arrested on Gilmore Street after a brief chase. Two officers repeatedly kicked Feliciano in the face, head and body causing multiple fractures requiring two surgeries and medical bills of $125,000.
On Dec. 30, 2011, Efraim Perez was arrested. After handcuffing Perez, an officer watched as two others rammed Perez's head into a wall, rubbed his face into ice and snow on the street and beat Perez while accusing him of being a gang member.
On Jan. 3, 2011 Aaron Bracey was leaning against a parked car on Reservoir Avenue waiting for a ride to work when the suit states he was approached by officers, who grabbed him and pinned his chest to the hood of the car. He was handcuffed and put into their police car and after a while let go with a ticket for loitering, according to the suit.
On April 19, 2011, Angel Santiago was being arrested by an officer who repeatedly kicked him in the head, face and mouth.
On May 23, 2011, Ramon Sierra was walking to a store on Boston Avenue when he was stopped by police. The suits alleges that officers grabbed Sierra, who is paralyzed on his left side, threw him on the ground, then drove his head into the side of the police cruiser. He was hospitalized for his injuries.
On May 20, 2011, Orlando Lopez-Soto was arrested in Beardsley Park following a chase by police. A video taken by a citizen in the park shows that after being shot twice with a stun gun by the officers, Lopez-Soto was repeatedly kicked in the head, face and body.
On Aug. 16, 2011, Courtney Swabey was arrested after he criticized officers for using excessive force against a female friend. They then threw him on the ground and kicked him repeatedly in the head and body, causing him to be hospitalized, the suit states.
On Nov. 3, 2011, William Bravo was arrested after a foot chase for possession of marijuana. Bravo was struck repeatedly in the head with an officer's gun, then was kicked in the head, face and body.
On May 5, 2012, Michael Stinson was stopped by police for driving with tinted windows. A video taken by a citizen shows an officer shoving Stinson on the ground and choking him while two others repeatedly kick Stinson. An officer then shot pepper spray into Stinson's mouth

Ralliers Allege Police Brutality at Insomnia Cookies Protest

Protesters held a rally Friday to voice complaints of police brutality, claiming that the Cambridge Police Department injured a protester picketing outside of Insomnia Cookies the previous night.

Jason Freedman, the protester, sustained injuries to his face, back, and arms while being arrested by the police, claimed Geoffrey Carens, a Harvard library assistant and Industrial Workers of the World member.

Freedman was arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct, according to CPD spokesperson Daniel M. Riviello.

Freedman declined to comment Sunday.

Thursday night’s protest was one in a series of monthly pickets at the 65 Mount Auburn St. store that began in August, when several workers fired by the cookie shop made claims of labor rights violations. The protesters urge the company each month to increase wages and let workers unionize.

The picket on Thursday began at approximately 9:30 p.m., according to IWW member Christopher M. Perkins, who was present at the protest.

“We were chanting and holding signs, trying to make the point that Insomnia Cookies is unfair to its workers,” Perkins said.

More than a dozen CPD officers arrived at the scene approximately 20 minutes into the picket, according to Perkins.

Riviello wrote in an emailed statement, “Officers dispatched to this location were attempting to strike a balance between the freedom of speech of the [protesters] and the rights of pedestrians and business to access the public sidewalk.”

According to Perkins, the CPD officers approached a protester holding a megaphone and demanded that he turn it off. The protester complied.

“Nonetheless, they began pushing the person who was holding the microphone,” Perkins said.

Freedman then approached the CPD officers to demand that they not touch the protester with the megaphone, according to Perkins. One of the CPD officers then punched Freedman in the face, he said.

Genevieve Lechat, an IWW member who was also present at the protest, said that she took photos of Freedman as he was being assaulted. The photos, which have been circulated online and over email lists, seem to show a man that Lechat identified as Freedman being overpowered by several officers outside of Insomnia.

Riviello did not respond to a question about a photograph that seemed to show officers subduing Freedman.

Carens, who has previously supported labor movements at Harvard, wrote in an emailed statement that the police threw Freedman on the trunk of a vehicle and then on the ground, “pinning him partially under a parked car and on the curb as they piled on top of him.”

More Police Brutality Allegations

Another person has come forward claiming she was the victim of police brutality from an Atlantic City officer.
In only five years on the force, Officer Sterling Wheaten has already been named in half a dozen lawsuits. The latest comes from Janine Costantino, who claims Wheaten assaulted her at Caesar’s Casino last year.
“I couldn’t imagine this was actually happening,” she said.
Costantino says Wheaten arrested her brother after he got into an altercation with another patron.
“Wheaten had my brother in a headlock and his arms were limp and his legs were weak,” Costantino said. “I screamed out that it was police brutality and that I was videotaping it all.”
That’s when she claims Wheaten turned on her.
“He was running at me and he says, ‘Give me the phone you b**h,’” she said. “He grabbed my bun and he was slamming my forehead into the floor.”
Wheaten then arrested Costantino but court records show the charges against her were later dropped. Costantino says she’ll never forget what one officer told her the night of the incident.
“He’s like, ‘Oh, that’s your first mistake,’” she said. “You shouldn’t be videotaping police officers.”
Wheaten already made headlines earlier this year after video surfaced allegedly showing him releasing his K-9 on a man who was already face down on the ground. Lorenzo Langford, who was the Atlantic City mayor at that time, called the video “horrifying.”
NBC10 obtained an internal police report which shows that Atlantic City Police internal affairs investigated Wheaten 15 times between 2008 and 2010 for allegations of misconduct, some of those allegations being excessive force. Each time however, the department concluded Wheaten did nothing wrong or that there was not enough evidence to clearly prove he did something wrong.  Wheaten’s attorney told us she was confident internal affairs performed complete and thorough investigations. She did not respond to the latest lawsuit however.
“I get calls every day from people who have been brutalized and terrorized by the Atlantic City Police Department,” said Jennifer Bonjean, an attorney who is representing Costantino and others who are suing Wheaten. “It’s overwhelming the pattern that I’ve been able to establish just with these limited cases I’ve been involved in. I think the prosecutor’s office is turning a blind eye to many of these allegations. They have to be seeing the same police officers that we’re seeing.”
The Atlantic City Police Department is also at the center of another lawsuit from one of their own. Sergeant Mark Benjamin sued the department after claiming he received death threats for reporting police misconduct to his superiors.
The various allegations against the Department have caught national attention. The Reverend Al Sharpton visited Atlantic City on Wednesday to attend a rally speaking out on the department’s alleged police brutality.

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Ex-Detective Guilty In Tax Case

A former Waterbury Ct. detective pleaded guilty Thursday to trying to mislead a federal Internal Revenue Service investigation of charitable contributions he claimed as deductions on his tax returns in 2007 and 2008.

Robert Liquindoli, 42, of Waterbury lost his job with the city police force when the IRS arrested him a year ago and could be sentenced to 10 months or more in prison when he returns to court, probably in February.

Liquindoli was ensnared by a federal investigation of retired IRS agent Thomas Thorndike, who opened a Waterbury-area tax preparation business that counted many area law enforcement officers as clients. Thorndike, who prepared Liquindoli's tax returns, was sentenced to six years in prison for tax fraud and was accused of falsifying returns in order to give clients undeserved deductions.

Waterbury When IRS agents accused Liquindoli of claiming questionable deductions, authorities said he lied to them and tried to create phony receipts to justify his claimed non-cash, charitable contributions.

Fired Pa. cop guilty of man's holding cell beating

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A western Pennsylvania police officer who was fired after he refused a random drug test last year has been convicted of beating a handcuffed prisoner in a holding cell and then trying to cover it up.

Walter R. Johnson, 38, of Oakdale, was convicted at a non-jury trial of simple assault and official oppression — the cover-up charge. An Allegheny County judge on Monday also sentenced him to two years' probation and two weeks in jail, though Johnson doesn't have to serve that time until January. Johnson's defense attorney, James Wymard, didn't immediately return a call for comment and the officer doesn't have a listed home telephone.

Johnson was a patrolman in Avalon, a tiny borough near Pittsburgh, when he threw the prisoner, 49-year-old Robert Szilagyi, into a holding cell wall so hard the man's jaw was broken and his teeth loosened — including one later found lodged in his airway. Avalon police alerted Allegheny County detectives after they learned surveillance video of the April 2012 beating existed following Johnson's firing last July.

According to a criminal complaint the detectives filed against Johnson, Avalon police first encountered Szilagyi after a report that he was fighting with another man that night. Police contend Szilagyi ran away before police arrived and was found hiding in bushes, then struggled and fought with officers while they were handcuffing him.

On that night, medics were called to take Szilagyi to a hospital after he was found to have injuries in the police station holding cell — though police at that time attributed the injuries to his earlier struggle with officers, according to the complaint.

The detectives determined, however, that security video from the holding cell showed Johnson walking Szilagyi to the cell at which point he "literally throws Szilagyi, with his hands still handcuffed behind his back, into the cell ... propelling the victim forward with such force as to cause him to leave his feet, hurtling head-first toward the floor and rear wall of the holding cell," according to their complaint.

Another officer enters the cell and leaves with Johnson, closing the door, before a third officer arrives and Szilagyi can be seen "with a large puddle of blood drops on the floor in front of him," the detectives said.

Online court records show Szilagyi pleaded guilty to simple assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct stemming from the earlier fight and encounter with police and was sentenced to a year's probation. He could not immediately be located for comment because he's in the county jail awaiting trial on charges including aggravated assault, drunken driving and burglary stemming from two separate and unrelated incidents earlier this year.

Szilagyi's criminal defense attorney for his April 2012 arrest said he couldn't comment on whether Szilagyi pursued a claim for his injuries, citing a confidentiality agreement. Federal and county court records show no record of a lawsuit.

Avalon police officials did not immediately return calls for comment on the verdict, or about the request for a drug test that prompted Johnson's firing.

Police officer convicted of DWAI

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A judge returns a verdict in the trial of an Albany police officer who lost his job after a drunk driving arrest.

The judge found Brian Lutz guilty of DWAI after a bench trial.

As a result, Lutz will have to pay $875 in court fees, complete the DMV's Drinker Driver Program and a attend a victim impact panel. The judge also suspended his license.

Lutz was arrested in December 2010 after police said he was asleep behind the wheel, and parked on the right lane of Interstate 787.

He plead not guilty to drunk driving charges back in March 2011. Lutz is currently suspended without pay.

Officer charged with lying to get search warrant

A decade after a federal judge publicly attacked his truthfulness, a Baltimore police officer has been charged with lying to get a warrant to search a Northwest Baltimore home, the state's attorney's office said.

Thomas E. Wilson III, a 19-year veteran of the department, lied when he said he saw a suspect leaving a house in the 5600 block of Wilvan Ave. carrying a black bag, according to the state's attorney's office. He faces charges of perjury and misconduct in office.

The Police Department declined to comment on the charges. Wilson could not be reached, and no attorney is listed for him in court records.

Other Baltimore officers have been implicated recently in fabricating details to secure authorization for arrests or searches. At the sentencing of officer Kendell Richburg in federal court last month, his attorney said the practice was widespread and driven by pressure on police to hit targets.

At the hearing, federal prosecutors said the FBI was investigating a number of officers who had made up information. Wilson worked in the same district as Richburg, but an FBI spokesman said the charges against him were not related to that inquiry.

In the Wilson case, the day after the search in May 2012, a man named Thomas Foster who lived at the Wilvan Avenue address was charged with gun and drug offenses. Prosecutors dropped those charges in December 2012, court records show.

In 2003, Andre M. Davis, then a U.S. District Court judge in Baltimore, said an affidavit in a separate drug case that Wilson filed seemed to be packed with "knowing lies." Davis also called Wilson's account of that bust "implausible and incredibly presented" before he threw out the case.

The Police Department disciplined Wilson for neglect of duty, stripped him of five days' pay and ordered him to remedial training. But his attorney told The Baltimore Sun in 2010 that the administrative trial board did not convict Wilson of an integrity violation.

Wilson stayed on the force, but a defense attorney used the judge's words against him in a case stemming from a 2008 arrest.

"His credibility is suspect," the lawyer told the jury. "This is a man who was chewed out in almost unheard-of fashion by a federal judge five years ago."

Wilson testified that in both instances he had been honest, even if he had been confused on some of the details in the 2003 case. The defendant was convicted, but granted a new trial by an appeals court, after it found prosecutors had gone too far to protect Wilson.

The defendant, Bryan Sivells, pleaded guilty to the lesser of the two charges he faced and received a four-year prison sentence, most of which he had already served.

Cops charged in Kentucky brothel slayings

After nearly 20 years, authorities believe they have finally solved the murders of two workers at a Kentucky massage parlor with the arrest of two former police officers -- including the lead investigator in the case.

After nearly 20 years, authorities believe they have finally solved the murders of two workers at a Kentucky massage parlor with the arrest of two former police officers -- including the lead investigator in the case.

Edward Carter and Leslie Duncan are among three men indicted in the late-night slayings of two young women at the New Life Massage Parlor in Oak Grove in western Kentucky. Carter and an Alabama man face murder charges while Duncan has been charged with complicity to murder.

Investigators are being tight-lipped about how the ex-cops were allegedly involved the deaths of Candace Belt, 22, and Gloria Ross, 18. Their battered, blood-soaked bodies were found in a back room of the parlor on Sept. 20, 1994, after co-workers left the building to get something to eat.

Locals long suspected police involvement, but authorities just couldn't come up with the evidence.

"At the time and for years to follow, everybody thought that it was a couple of police officers that were involved, but there was never any proof given," said Oak Grove Mayor Dan Potter.

"There were always potential suspects," said prosecutor Lynn Pryor. "No one felt comfortable bringing charges on them before now."

One person, at least, didn't hesitate to voice her suspicions early on: Tammy Papler, the madam who ran the brothel.

At a public meeting in 1997, Papler -- angered for being forced to shut down the parlor -- stood up and unleashed a slew of allegations, including the claim that she had been bribing police to keep her business open. She said after she stopped making the payments, the killings occurred.

Carter was paid to work as a janitor at the parlor, but the payments were in reality bribes to allow the brothel to remain open, Papler claimed. Duncan, meanwhile, sometimes demanded cash from her, she said.

Law enforcement officers were such a common sight at the parlor that soldiers from nearby Fort Campbell didn't think twice to come in when the police were around, she said at the time.

Papler couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday. But Pryor, the prosecutor, said the former madam would likely be called as a witness if the cases come to trial.

Relatives also said they had long believed that police were involved.

"There's a few of us that suspected the cops had something to do with it there," said Johnny Belt, Candace's uncle.

Duncan even came to the home of the victim's grandmother to express condolences.

"He came and sat at my mom's table and drank coffee, telling her how bad he felt," Belt said.

Bobby Combs, an ex-Oak Grove police officer, recalls taking orders from Duncan -- the case's lead detective -- at the murder scene.

"Oak Grove, as you can tell, messed it up," Combs said.

Eventually, the case was turned over to the local Christian County sheriff's office. But it languished, becoming the subject of an "Unsolved Mysteries" segment on TV. Kentucky State Police took over the investigation in 2006.

The arrests have brought a fresh round of notoriety to the town of about 9,000 bordering the Fort Campbell post along the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

"It's kind of like knocking a scab off a wound," said the Rev. Dave Noffsinger, pastor of Maranatha Baptist Church in Oak Grove.

Carter, 43, and Frank Black Jr., 39, of Gadsden, Ala., were indicted late last week by a Christian County grand jury on two murder counts.

Carter was arrested in Warren County, Ohio. Black was taken into custody in Etowah County in Alabama. There were no records either man had yet hired an attorney, court officials in both states said. They are being held on $1 million bond and will be arraigned after being extradited to Kentucky, state police said.

Duncan, 50, is serving a three-year sentence for evidence tampering in the case. It was his arrest that broke open the case. Authorities wouldn't give further details. His attorney, Stephanie Ritchie, declined to comment on the case.

Investigators don't anticipate other arrests, said Kentucky State Police Trooper Stu Recke.

Carter and Duncan left the Oak Grove police force soon after the slayings. After leaving town, Duncan spent time working as a security guard at a discount store in Hermitage, Tenn., while Carter worked as a private security guard and police officer in a Louisville suburb.

State police offered few details about Black's alleged involvement, other than to say he was not a police officer. He was convicted of attempted rape in December 1995, and registered as a sex offender when he moved to Alabama.

Combs, the ex-Oak Grove police officer, said Papler has been vindicated with the arrests.

But city council member Barbara Jean Leavell disagreed.

"If you run a business like that, you're just as guilty," she said. "You might not have pulled a trigger or a knife ... but she was guilty of running that business."

Second Officer Suspended After DPD Shooting Of Mentally Ill Man

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The Dallas police officer who witnessed his partner shoot an unarmed mentally ill man and then lied about what happened afterwards has been punished with a 15-day suspension.
Officer Christopher Watson was placed on restricted duty after home surveillance video showed a different story than what Watson swore to in a signed statement.
The video, taken on October 14, showed the victim, Bobby Bennett, with his arms at his side moments before Officer Cardan Spencer shot him. Both Spencer and Watson claimed Bennett lunged at them with the knife before Spencer fired the shot.
At the same disciplinary hearing, Police Chief David O. Brown stated Officer Watson would be investigated by Internal Affairs. Based on the results of that investigation, IA determined that Watson violated the department’s procedures by immediately approaching a possibly armed person. IA also determined Watson was untruthful in a sworn affidavit. Watson, who has been on the force since January 2008, does have the right to appeal his suspension.
Bennett’s mother initially called police on October 14, to report her son was acting violently and may have had a knife. After he was shot, officers charged him with aggravated assault. Those charges were dropped when surveillance video showed he did not threaten officers with a knife as the officers reported. Bennett, who has been diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia, spent nearly a month in the hospital recovering from his injuries after the shooting.

Buffalo rookie police officer fired after being charged with growing marijuana at his home

James Hamilton’s Facebook photo shows him posed behind his Porsche Cayenne wearing sunglasses and a “Party All Day” T-shirt.

But the Buffalo police officer wasn’t celebrating Thursday after his arraignment on charges of operating a marijuana-growing operation in the basement of his Floss Avenue home on the East Side.

A six-month investigation led by the Police Department also resulted in Hamilton’s immediate dismissal from the force on which he served for less than a year.

“Like any organization, you have bad apples,” Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda said Thursday.

A rookie cop who was recently named Officer of the Month by his union, Hamilton faces multiple drug and weapons charges in connection with the marijuana-growing operation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Lynch said 82 marijuana plants and 4 pounds of loose marijuana were found in the basement of the home. Police also recovered a 12-gauge shotgun.

Hamilton, 29, was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, who entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

“My client is innocent,” defense lawyer Matthew Borowski said. “And he intends to fight these charges.”

Prosecutors said Hamilton’s arrest came on the heels of his sale Wednesday afternoon of two quarter-pound quantities of marijuana for $1,100 to a confidential source in the city’s Broadway-Bailey section.

Hamilton, who was under surveillance, was then called to Police Headquarters, where he was arrested. Later in the evening, police with a search warrant went to the home and found the pot-growing operation.

Derenda said the investigation started in May and was led by his Internal Affairs and Narcotics bureaus. He said the investigation, which included the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, was welcomed by rank-and-file officers in his department.

100 Charges Have "Inadmissable Evidence" in Child Rape Case

A man accused of raping and molesting children had faced 105 charges, but now that's down to five. Prosecutors say that's because the Tallassee police officer investigating the case is now being investigated himself. Stephen Conrad came to court today to make a plea on his case, but that didn't happen -- instead, that plea has been delayed. And District Attorney, Randall Houston, says that's because Tallassee Assistant Chief, Chris Miles, was the lead investigator in the Conrad case -- but he illegally obtained the evidence and it can no longer be used.
"It calls into question everything with that officer and everything about the case," Said C.J. Robinson with the Elmore County District Attorney's office. He says it's a case that's left he and other investigators able to only prove five charges against Stephen Conrad, who is accused of raping and molesting eight children in the last 11 years.  Four of those children were family members. And the youngest was three months old.
Robinson says the lead investigator in the case, Tallassee Assistant Police Chief Chris Miles, physically coerced Conrad into confessing, as well as three co-defendants, including his wife, Brandy Conrad, Helen Gantt and Mark Jeffrey Ray. They were were charged with failure to report the sexual abuse of a child.

officer charged with felony

A Beech Mountain police officer has left the department and turned himself in to face a felony drug charge, according to police.Avery County Sheriff's Office received a complaint concerning possible illegal activity by patrol officer Josh Hernandez, according to Sheriff Kevin Frye. Frye forwarded the complaint to Chief Jerry Turbyfill of the Beech Mountain Police Department, who started an internal investigation.

officer charged with theft

SAYREVILLE — A borough police officer has been charged with stealing more than $20,000 from the Sayreville Housing Authority. According to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Stephen Gulick was charged Nov. 14 with a count of theft by deception for allegedly collecting money from the housing authority between Feb. 2, 2012, and July 8, 2013. An investigation conducted by the prosecutor’s office and the Sayreville Police Department showed that Gulick allegedly collected federal money to subsidize the rent paid by a female tenant at a property he owned in Sayreville. He subsequently married the tenant, who then became ineligible for the housing assistance. However, Gulick allegedly continued to receive and cash checks paid by the housing authority on behalf of the woman.During the period the woman was ineligible to receive assistance, Gulick allegedly collected 18 checks totaling $20,466.

Norristown police officer charged with sexual assault of minor in Chester County

NORRISTOWN — A Norristown police officer has been charged with sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. Nicholas Santo, 47, of North Coventry, was arraigned in front of Chester County District Judge James DeAngelo on Sept. 18, according to Priya DeSouza, the Chester assistant district attorney prosecuting the case. His bail was set at the full amount of $25,000 which was later paid in full. According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Sept. 18 Chester County detectives received a report that a young girl had been sexually assaulted. The report stated Santo allegedly sexually assaulted the girl Sept. 13.

Cop sued

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union has sued a white Pittsburgh police officer on behalf of a black teacher who claims he was wrongly arrested for commenting on the officer's driving.
The teacher, 38-year-old Dennis Henderson, had just left a community group meeting June 26 that addressed community-police relations when Officer Jonathan Gromek, who was driving by, heard Henderson criticize his driving and stopped. Henderson was jailed for about 12 hours following his arrest. The Allegheny County district attorney later had police drop charges including disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
"Dennis Henderson, an award-winning Pittsburgh teacher, was arrested and jailed overnight simply for answering truthfully when a police officer asked him whether he had a problem with the way the officer was driving," according to the 12-page federal lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Gromek was pulled off patrol duty in July and assigned to the warrants office, a common outpost for officers awaiting possible disciplinary action, while the city's Office of Municipal Investigations reviewed the encounter.

City police spokeswoman Diane Richard said the office found the allegations to be true and that Gromek is awaiting police department action. The lawsuit says Gromek received a letter Oct. 1 advising that the city had determined he violated three broad police policies: conduct toward the public, conduct unbecoming and incompetence.
Gromek does not have an attorney listed in court records and a home telephone number listed in his name was disconnected Tuesday. An attorney with the city law department did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Only Gromek is being sued, but the city may eventually have to defend Gromek because he was acting within the scope of his official duties.
The stop happened shortly after Henderson left a meeting of the Community Empowerment Association, which seeks to address problems in poorer black neighborhoods. Among other topics, the group had discussed the lack of trust between some members of the black community and the police, particularly in high-crime areas like Homewood, the neighborhood where the meeting was held.
Henderson was speaking to a photographer for the New Pittsburgh Courier, a newspaper that covers the city's black community. Both were standing in the street next to Henderson's car while he retrieved a business card and spoke about a teaching award he recently received.
According to the lawsuit, Gromek's patrol car drove by close enough that both people pressed against Henderson's car for safety, at which point the teacher said, "Wow!" - referring to the speed with which the officer was driving down a narrow street.
Gromek then turned around, stopped and confronted both of them and asked Henderson, "Do you have a problem?"
Henderson asked for the officer's name and badge number so he could file a complaint about Gromek's driving.
Henderson then began recording the encounter on his cellphone, which he handed to the photographer once the officer told Henderson to put his hands behind his back. The officer eventually handcuffed the photographer and allegedly refused to explain why either Henderson or the photographer were taken into custody, the lawsuit said. The photographer was never criminally charged and released minutes later.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for claims including false arrest, malicious prosecution, excessive force and retaliation against someone for his speech.

Appeal set for cop

A Chadbourn Police sergeant fired for conduct unbecoming an officer will speak before the town council Dec. 2.  Sgt. Brian Campbell was fired and another officer disciplined after they posted videos to the Vine.com social media website of themselves in uniform using racially-charged language, Mayor Fax Rector said.Cambell was fired after arguing with chief Steven Shaw, but there apparently is no official letter of dismissal or a reprimand for the video. The videos were removed and edited after Campbell was dismissed Oct. 23. The firing was upheld in a grievance hearing Nov. 11. Campbell notified Rector of his intent to appeal to the full council Dec. 2 at 6 p.m.

Ala. police officer accidentally shot himself, died of extreme blood loss

PHENIX CITY, Alabama — An eastern Alabama coroner says a police officer who died Nov. 10 accidentally shot himself. Russell County Coroner Aurthur Sumbry Jr. told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Tuesday that 30-year-old Phenix City police Sgt. Daniel Davis died of extreme blood after accidentally shooting himself in his leg.
Davis was found in the parking lot of an apartment complex and was later pronounced dead.
Investigators have said Davis was inside of an unmarked police car when his gun discharged.
Alabama Bureau of Investigation Sgt. Steve Jarrett says the probe into his death is ongoing.

Mich. cops charged with robbing daughter's phone thief

DETROIT — Two off-duty police sergeants robbed three men they apparently suspected in the theft of a cellphone belonging to the teenage daughter of one of the officers, prosecutors in Detroit said Monday.

Detroit Sgt. David Pomeroy and Sgt. Michael Notoriano, who works in the Detroit suburb of St. Clair Shores, are both charged with armed robbery, among other charges.

Notoriano's 16-year-old daughter and a friend bicycled to a Detroit gas station on July 20. Dwayne Weathington, 24, of Detroit grabbed Notoriano's daughter by her backpack, threw her to the ground, stole her iPhone and fled on foot, the Wayne County prosecutor's office said in a statement.

The phone was traced to a location on Detroit's east side where Pomeroy and Notoriano drove on July 21 and confronted three Detroit men, ages 26, 27 and 28, at gunpoint, prosecutors said.

The officers retrieved the girl's iPhone, struck one of the men in the face and took a handgun, cash and marijuana, prosecutors said.

Notoriano's lawyer, Todd Flood, told The Associated Press that his client and Pomeroy are "outstanding" and "highly decorated" officers.

Pomeroy, 47, and Notoriano, 42, both are charged with armed robbery, willful neglect of duty, unlawful imprisonment and failure to uphold the law. Pomeroy also is charged with larceny of a firearm and Notoriano with possessing a firearm during a felony, felonious assault and ethnic intimidation.

The prosecutor's office didn't identify the ethnicities of those involved.

The officers were arraigned Monday and a probable cause hearing was scheduled for Dec. 18.

The prosecutor's office filed unarmed robbery charges against Weathington. He hasn't yet been arraigned and doesn't have a lawyer, prosecutor's spokeswoman Maria Miller said in an email.

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