Police are now threatening the public, claiming they may have to euthanize drug dogs if marijuana becomes legal because they were trained to be anti-social.
The post Illinois Police Just Claimed if Marijuana is Legalized, They’ll Have to Kill Their Police Dogs appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
A community is lashing out at a police department after video of a traffic stop for window tint showed an officer abusing his K9 partner after it allegedly failed to find drugs.
The post WATCH: Cop Snaps, Abuses His Own K9 After He Failed to Find Drugs During Stop appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
After police sicced their K9 on a non-violent man, who was not resisting, and actually handcuffed, they were found justified as the taxpayers shell out $250,000.
Taxpayers of Broward County were just held accountable for the vicious actions of two of their officers who forced a K9 to "eat" two young men.
A St. Paul woman was horrifically attacked by a police K9 for absolutely no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A graphic video was just released showing deputies torture a non-violent mentally ill inmate with their K9 and the sheriff says it"s by the book.
A Jersey cop has been charged after horrifying dashcam footage showed him sic his K9 on an elderly woman and allow it to maul her for no reason at all.
A little girl is heartbroken after a police K9 mauled their beloved ten-pound Cavapoo and the deputy held her in the car for on hour as she died.
After a pursuit, police had their suspect walk backward toward the car—but he started dancing—so they sicced their K9 on him.
A cop with a history of forcing his dog to maul people is in court again, this time for allegedly forcing his K9 to maul a man for 20 minutes.
Reno, NV — In the land of the free, kneeling down, placing your hands on your head and submitting to your police captors, can and will be met with horrifyingly gruesome tactics. Eugenio Corona found this out the hard way in January when he surrendered to authorities over an alleged parole violation and in response, they forced their K9 to brutally maul him.
Corona’s lawyer, Terri Keyser-Cooper filed a civil rights lawsuit in July against the deputies who sicced the dog on him after he surrendered. And, in record time, Washoe County offered to settle the case. Naturally, it was the taxpayers held liable and not the cops.
“We thought it was saving taxpayer dollars to settle it for the amount we did rather than go through to trial,” Deputy District Attorney Keith Munro said. “We thought the officers would be vindicated, but it would cost considerably more to have them vindicated.”
According to USA Today, Corona sued the deputies individually and did not sue Washoe County. But because the deputies were sued for something that happened while they were working, the county paid for their defense and will pay the settlement amount to Corona.
Keyser-Cooper, who specializes in civil rights violation cases by police, noted how unusually fast the county settled.
“It is very unusual for law enforcement defendants to make a substantial offer of judgment in the infancy of the case,” she said. “In 32 years of practicing civil rights law I have never seen that before.”
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Keyser-Cooper said that the quick settlement was likely due to the fact that the entire disgusting scenario was captured on the officer’s dashcam and there is no disputing it.
READ MORE: Cop Caught Training His K-9 To Be a Vicious Attack Dog Keeps His Job
“It is unconstitutional to use more force than is necessary in a given situation,” Keyser-Cooper said. “When a suspect surrenders, on the ground, kneeling, with hands above his head and a vicious attack dog is then unleashed to maul him, that is horrendous.
“That is why they paid so quickly.”
However, despite paying quickly, for being unnecessarily mauled by a K9 as he surrendered, Corona received just $17,500.
The lawsuit stemmed from a chase in January, the end of which was captured on the officer’s dashcam.
Corona had violated the terms and conditions of his parole when he was alleged to have been in possession of methamphetamine and a firearm. Instead of returning to prison, he fled, forcing the Marshals to come looking for him.
Washoe deputies caught up with Corona, and a car chase ensued but ended as soon as Corona stopped. He exited the car, got on his knees, and in typical prison submission fashion, interlocked his hands behind his head.
He surrendered.
However, instead of simply walking over and placing the wanted man in handcuffs—which would have seemingly been easy considering he was in the position of surrender— Corona’s lawyers say Washoe police proceeded to sic their dog on him as punishment.
For surrendering, he was tortured.
Washoe County sheriff’s deputies Jason Wood and Francisco Gamboa both refused to admit liability and also claimed that Corona was not injured during the attack. When watching the video below, both of these claims are laughable.
In the video, Corona can be seen kneeling on the ground, hands locked behind his head. The cars roll up and stop, then a dog runs over and attacks Corona, clamping down on his arm and tearing into him.
READ MORE: Drugs or No Drugs, K-9s Will Alert to Your Car Nearly Every Time
Wood’s command to “get that bad guy” was followed by the comments officers are trained to say when they want to punch someone: “stop resisting.” It is clear to see that Corona was in no way “resisting,” even when his arm and chest were being mauled by the attack dog.
This raises the question—were the officers lying when they yelled for Corona to “stop resisting,” or were they just attempting to legally protect themselves while they punched him in the face?
Judging from their claims over the lawsuit, it is more likely than not that they were simply lying to cover their rear-ends.
As The Free Thought Project has reported, police sometimes use their K9 officers—or police dogs—as a form of cruel punishment against suspects. On one occasion in May, a police officer in Pennsylvania allowed his attack dog to maul a compliant man and then bragged to a dispatcher about the injuries the suspect sustained.
Following the release of a gruesome surveillance video, a Toronto cop has pleaded guilty to assault for forcing his K-9 to maul a compliant and already subdued suspect. Ofc. Michael Partridge was originally charged with assault with a weapon — the weapon being the dog – however, because he took a plea bargain, his charge was reduced to simple assault. When watching the horrific video below, you will see that there is nothing simple about what happened.
A Toronto court heard that a surveillance video captured the incident that shows Partridge kicking and punching the suspect while the dog bit and clamped down on the man’s arm, according to CBC.
As the Star reports:
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The officers followed the men to a condominium near the Gladstone Hotel where they were met by several Toronto police officers. Around 3:30 p.m., one of the suspects was arrested after he walked out of the condominium and a subsequent search revealed a baggy with loose ammunition.
Partridge was on scene with his police dog, Lex, to support the arrests, court heard. Officers then received information that another suspect had entered the condominium with another man, both of whom bolted when officers tried to arrest them.
Three officers quickly caught one of the suspects, but the other had gotten away. Several officers then began searching for him when bystanders on a rooftop pointed in the direction of a running man.
The suspect — Median Jackson — sprinted into an alley, and lay down, winded, near a set of stairs, which was captured on surveillance video from the Gladstone Hotel. That video was filed in court as an exhibit.
In the video, York Region police Const. Matt McLean arrives and orders Jackson face down until help arrives. Court heard that the officer didn’t have his handcuffs because he had used them on one of the other suspects.
“Jackson was compliant, lying face down underneath the stairs,” Crown attorney Peter Scrutton told the court.
READ MORE: Cop Photographed Displaying Nazi Tattoo, Dept Says Nothing"s Wrong With It
At this point, however, Partridge sicced his K9 and then began kicking Jackson while he was down. His kicks only seemed to further enrage the dog.
“While these strikes did not cause any injury, they appeared to have served to incite the dog, which continued to grip and bite Mr. Jackson’s arm,” Scrutton told the court.
After he was beaten and mauled, Jackson was arrested and charged with breaking and entering. However, because of the officer’s actions as seen on the surveillance footage, all the charges against Jackson were dropped.
“Having heard the facts, in my view this would be an error of judgment, perhaps through inadequate training, rather than being premeditated or a loss of temper,” said Justice Harvey Brownstone.
According to the Star, Partridge said little during the proceedings, and his lawyer declined comment. The officer is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 27. He also faces three Police Services Act charges, including two for discreditable conduct and one for unnecessary exercise of authority.
Because Partridge was a cop in Canada, he was actually held accountable for his actions. Time and again, in the United States, however, officers are repeatedly seen siccing their K9s on surrendering, handcuffed, and even innocent people, and they face no accountability whatsoever.
Beaver, PA — Beaver County resident, James Cicco has recently filed a lawsuit against the Beaver Police Department claiming officers used excessive force. The incident was captured on dash cam and shows a graphic take down of a non-threatening man who was brutally assaulted by police for no reason. Part of the attack happened after he was placed in handcuffs as well.
Cicco told his lawyers he has been harassed by police in the past, so when Beaver Police Officer Jeffrey Wijnen-Riems attempted to pull over Cicco for a traffic violation in August of 2016, the man decided the best place to pull over would be at his home.
Cicco’s lawyer, Geraldo Benyo, told reporters it only took 13 seconds to pull over, and that his client was being compliant for the entire duration of the traffic stop which took a violent turn for the worst. Wijnen-Riems can be seen in the dash cam footage approaching Cicco’s car.
“The video does depict Mr. Cicco getting out of his vehicle with both hands palms out and raised and then he only retreats into his vehicle as officer releases the K-9,” Benyo explained.
He opened up Cicco’s car door and then began to attempt to extricate the man from his small SUV. However, we consulted with a close-quarters hand-to-hand combat expert who concluded Wijnen-Riems tactics were not standard procedure.
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The officer can be seen placing Cicco in a painful wrist-lock which has the potential to break the man’s wrist. The patrolman then began cranking his arm behind his back, another move intended to either break the man’s arm or dislocate his shoulder.
READ MORE: Residents Riot After Watching Salt Lake City Cops Shoot 16-year-old Holding Broomstick
According to our expert, at no time did the officer attempt to unbuckle Cicco’s seatbelt and drag him out of the car. It appears Cicco unbuckled his own seatbelt, at which time the officer then flung him to the ground.
Instead of placing the man in handcuffs, he went back to his vehicle and released his attack dog, a German-Shepherd. As Cicco sees the dog approaching, he jumped back into his car and shut the door, as anyone afraid of police attack dogs may do.
Once again, Officer Wijnen-Riems opened the car door, this time aided by his dog, who began to viciously attack him, biting him under the arm, in the armpit, exposing gaping wounds. He bit his back as well.
As the Beaver Countian reported last year, before the dash cam video was released, witnesses to the attack reported that the officers forced the dog to “eat” Cicco during the confrontation — after he was placed in handcuffs. In the video below, that is exactly what happens.
Wijen-Riems claimed he saw Cicco reaching for what he thought was a taser. However, that was not seen in the video, nor was in possession of a taser.
The small-town police officer, who some are now calling a bully, then charged Cicco with multiple charges including fleeing and eluding and driving without a license. Cicco fought the charges and his case was brought to trial. The jury could not agree on a verdict, ending the court case in a mistrial.
The district attorney reportedly said he would not retry Cicco. The DA also noted that state police reviewed the video and determined that siccing a dog on a man for not exiting his vehicle fast enough was an appropriate level of force.
READ MORE: 13-yo Killed by Police was a Ticking Timebomb -- Dept has History of Rampant Violence & Racism
“This entire incident resulted over an aggressive police officer who was upset because on the way to non-emergency call Mr. Cicco didn’t get out of way fast enough,” Benyo said. The lawyer said his client’s fears of police brutality, “Turned out to be pretty accurate with having the fear.”
According to WPXI, Cicco is asking for $375,000 plus attorney fees. Judging from the evidence in the video below, it is likely that he will win this lawsuit and the Beaver county taxpayers will be forced to pay for this cop’s abusive actions.
After obtaining the dashcam footage, the Beaver Countian also obtained audio of the officer’s call. In the audio, the cop is heard joking about the damage his dog inflicted on Cicco.
Disturbing indeed.
Bakersfield, CA – Tatyana Hargrove, 19, was recently assaulted by police because she was mistaken for a large man who was seen carrying a machete. Hargrove in no way matched the description of the criminal that the police were after, but they singled her out anyway, as she made her way home from a local store.
According to Hargrove, on June 18th she had walked to the nearby Wooden Nickel Trading Company on Ming Avenue to buy her father a present for father’s day. However, she found that the store was closed when she arrived. Hargrove decided to go back home but on her way, she stopped for a drink from her water bottle since it was a very hot day.
That was when police swarmed around her with guns drawn, asking her what was in her bag. When she asked them why they wanted to search her and demanded a warrant, they became aggressive and threatened her with a dog. She handed over the bag, which had nothing illegal in it, and yet the police punched her in the mouth, allowed the police dog to bite her, and then arrested her.
Hargrove told reporters, “He put his other knee on my head, and I told him, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’ and I started yelling out ‘Somebody help me, somebody help me, they’re going to kill me.’”
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To make matters worse, after cops beat her and allowed their dog to maul her, she was charged with suspicion of resisting or delaying an officer and aggravated assault on an officer.
READ MORE: Millionaire Techie Mysteriously Dies the Day After Dedicating His Life to "Fight Against the Police"
However, in a phone call with the family, the police admitted that this was a case of mistaken identity. Additionally, arresting officer Christopher Moore said in the police report that he didn’t know Hargrove was a woman until after he had arrested her.
The person who police were actually after that day was a man named Douglas Washington. Washington was described as a bald man who was nearly 6 feet and 170 pounds. He was last seen wearing a white T shirt, dark jeans and a pink or red backpack. The man was reportedly wielding a machete and threatening several people in the same area of the store that Hargrove had visited.
Conversely, Hargrove is a young female that is just over 5 feet and roughly 115 pounds. She was wearing a white shirt, blue jean shorts and a black hat with a red backpack.
“She appeared to be a male and matched the description of the suspect that had brandished the machete and was also within the same complex the suspect had fled to,” Moore said in the police report.
Moore went on to claim that she attempted to flee and push the police. Moore claimed that he believed the whole time that she had a machete in her bookbag, which is why he said he believed he was justified in using such an excessive show of force.
The Bakersfield police have refused to make a formal statment on the incent. However, BPD Sgt. Ryan Kroeker did tell reporters that criminal charges have been filed against Hargrove and that they dont believe that the officers used excesive force. The department will not even be launching an internal investigation into the actions of the officers involved.
READ MORE: Mother and Child Murdered by Rapist Because Cops Go After Drug Dealers Instead of Criminals
NAACP Bakersfield chapter President Patrick Jackson made a statement on behalf of Hargrove saying that the family believes she was wrongly targeted and should not have any charges against her.
“It’s becoming more and more of a pattern. She’s never been in trouble before, and all of a sudden you’re a heinous criminal in two seconds,” Jackson said.
San Diego, CA — An extremely graphic and disturbing video was uploaded to Facebook this week showing San Diego police officers allowing a K9 to maul a handcuffed man.
The horrifying video begins as the man is on the ground in handcuffs. Instead of the officers attempting to get the dog off the man, two of them hold him down as the K9 tears into his forearm.
No commands to get the K9 to release are given and there is absolutely no reason to even have the dog near him.
Exactly why police were apprehending the man remains unclear as The Free Thought Project’s calls to the San Diego police department have not been returned. However, it doesn’t matter what the man did prior to being mauled by the K9 as he was in handcuffs, face down on the ground, and posed absolutely no threat to anyone.
The video, taken and uploaded by Facebook user Angel Nunez, was posted with the following description.
So today at work I was able to capture this go down. This K-9 officer had no control of his K-9. There is something definitely wrong with this picture. The officer doesn’t seem to have the proper training. Also that dog is not we’ll trained……
Nunez also posted another video that showed a bit of what happened prior to the man being put into handcuffs.
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In the brief first video, the man clearly appears to have some mental issues. He is unarmed, wearing nothing but shorts, and walking in the street, when the officer unleashes the dog on him.
READ MORE: Despite All the Lies, Police Exonerated After Shooting Man in the Back 6 Times
“Show me your hands! Show me your hands!” screams the officer as his K9 brings the man to the ground.
Amazingly enough, the man manages to show one hand as the K9 tears into his wrist.
“Snap clip I captured……clearly you hear the Officer scream a command in a distinctive language at the K-9. why was the same command not giving to release the suspect????” Nunez wrote to Facebook.
Nunez brings up a good point. the officer was surely able to command his dog to attack, however, he was entirely inept at getting him to stop.
As the next video begins, the man is already subdued, laying on the ground and, for no good reason, the dog is biting his arm.
His screams of agony are hard to bare.
“I’m comfortable. I’m comfortable,” the shirtless, shoeless man repeated over and over as the cop refused to give the dog the release command.
The scene is so horrifying that onlookers begin yelling at the officers to get their K9 under control. Instead of helping to remove the K9 from the man’s arm, the other officers held him down and yelled at the witnesses to “get back!”
If and when the Free Thought Project hears back from the San Diego Police Department, we will update this story as necessary.
WARNING: Extremely graphic video.
As TFTP has reported before, the San Diego police department has a brutal history involving their K9s.
A gruesome body cam was released in December showing cops needlessly and sadistically sic a K9 on an unarmed naked man who posed absolutely zero threat to the half-dozen cops who had him completely surrounded.
READ MORE: Infuriating Dashcam Footage of a Bully Cop and His Prey
The incident happened in August of 2015, however, the body camera footage was kept secret for over a year. If you have the strength to watch the entire video, you will know exactly why it was kept a secret.
At 8:30 that August morning, police received a phone call about a naked man walking through a canyon. This man had not attempted to harm anyone and the only ‘crime’ he’d committed when police arrived was to simply be naked.
The man, a 25-year-old businessman who was in San Diego for a convention, admitted that he ended up naked in the canyon after a particularly hard night of partying. However, when seeing how police reacted upon confronting the man, you would think he was a serial child murderer.
What these two videos illustrate is the dire lack of training within the San Diego police department. These videos are evidence enough that something needs to happen immediately.
Bartow, FL — Marquis Wright, 21, will likely be getting a hefty check at the expense of Bartow taxpayers in the near future as the taxpayers are held accountable for the horrific actions of the Bartow Police Department. For asking police to stay out on the other side of his fence, Wright was attacked, tasered, mauled by a K9, and kidnapped.
When police came to his home on Monday, Wright had done nothing wrong, committed no crime, and had harmed no one. However, the fact that Wright was entirely innocent did not prevent his attack and subsequent arrest.
According to Wright, when police showed up at his home Monday, he simply asked them to stay on the other side of his fence on his own private property. The cops, however, apparently did not listen and things escalated from there, according to Wright.
“They just asked for my information and that’s it,” Wright said as he described how quickly police attacked him.
Luckily for Wright, the violent attack and arrest were caught on a cellphone video. It catches the K9 attack and the screams of neighbors who look on in horror.
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Police had come to his house that day to serve a warrant to Wright’s brother. Naturally, the Bartow Police Department is claiming they did nothing wrong because — wait for it — Wright ‘fit the description.’
After claiming Wright looked like their man, police then claimed the right to use deadly force against him. While the video does not capture the beginning of the attack, police claimed Wright ‘resisted’ the egregious arrest and so they unleashed the K9.
READ MORE: Cops Wrongly Raid 86-yo Man"s Home, Taser and Arrest Him for Cooking Soup
“I don’t know anything about any resisting arrest. They took it too far,” Wright said.
Before police unleashed the K9, however, Wright was tasered twice.
As the Free Thought Project has reported multiple times, police officers often employ extremely painful tactics as they yell at suspects to ‘stop resisting.’ The ‘resisting’ is often little more than the subject writhing in pain or attempting to defend themselves from the attack.
As WFLA reports, Deputy Chief Bryan Dorman said Wright was resisting and that’s why they used the dog. He said Wright was kicking toward officers.
While the police department claims they are ‘investigating’ the use of force employed by their officers, the chief is already noting how he sees nothing out of the ordinary in the video.
“With the video that I saw and with the preliminary investigation that we have, I don’t have any reason to suspect that they were way out of policy or out of policy at all,” Dorman said.
Wright, who is now planning on suing the department, was arrested after the K9 mauled him. As per standard procedure, the officers, who attacked the innocent man, justified this attack by charging Wright with — wait for it — resisting arrest.
How, exactly, an innocent person, who was not under arrest, can be charged with resisting that arrest, remains a mystery despite how it is used as a tactic over and over again.
Unfortunately, for the police, they were unable to employ their usual tactics and shame Wright in the media after the K9 attack because, prior to these officers coming to his home, attacking, and arresting him — Wright’s never been in any trouble with the law.
READ MORE: Cop Found Guilty After Savagely Beating a Teen Football Fan for No Reason on Video
“I had no record. No record at all,” Wright said.
After his arrest, Wright was treated at a local hospital. He now walks with a cane due to the torn flesh in his right leg.
We encourage Wright to challenge his charges and attempt to hold the officers who did this to him accountable. However, if history is any indicator, the only people to normally be held accountable for attacking, mauling, and kidnapping an innocent man will be the taxpayers.
San Francisco, CA — While rescuing his neighbor’s cat from a construction area, retired sound engineer, Richard May, 64, was attacked, brought to the ground, viciously mauled by a k9, and then arrested by a sadistic officer who would photograph his kill. May is in court this week attempting to seek justice for that horrific evening involving a deputy and his dog with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department.
On the night of January 1, 2015, May was conducting, what he thought to be, a good deed. He was helping his 73-year-old neighbor, Sharon Coster, rescue her cat, Domino who’d climbed up construction scaffolding on an unfinished building next door.
As May was climbing up the scaffolding to retrieve the black and white cat, he recalls the K9 biting into his right leg. During this week’s trial, May recalled to the eight-member jury that the bite was “extremely painful.”
After the initial bite, May was brought to the ground by the large dog who continued to maul him.
“I was scratching and screaming. I was trying to escape in my mind. I couldn’t believe what was going on,” May recalled.
Riggs, the mauling K9, belonged to Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Laughlin who, along with two other deputies, were responding to a call about an alleged burglary seen on surveillance video at the construction site.
Both Laughlin and the county maintain they gave ample warning for May to respond to their commands before unleashing the deadly dog on the elderly man. Police claim the innocent, retired, elderly man — rescuing his neighbor’s cat — hid out in the shadows and refused to emerge and show his hands.
READ MORE: Cops Burn Man"s Genitals with Taser in Front of His Family
The county claims the deputy’s actions were reasonable as he feared for his life and thought May could’ve had a weapon.
As KTVU reports:
May contends he posed no threat and didn’t hear any announcement from Laughlin until after Riggs started biting.
His lawsuit is based on claims of unconstitutional use of excessive force, as well as negligence, assault and false arrest under California law. It seeks compensation from the county and the deputy for May’s costs and emotional distress as well as a punitive award from Laughlin.
May testified today that he did “absolutely not” hear Laughlin’s alleged initial command to show his hands and drop to the ground.
He said he saw the dark silhouettes of the deputies about 100 yards away, assumed they were security officers and stood still to await them.
“I stayed right where I was because I was expecting a conversation,” May said. According to May, the only sound he heard was a “very loud guttural sound which I interpreted as an attack word,” he recalled.
“The dog immediately at full speed was running my way,” and began biting his leg, May said. May said he was told to get on the ground and even after he immediately complied, the dog continued to bite him.
After the dog mauled the innocent May, he was handcuffed and brought to the sheriff’s office — before the hospital. He was berated with questions until it was determined that he was rescuing a cat and not robbing the place.
This is where the story takes an even more ominous turn.
READ MORE: Since 9/11 the Citizen"s Freedom has been Shredded, While Cops Get this Special "Bill of Rights"
After realizing they had just allowed their K9 to maul an innocent man, the cops were not only unapologetic, but Laughlin celebrated the attack and even made a trophy out of their victim.
Laughlin took May to the hospital where he tagged his prey with a sticker on May’s shirt that said, “I met Riggs,” before snapping a photo for his personal collection.
He then dropped two tickets in May’s lap. They were notices to appear in court for the alleged misdemeanors of trespassing and resisting arrest.
Luckily for May, both of those charges were thrown out by the District Attorney who clearly had no evidence of any crimes.
The civil rights trial is currently underway in the Federal Building courtroom of U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler. Hopefully, the jury sees the sadistic nature of deputy Laughlin and awards May accordingly.
As for Laughlin, however, he’s still a cop, and likely still tagging his victims for photos in his trophy book.
Beaver, PA — For many years we, at The Free Thought Project, have published story after story of small-town police departments and officers allegedly terrorizing its residents with threats of being tasered, beatings, head-stomping, and arm breaking arrests at the hands of the very people who are sworn to protect and serve them. Unleashing attack dogs on compliant citizens is also, unfortunately, a very real part of that list.
Beaver, Pennsylvania has a population of just over 4,000, with one of its residents being James Cicco (34). Cicco told his lawyers he has been harassed by police in the past, so when Beaver Police Officer Jeffrey Wijnen-Riems attempted to pull over Cicco for a traffic violation, the man decided the best place to pull over would be at his home.
Cicco’s lawyer, Geraldo Benyo, told reporters it only took 13 seconds to pull over, and that his client was being compliant for the entire duration of the traffic stop which took a violent turn for the worst. Wijnen-Riems can be seen in the dash cam footage approaching Cicco’s car.
“The video does depict Mr. Cicco getting out of his vehicle with both hands palms out and raised and then he only retreats into his vehicle as officer releases the K-9,” Benyo explained.
He opened up Cicco’s car door and then began to attempt to extricate the man from his small SUV. However, we consulted with a close-quarters hand-to-hand combat expert who concluded Wijnen-Riems tactics were not standard procedure.
The officer can be seen placing Cicco in a painful wrist-lock which has the potential to break the man’s wrist. The patrolman then began cranking his arm behind his back, another move intended to break either the man’s arm or dislocate his shoulder.
READ MORE: Officer Conveniently Turned Off Body Camera Prior to Shooting Man In the Head During Traffic Stop
According to our expert, at no time did the officer attempt to unbuckle Cicco’s seatbelt and drag him out of the car. It appears Cicco unbuckled his own seatbelt, at which time the officer then flung him to the ground.
Instead of placing the man in handcuffs, he went back to his vehicle and released his attack dog, a German-Shepherd. As Cicco sees the dog approaching, he jumped back into his car and shut the door, as anyone afraid of police attack dogs may do.
Once again, Officer Wijnen-Riems opened the car door, this time aided by his dog, who began to viciously attack him, biting him under the arm, in the armpit, exposing gaping wounds. He bit his back as well.
The small-town police officer, who some are now calling a bully, then charged Cicco with multiple charges including fleeing and eluding and driving without a license. Cicco fought the charges and his case was brought to trial. The jury could not agree on a verdict, ending the court case in a mistrial.
The district attorney reportedly said he would not retry Cicco, and now the man is suing for having his civil rights violated in an apparent excessive use of force.
“This entire incident resulted over an aggressive police officer who was upset because on the way to non-emergency call Mr. Cicco didn’t get out of way fast enough,” Benyo said. The lawyer said his client’s fears of police brutality, “Turned out to be pretty accurate with having the fear.”
After obtaining the dashcam footage, the Beaver Countian also obtained audio of the officer’s call. In the audio, the cop is heard joking about the damage his dog inflicted on Cicco.
READ MORE: San Francisco Cop Caught Choking a Sleeping Hospital Patient, then Falsely Arresting Him
Disturbing indeed.
St. Paul, MN — On the night of June 24, 2016, Frank Baker ‘fit the description’ of a ‘black man’ in the area, so he was attacked by police and their K9. For several minutes, Baker was beaten, tasered, and viciously mauled by their K9. Also at the scene that fateful night was officer Tony Spencer — whose dashcam recorded the violent assault on Baker, who was entirely innocent.
That night, Spencer and his partner responded to a call, which ended up being fake, about a man with dreadlocks wearing a white t-shirt and armed with a gun.
When they arrived on the scene, Spencer and his partner saw Baker and realized he did not look like a suspect.
“There are about 50 people who would have matched that description that night,” Spencer said of Baker. “He is not acting agitated. To me, he does not appear to be engaged in a fight. He did not appear to have run from a fight … so we continue to roll through.”
However, just after they passed Baker, two less experienced and far more violent cops showed up, pulled out their guns, and unleashed a dog.
Because police said Baker was slow to respond when showing his hands, officer Brian Ficcandenti let loose the K9, ‘Falco.’
“I’m thinking he (Ficcadenti) saw something we didn’t see or missed and is now performing a felony-style stop,” Spencer recalled. “As I turn the car and see the dog pulling out this man from the cars, I recognize it’s (Baker). I can clearly see there’s nothing in his hand as he comes between the cars.”
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While having his flesh literally torn from his body, Ficcandenti is heard encouraging the dog. “Get him, buddy. Good,” said the officer. “Get him.”
The dashcam then captured the following beat down — after Baker had been mauled. When officer Brett Palkowitsch exited the vehicle, he ran over to the innocent man and began kicking and stomping Baker’s ribs.
Baker’s legs were so severely injured during the attack that he spent weeks in the hospital recovering. He also suffered several broken ribs and collapsed lungs.
According to his attorney Robert Bennett, the dog tore “hunks of flesh” as its teeth bit “down to the bone” of Baker’s legs.
After watching his fellow officers do this to an innocent person, Spencer could no longer stand it and decided to become a good cop. He crossed the thin blue line and testified against the officers who nearly killed an innocent man.
“It was very difficult because it was something I had been programmed throughout my career to never do,” Spencer, 46, told Ruben Rosario from Twin Cities.
“But I decided that the right thing to do was tell Mr. Baker’s story,” he added as he looked away momentarily, tears starting to form in his eyes, explained Rosario. “I owed it to him. How do you explain to that guy what happened to him was justified?”
Spencer, who felt horrible after watching his fellow officers do this to an innocent man, he visited Baker in the hospital.
“He had these big tears in his eyes,” Spencer noticed. “He was still having trouble breathing. And then he tells me: ‘I know there are good cops and there are bad cops. The thing is I know what you guys are up against out there. I know what St. Paul cops deal with. I live in that area. I love my St. Paul cops. The dog thing I almost get because I did not come out as quick as I probably should have. But those kicks he did were bogus.’ ”
READ MORE: Why You Should Care About the Number of Marijuana Overdose Deaths in America Last Year
Sadly, the officer who released the dog was not fired and remains on the force. As for officer Palkowitsch, who kicked the innocent Baker as he bled out, he will likely be getting his job back. Neither of the cops faced any charges.
“We are the department that brought (cop killer) Guy Harvey Baker to jail alive,” Spencer said. “That’s what the community expects of us. The younger cops don’t understand the legacy of the department. In our darkest hour on our worst day, we brought in that guy alive. And he did not have seven broken ribs and two collapsed lungs, did he? And he killed two of our cops.”
Because of Spencer’s testimony, which was described as the entire department against him and his partner, Baker received the largest settlement for police misconduct in the history of St. Paul. Attorneys for Frank Arnal Baker said Monday that they have a verbal agreement with the city for $2 million for the case. The agreement, they noted, has yet to be signed by all parties, reports the pioneer press.
Officer Spencer is the epitome of a good cop as he was unafraid of pointing out the crimes of his fellow cops against an innocent member of society — whom they ostensibly protect.
However, that good cop is now gone and he will, like he alluded to above, be replaced by “younger cops [who] don’t understand the legacy of the department” who are more prone to destroy first and attempt to justify later.
Below is a video showing the type of legacy the new cops intend to leave for the St. Paul police department — and it is terrifying.
READ MORE: Video Refutes Cops Lies, Shows Them Tase and Beat Innocent Fire Fighter for NO REASON
Knightdale, NC — The Knightdale Police Department, in North Carolina, boasts their K-9 unit provides, “a number of valuable services to the Knightdale community.” Apparently, one of those community interactions using their trained attack dogs involves busting juveniles with weed.
In a WNCN local news story titled, “3 teens smoking pot busted when Knightdale police officer drives by, officials say,” the town is getting a bit of recognition for tracking down those potheads and giving them a dose of canine justice. “Three teens were nabbed in Knightdale Sunday afternoon when they were smoking marijuana outside as a police officer drove by, authorities say,” the article states indicating the officer of the peace’s olfactory senses were alerted to the skunky smell of freshly burned cannabis.
The article continues, “According to Knightdale officials, three boys – two who were 16 and one who was 18 — were smoking marijuana outside when an officer pulled up in his squad car,” apparently busted red handed with the Maryjane. “The trio ran into nearby woods and more police were called in for a search,” the story continues indicating the potheads made a break for it.
Here’s where the story gets dangerous, and in light of the juveniles’ ages, the search should have been called off. The police decided to bring in the attack dogs. “A K-9 police unit was also involved in the search, which eventually found the three teens,” reports WNCN adding, “Their identities and specific charges were unavailable.” As The Free Thought Project recently reported, police K9s can be uncontrollable and quite unpredictable, even ripping off the face of one such suspect.
READ MORE: Excessive Force? Three Cops, One with a Boot on his Head, Hold Down and Taser a 60 Year Old Man
While many states across the country may find the story laughable, that multiple police officers had nothing better to do than to go after a few pothead wannabes, North Carolina still has not embraced any form of legalized marijuana.
As TFTP has reported on numerous occasions, weed has become somewhat of a wonder drug, healing children of seizures, treating ADD and ADHD, and has even demonstrated promise in helping heroin addicts kick their opiate addiction. Even with the anecdotal evidence, and growing medical research, states like NC and many Southern states have yet to embrace the natural remedies cannabis can offer.
Maybe it was Officer Thomes Cagle and his canine “Echo” who tracked down those vicious criminals (sarcasm), or Kevin Jorgenson and the PD’s other canine “Maverick” which tracked down the teenage drug users. At any rate, the police got their bad guys.
When not treeing young pot smokers like Carolina raccoons, Knightdale PD days their dogs “make appearances at local elementary schools and community events.” It’s unclear if the PD considers the arrest of said teenagers one of their “big arrest(s)” but they consider their use of canines an integral part of their “team’s commitment to community policing” is as strong as their desire to take a bite out of crime!
Probably less than 5 years from the date of this story, North Carolina will likely legalize medical marijuana, and the Knightdale Police department’s days of busting juvenile weed smokers will be seen as a thing as ancient as unleashing attack dogs on civil rights activists in 1960’s Selma Alabama. Either way, using cannabis is quickly becoming a right of the people to self-medicate using something as natural as saline for infections, and calcium for upset stomachs. Until then, stories like the ones coming out of Knightdale are enough to give us all a bad tummy ache.
