Civil rights lawyer lashes out over deputies' report

  • Says Lennox Police Shot Black Man & then Covered it up
An attorney for a man shot by a Lennox sheriff's deputy charged Friday that officers planted a gun at the scene to cover up a bad shooting and "wanton police brutality." Stephen Yagman said he plans to file civil rights complaints Monday with the FBI and U.S. Justice Department, demanding that officials investigate the Nov. 29 shooting of Shon Curry, 28, in Lennox. Curry is black. Yagman said "it was a bunch of hostile, aggressive cops out looking for trouble. When they couldn't find the trouble, they made the trouble." The Sheriff's Department's homicide bureau is investigating the shooting. Lt. Jack Jordan, who headed the team at the scene, was not available to comment Friday. Lennox sheriff's Sgt. Daniel Waidner called the confrontation a "completely clean shooting" and said Yagman's statement that deputies planted a gun was nonsense. Two guns were recovered at the scene, Gage said. Yagman said he knew only of one gun, and that his client did not have one. "Mr. Curry was not in possession of a gun and therefore any police officer who says he was in possession of a gun was lying," Yagman said. Yagman said Curry's account was that he tripped as he approached the deputies. He became frightened when a deputy yelled at him, and tried to run, but was shot in the neck, back and top of his leg. Curry remains hospitalized. "I do not know the race of the deputy, except to say that he is blue," Yagman said. "All police are members of the blue race and it's the race that doesn't like African-Americans." [more] and more]

Columbus cop shooting case of Kenneth Walker appealed to federal investigators

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  • Unarmed, Innocent Black Man Killed by Cops 
Civil rights leaders are asking for a federal review of the case of a sheriff's deputy who killed an unarmed black man. The Minority Elected Officials Coalition of Columbus wrote a letter Monday to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft asking for a federal review of the 2003 killing, when Kenneth Walker was shot in the head by then-Muscogee County Sheriff's deputy David Glisson during a traffic stop that was part of a drug investigation. The death sparked outrage and community protests against local authorities. Glisson was fired, but a grand jury last month said there wasn't probable cause for a criminal case. Civil rights activists have said they think Glisson should now face federal charges of denying Walker's civil rights. Walker's family also is planning a lawsuit. "What began in Columbus . .  can no longer be held locally," Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance President Wayne Baker said. State Rep. Calvin Smyre of Columbus, former head of the state Democratic Party, said the letter was written to add some weight to the issue. "We felt that we had to go above the head of local officials," Smyre told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. "We are not getting any response from them." In January, the same people called for a number of reforms following Walker's death, including an evaluation of the sheriff's departments' on-the-street activities and greater diversity in law enforcement administration. "We had hoped that this would be resolved one year later, but we are doing all we can to assist and facilitate in bringing this issue to a close," Smyre said. On Dec. 10, 2003, Walker and three friends were riding in a gray GMC Yukon seen leaving an apartment that was under surveillance by Metro Narcotics Task Force agents for drug activity. Officers ordered the four men from the vehicle and during that time, Walker was shot twice in the head. No drugs or weapons were found in the Yukon, on Walker or on the other men. [more] Scroll down to 12/5 for more.
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Study: More than half of Taser gun targets in San Jose are Latino

Amnesty International, and other human rights groups, are urging law enforcement agencies to suspend usage of the non-lethal weapon.More than half the suspects fired upon with Taser stun guns are Latino, according to a report commissioned by the police chief. The finding prompted civil rights groups to claim the city's police department is unfairly targeting minorities. Police chief Rob Davis said the figure makes sense because it matches the rate at which Latinos are investigated for crimes. Latinos accounted for 52 percent of the arrests and citations issued by police during the period studied and 53 percent of the 110 stun gun uses. The police department on Friday released its first comprehensive report on Taser use, studying when officers employed the device and under what circumstances from May to October. Taser stun guns use darts to deliver electrical pulses that can incapacitate a person in a quarter of a second. Human rights groups have criticized the devices, saying officers often use them unnecessarily and blaming them for dozens of deaths. Amnesty International released a report this week linking the stun guns to more than 70 deaths in the past four years and urging law enforcement agencies to suspend their use. The local leader of the NAACP said the San Jose Taser study shows a problem with the police department's approach to minorities. [more]


5 of 7 hit by Nashville Police with Tasers were not violent -- ALL were Black

In the first three weeks of their expanded use, Metro police used their Tasers to gain compliance from uncooperative and mostly nonviolent people, according to reports filed by officers. Metro's early experience raises many of the same questions that have been debated nationally: Whether the electronic immobilization device is a valuable option for reducing injuries or a tool that is easily abused in situations where force could be avoided altogether. A Tennessean review of police reports for the first seven people shocked with Tasers since 45 stun guns were distributed to officers on the streets of Nashville last month, showed that: ? All seven were black men between the ages of 17 and 32. ? Five were unarmed. ? Only two of the men were accused of fighting or threatening to strike officers before they were shocked. ? One man was shocked while already in handcuffs. In recent weeks, the devices -- which briefly overwhelm the nervous system with a painful 50,000-volt jolt -- were used in Florida on a 6-year-old boy who threatened to harm himself and a 12-year-old girl who ran from police. Both prompted criticism of police tactics. At issue is whether the devices should be reserved as an alternative to deadly force or used as routinely as pepper spray, as is the policy here. [more]

Justice Dept. Begins Study of Safety of the Taser Electric Gun

The Justice Department has begun to study Tasers, the electric guns that are increasingly popular with police departments, in the face of new questions over their safety. Rusty York, the police chief of Fort Wayne, Ind., said that a Justice Department researcher, Joyce Gammelmo, contacted him last week to follow up on a report in a local newspaper that the city had decided to buy Tasers after studying them since early 2003. Ms. Gammelmo wanted to know more about Fort Wayne's research, Mr. York said. After Mr. York outlined his department's work, Ms. Gammelmo encouraged him to do more research before buying the guns, Mr. York said. More than 70 people have died after being shocked with Tasers, though the company that makes the weapons, Taser International, says the deaths were not related to their use. Mr. York said he had independently decided to delay the purchase even before Ms. Gammelmo's call. Too many questions about the safety of Tasers remain unanswered, he said. Ms. Gammelmo did not return calls for comment. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department said that it neither encouraged nor discouraged police departments in buying Tasers but that it had begun to study their safety and effectiveness. The department has financed a study at the University of Wisconsin to determine how electrical currents move through the body, as well as a study at Wake Forest to examine injuries caused by Tasers and similar weapons in real-life situations. More than 5,500 police departments and prisons now equip their officers with Tasers, compared with only a handful five years ago. Human rights groups and independent scientists have criticized the use of Tasers, saying their safety has not been properly studied. But Taser sales have continued to rise, along with the stock of Taser International. [more]

  • Moron Bernard Kerik made millions from agency contractor. Homeland Security nominee sat on board of stun-gun maker [more]
  • Bernard Kerik's ugly attack on John Kerry has been conveniently forgotten by the Media [more]

Homeless Black Man Dies While Immobilized in Restraints at Fla. Jail

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A homeless man died while immobilized in restraints at the Duval County Jail. Police said the 29-year-old man, Ezra Jones, was struggling with corrections officers following his arrest Sunday for lying across a sidewalk. After his arrest, officers put the inmate in a restraint chair and outfitted him with a spit mask after a struggle in which pepper spray was used, Corrections Director Gordon Bass said Monday.  The struggle happened as officers tried to take the man's fingerprints and he refused to loosen his fists, police union President Nelson Cuba said. The inmate wasn't breathing and had no pulse when a mental health nurse went to evaluate him after he spent 40 minutes in restraints, Bass said. Corrections personnel freed the man's body and began CPR, but the man was pronounced dead at a local hospital. An autopsy was unable to immediately determine a cause of death and authorities won't know what killed the man until toxicology test results are back, officials said. The death was the second in three days of someone in police custody. Sammy Lee Evans, 49, died Friday during an arrest for public drinking across from his Eastside home. [more] and [more]


Man dies in Duval County Jail, Black pastors call for discussion

A group of black pastors are planning to discuss with Jacksonville's sheriff the death of an inmate who died yesterday after he stopped breathing. Duval County officials are looking into what caused the death and have not released the I-D of the victim. The president of the local branch of the NAACP said he would ask the sheriff about the jail death.  The coalition of black ministers also plans to discuss the death of Sammy Lee Evans who died after he was arrested early Friday morning for public drinking. Evan's family and the NAACP claim police brutality and racial profiling.  The officer is being investigated for using excessive force. He has since resigned. The group of black pastors said at a news conference Saturday that they're so upset they plan to call for a boycott of the Super Bowl. [more]


SF Police Commission Awaits Legal Opinion in Sheila Detoy Case

  • Unarmed, Innocent, 17 Yr. Old Filipina Gunned Down by Police 5 Years Ago
The San Francisco Police Commission decided today to go into closed session next week for discussions with city attorneys about a 1998 officer-involved shooting in which a teenage girl died. Sheila Detoy, 17, died on May 13 that year after police near Lake Merced fired into a car in which she was a front-seat passenger. The Police Commission, which would decide any disciplinary cases against the officers involved, is awaiting a legal opinion from the City Attorney's office regarding which documents commissioners should be allowed to view. "There's somehow this fear that we'll be tained and that we have to be protected," said Commissioner Peter Keane, who has argued for maximum disclosure even though some expressed concern that viewing Police Department reports could skew commissioners' objectivity. Others made plain their frustration over the length of time that has passed since the shooting and the lack of disciplinary hearings in the case. "Six years is just insane," said Commissioner Joe Marshall. Police officials at today's commission meeting described plans in the works to accelerate officer-involved shooting investigations, which often take years. [more]
  • On May 13, 1998 undercover San Francisco police officers and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were staking out the apartment of Raymondo Cox, 21 hoping to arrest him on drug charges. When Cox got into a car with Sheila Detoyand driver Michael Negron, police attempted to block one end of the driveway with a van. When Negron threw the car into reverse to try to go out the other way, police officers say they feared that the car would hit them, so they opened fire, killing Detoy. Police can shoot at a car coming at them but Officer Breslin fired from the side of the car when he was out of harm's way
  • PoliceWatch Stops Commission From Letting Rogue Cops Off the Hook [more]
  • FIVE YEARS - NO JUSTICE FOR SHEILA DETOY [more]
  • Mother of slain girl files wrongful death claim [more]

Fatal Portalnd Police Shooting of Black Man Investigation Results Released

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  • Willie Thomas Grisby Shot 13 Times. Police say he shot at them first.
A review into the deadly shooting of a Portland man last week revealed that the suspect fired six shots at officers before they killed him, authorities said Tuesday. Willie Thomas Grisby was killed in the Dec. 2 shooting and two Portland police officers were injured. The suspect crashed the stolen truck into a house in SE Portland. It all started on the morning of Dec. 2, when police said they spotted Grigsby, 24, driving a pickup truck that was stolen from a Clackamas County home less than an hour earlier. They chased the pickup truck until Grigsby lost control and crashed into a house in southeast Portland, police said. Then, Grigsby fled on foot. Police said they were running after him when the shots rang out. After Grigsby shot at the officers, three returned fire," said Sgt. Brian Schmautz, with the Portland Police Bureau. Schmautz said the police review helped investigators determine which officers fired shots and the subsequent autopsy showed that a total of 13 bullets hit Grigsby. And even before the fatal shots were fired, Schmautz said officer Richard Steinbronn used a taser to try to subdue Grigsby. "Unbeknownst to officers, the suspect was wearing three shirts, a heavy nylon jacket, and two pairs of pants, possibly making the taser probes less than effective," he said. Grigsby did fall to the ground after getting zapped with the taser, but moments later, he spun around toward officers and began shooting, police said.  Members of his family want to know why Grigsby wasn't given medical care. "If anything he was fighting for his life. If they would have called an ambulance he could be in the hospital right now, not in the morgue," Grigsby's sister Shelanda Grigsby said.[more] and [more]

Black Man beaten by LAPD with flashlight pleads guilty to two charges

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A man whose arrest and beating with a flashlight was captured on videotape last summer pleaded guilty Wednesday to auto theft and evading police. Stanley Miller, 36, was sentenced to three years in state prison after pleading guilty to both charges, prosecutors said. Miller was arrested last June 23 after leading Los Angeles police on a 21-mile chase from South Los Angeles to Compton. Police began chasing him after he ran a stop sign and it was learned that the white Toyota Camry he was driving was reported stolen. Television news cameras recorded Miller's arrest at the end of the chase, when he was struck repeatedly with a metal flashlight.  An investigation of the police actions during the arrest remained under investigation. [more]

Mesa Police shooting report has conflicting views: Latino Man Killed by Police

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A police report released Monday gives conflicting accounts from witnesses in a fatal police shooting last month during a beer run and said the 21-year-old passenger who died was shot in the head and forearm.  Mesa police released 153 pages of its initial investigation into the Nov. 8 shooting that left Oscar Bobby Grey, 18, injured and Kevin Olivas, 21, dead after Officer Jerald Ray fired two rounds into a green Dodge Stratus. Patrick James, 37, and his 3-year old son were in the back seat of the car and not injured during the shooting in a cul-de-sac on Brown Road near Mesa Drive. Police said they followed them to the cul-de-sac after seeing two of the men flee a Bashas' grocery story after making a beer run.  Mesa police Detective Tim Gaffney said the investigation is ongoing. The medical examiner's report has not been completed. The initial police report showed Olivas, the front-seat passenger, was shot in the head and the left forearm, according to firefighters at the scene. Ray, who has been reassigned to the Center Against Family Violence pending the outcome of the investigation, told police he fired twice as he tried to shoot the driver of the green Dodge Stratus as the vehicle "lunged forward" at Officer John Dankanich. He said he feared for the officer's life.  Police said they are awaiting ballistics tests and results from medical examiner's office and can't confirm if the same bullet that struck Olivas' head also struck his arm.  One woman told police the passenger of the vehicle had his hands out the door as if he were going to surrender. After the first shot the passenger pulled his hands back into the vehicle and she heard the second gunshot, according to the report. Some witnesses reported the suspect car was stopped when the shooting occurred. "They jumped out of their cars and drew their guns on a vehicle that was coasting. I saw them (the people in the car) open there doors and stop. At that point I heard two shots fired," one witness wrote in his statement. [more]

Ruiz family files wrongful death suit

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 The family of Timothy Ruiz, who was gunned down in the parking lot of the Galleria at Crystal run on March 13, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the former cop who killed their son and the town that gave him a badge and a gun. The lawsuit was filed today in state Supreme Court in Goshen by the Ruiz family's lawyers, Sullivan County-based Norman Ingber and Goshen-based Joe Owen. Also named in the lawsuit are Old Navy store, where Ruiz worked as a manager, Filene's Inc. and PCM Development Inc, which owns and operates the Galleria. The suit, which asks for unspecified damages, contends the town, mall management and the store that employed Ruiz failed to protect the 22-year-old Pine Bush man. Griffin, 40, of Ellenville, was found guilty of the "assassination-style" shooting death by an Orange County jury on Oct. 7. He was sentenced to 25 years to life.more]

  • Crawford police officer convicted of murder [more]

$242,000 Award Ordered by Jury In DC Police Killing of Black Man

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A federal jury has ordered the D.C. government to pay about $242,000 to the family of a man who was killed in March 2002 by an off-duty D.C. police officer. The jury found that Officer Marcus Gaines was negligent in the steps leading to the shooting of Brian Hundley, 41, in a Northwest Washington parking lot. But it rejected the family's bid for more damages, finding that Gaines did not abuse Hundley, violate his civil rights or inflict emotional distress upon him when he killed him with a single gunshot to the chest. Hundley, a dental student, was unarmed when he was shot in the 600 block of N Street NW. His family filed suit in U.S. District Court two weeks after the shooting. This was the second time the case went to trial; the first trial ended with a hung jury. According to evidence presented at the retrial, Gaines was walking from the parking lot to his apartment with his brother about 1:30 a.m. March 23, 2002, when he came upon a car with Hundley and a woman inside. The car backed up quickly into Gaines's path, and Gaines yelled for the driver to be careful because "you almost hit a law enforcement officer." The car started to move toward him, Gaines testified, and he pulled his service revolver and ordered Hundley to get out of the car. What happened next was the crux of the trial. Gaines said Hundley got out of the car and put his hands on the side of the vehicle, as ordered. But then, according to Gaines, Hundley jerkily put one hand behind his back and lunged at him. Hundley family attorneys said Gaines fabricated that threatening move to justify the shooting.  "It really defies logic," said Carl Hundley, who brought the wrongful death suit on behalf of his late brother. "They found the [traffic] stop was negligent, they found my brother didn't threaten the officer. One is left to wonder if they are just deciding his life had no value." [more]

Toledo City OKs $50,000 settlement of civil suit in Police Beating of Black Man

Toledo City Council voted last night to spend $50,000 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging a "Rodney King-type" beating by three Toledo police officers. City officials said they decided to settle the case because of the risk of a jury verdict in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, where the case was transferred. According to court records, Al W. Moore, Jr., of Toledo was arrested at 2:30 a.m. Jan. 19, 2000, while driving in the 3300 block of Dorr Street. While being arrested, according to the lawsuit, Moore, who is black, was handcuffed, beaten on the head with a flashlight, and called racial names by Toledo police Officers James Bruzda, Mark Collins, and Steven Lamb, all of whom are white. The officers denied that a beating occurred or that any inappropriate language was used. City attorneys William Bracy and Mark Schmollinger said the city denied any wrongdoing, but officials were concerned about a potentially higher jury award and the cost of the litigation. The case had been transferred from Toledo to Cleveland because the wife of one of the officers was a federal probation officer. Council approved the expenditure from the city's risk management account by a 10-0 vote, with Councilmen Louis Escobar and Bob McCloskey absent at the time of the vote. The original suit also brought charges against Sheriff James Telb and several corrections officers, but those were dismissed because the statute of limitations expired. [more

Judge delays merit board hearings on Louisville Officer who Killed Michael Newby

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  • Cop who Shot Black Man in the Back Wants his Job Back

A judge has temporarily delayed police merit board hearings on whether to reinstate a former city officer acquitted in the shooting death of a teenage drug suspect. Judge Ann O'Malley Shake said the delay will continue until she rules on McKenzie Mattingly's motion to close his merit board hearings. The merit board has said it intends to open the hearings to the public. Shake is scheduled to hear arguments on Dec. 28 on Mattingly's request to close the merit board proceedings. The merit board was to begin reviewing Mattingly's case next Tuesday. The board has the power to overturn firings. Mattingly was fired by Louisville police Chief Robert White in April after the officer was indicted in the death of 19-year-old Michael Newby. The shooting stoked racial tensions in the city. Newby was the seventh black man killed by Louisville police since 1998. Mattingly is white. In September, a jury acquitted Mattingly of murder, manslaughter and reckless homicide charges. [more] and [more]

  • Newspaper seeks an open hearing for Mattingly [more]

Three Miami Beach officers are suspended amid charges of Beating Latino Man

Three Miami Beach police officers have been suspended with pay amid allegations that they severely beat and subsequently broke the nose of a man who had been tossed out of a popular South Beach nightclub. Officers Elio Cruz, German Gutierrez and John Pereira had been placed on desk duty pending an internal affairs probe. But the three were then suspended with pay on Friday, Miami Beach police spokesman Robert Hernandez said. The internal affairs investigation stems from the Nov. 7 arrest of New York City resident Guillermo Cartagena. According to the police report, Cruz, Gutierrez and Pereira had been working off duty as outdoor security for Opium Garden. Cartagena, the report said, became unruly when asked to leave the premises. He then claimed to be a New York City police officer and swung at the officers, striking Gutierrez in the chest and Cruz in the shoulder. Cruz punched Cartagena in the face, then used a Taser stun gun while Cartagena was on the ground because he continued to kick and fight, police said. Cartagena was arrested and charged with intentional battery on a police officer, resisting arrest with violence, disorderly intoxication and impersonating a police officer. But Cartagena's parents, two retired New York City police officers, filed an excessive use of force complaint with the department's internal affairs unit, claiming their son was the victim of police brutality. On Tuesday, the charges against Cartagena were dropped after testimony from an independent eyewitness determined that the case ''could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt,'' said Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the state attorney's office. Cartagena's attorney, Keith Seltzer, said the officers fabricated details on the police report. ''The police beat up my client, caused severe injuries and then fabricated an entire story to justify what they did,'' Seltzer said. [more]

Lollis case going to grand jury - Killed by Concordia Parish Deputy

Starting Dec. 13 a parish grand jury will determine the next step in the investigation into the Aug. 23 Ferriday shooting of Frederick Ron Lollis by a Concordia Parish Sheriff's deputy. The jurors have been selected at random and will start their six-month term in December. Any cases that come up during the next six months will be heard by this grand jury. Investigators will present all they have to the grand jury, which will return a decision. Grand juries can either say there is enough evidence to formally charge a person with a crime, say there needs to be more investigation or fail to return an indictment, meaning no charges are filed. Lollis, who was black, was shot and killed by a white Concordia Parish Sheriff's Deputy on Doty Road. After the shooting many people in the Ferriday community said the shooting was racially motivated. Maxwell has said the deputy was responding to a harassment call involving Lollis and Lollis pulled a gun on the deputy. A gun was found at the scene. Local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and community leaders say witnesses tell a different story. They say at least one person did not see Lollis with a gun and heard him beg not to be shot. The FBI is also investigating the matter as a civil rights violation but has not released its findings. [more] and [more]

Black Teenager Killed by Minneapolis Police --- Mother calls for county attorney to act

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The mother of a 15-year-old boy fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer has challenged Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar to decide whether to file charges against the officer rather than leave that decision up to a grand jury. "Prosecute this man, and make that decision yourself, and then be accountable to the people for it," Tahisha Brewer wrote in the letter dated Nov. 23. Brewer's son, Courtney Williams, was fatally shot by officer Scott Mars just after midnight Oct. 24 as a foot chase ended in the 3000 block of Knox Av. N. in the Jordan neighborhood. According to a search warrant affidavit in the case, Mars repeatedly yelled for Williams to stop. He fired when the boy stopped, turned and raised an arm, the affidavit said. Statements attributed to Mars say Williams was holding a "silver-colored handgun," although relatives and friends who were with him the night of the shooting continue to dispute that, an aunt said Thursday night. The investigation is continuing and has not yet been scheduled to go before a grand jury. Letting a grand jury determine whether charges should be filed against police officers involved in fatal shootings is not required by law and is a completely discretionary decision of prosecutors. Prosecutors can elect to bring charges instead.Brewer alludes in her letter, and others have said, that there is too much secrecy surrounding grand juries. "I want this process out in the open, where everyone can observe it and make sure that it is fair to my son," she wrote.  "We want to make sure that they are interviewing all the people they are supposed to, because we know they haven't." said Ella Davis-Suggs, Brewer's sister.  Michelle Gross, vice president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said that grand juries benefit police officers in cases such as Williams' death. "The jury's decision is based on how good a case the prosecutors want to bring to the jurors," she said. Because the presentations aren't open to public scrutiny, she said, they are easily slanted. [more]
  • Boy, 15, shot to death by police [more]

Jacksonville Black man dies during arrest for open container

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A 49-year-old unarmed man died in police custody Friday when a police officer took the man to the ground while arresting him for having an open container of alcohol, officials and witnesses said. Sammy Lee Evans was pronounced dead at Shands Jacksonville hospital about an hour after the 1:30 a.m. arrest. Police said Evans was struggling with the Officer Kaleb Underwood and hit his head on the ground as he resisted arrest. After Evans was arrested he became unresponsive and paramedics were called, the police report said. Witnesses said Evans had complained that his handcuffs were too tight, then the officer slammed him to the ground. "I don't think you should kill a man about an open beer," Barney Evans, the man's brother, told The Florida Times-Union.Evans and two other men were standing near his house early Friday when police arrested them. One of the men, Keith "Babyface" Stafford, 33, said they had not yet opened their cans of beer when they were handcuffed. He said Evans didn't struggle, but complained his handcuffs were too tight just before the officer took him to the ground. Then Stafford said he heard a sickening crack. "You never heard a sound like this," Stafford said. "When they flipped him over, they knew something was wrong." Keith Stafford says he was hand cuffed along with Evans, and says Evans did not resist arrest. "Police slammed him on the ground," said Stafford. The family of Evans, who is black, asked the NAACP for help and said they believe their loved one was the victim of both police brutality and racial profiling by a white police officer. Local NAACP officials planned to meet with Sheriff John Rutherford next week. [more] and [more] and [more]
  • Officer Resigns After Man Dies During Arrest [more]