PHOENIX (AP) — The attorney for an Arizona man seen on police video being beaten and mocked while bleeding on a hospital floor said Thursday that it’s further evidence an already embattled suburban Phoenix police department has a pattern of acting above the law.
For the third time in a week, body camera videos from the Mesa Police Department have put the agency’s policies on the use of force under scrutiny.
Defense attorney Bret Royle said he recently obtained the videos from the January arrest of Jose Luis Conde while negotiating a plea deal for him. Royle said the footage paints a more brutal picture than what he read in police reports.
“When officers act like this, it causes citizens to question the integrity of other officers,” Royle said during a news conference at his office. “They violated the trust of prosecutors when they wrote reports that were at minimum embellished if not falsified.”
Conde is facing two counts of resisting arrest and one count each of aggravated assault, possession or use of narcotic drugs and escape.
The 23-year-old landscape worker was a passenger in a car Mesa police stopped Jan. 28 for possible drunken driving. An officer did a pat-down search of him and believed he was concealing drugs, according to the police incident report.
The officer then thought Conde was going to attack him and took him to the ground. He continued to struggle and allegedly swung his fists at the officer. They later found three baggies appearing to contain cocaine inside his sock.
While two officers sustained scrapes, Conde was transported to a hospital. Police said Conde tried to flee his hospital room but was caught in the hallway and pushed back by officers.
Video shows an officer punched and elbowed Conde four times while he was handcuffed. Conde said they also threw him into a wall, gouged him in the eye and struck his head with a massive flashlight. He also had to have part of his ear sewn back on.
“They laughed at me while I laid in a pool of my own blood, barely conscious. And this is no laughing matter,” Conde said.
He said it’s unacceptable that the officers involved have not been disciplined and could possibly do this to other people. “My hope is that my case can bring meaningful change to the Mesa Police Department,” Conde said.
Mesa police said in a statement that it has not received a complaint nor has an internal investigation into Conde’s arrest been opened.
Police Chief Ramon Batista last week enlisted a former prosecutor to investigate two other videotaped encounters. Internal investigations are also underway in both cases, and the police department in nearby Scottsdale will investigate and make recommendations to prosecutors about possible charges.
Footage from body and security cameras shows Mesa officers roughly treating a teenager who was arrested May 17 on suspicion of armed robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The footage shows officers cursing the youth and grabbing the collar of his T-shirt tightly around his neck.
In the other case, video shows Mesa officers punching 33-year-old Robert Johnson several times as he stands against a wall while looking at his phone on May 23. Police were responding to another man attempting to break into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment. Johnson was standing next to that suspect at the time.
Mesa City Court on Wednesday granted prosecutors’ motion to dismiss disorderly conduct and hindering prosecution charges against Johnson.
“We expect the officers involved in the beating of my client to face disciplinary action and termination within the Mesa Police Department,” Johnson’s attorney, Benjamin Taylor, said in a statement Thursday.
Seven officers have been placed on administrative leave with pay — two in the teen’s arrest and five in the case involving Johnson.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.