Incident

Date Sep 04, 2015
Department Rochester Police Department
Officers Christopher J. Barber
Address South Ave near Comfort St
Rochester, NY

Incident Description

After dispute with convenience store clerk, wherein clerk admitted to assaulting victim, officers Drake, Kester, and Mitchell detained victim and slammed his head into a metal bench, according to lawsuit. Officer Mitchell allegedly beat victim for 2 minutes, handcuffed victim, brought victim to police car, and punched victim in face while victim was handcuffed. Mitchell then pepper sprayed victim, according to suit, continued beating him, then officers Mitchell, Kephart, and either Brodskey or Dempsey slammed victim back on sidewalk. Sgt. Lafave denied medical service to victim after EMS recommended it, according to suit, bringing victim to jail and continued to beat victim there. Officer Barber, along with other RPD officers and technicians, selected only small portion of convenience store footage. Incident caught on store video.

Outcome

Lawsuit is ongoing, Officer Barber is being charged with failure to intervene against Drake, Mintz, Barber, Dempsey, LaFave, and Angelo and denial of the right to a fair trial, charges dismissed include malicious abuse of process and Violation of the Privacy Protection Act

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