30-year-old Black man experienced a mental health crisis and was shot by two Buffalo police officers multiple times outside his apartment building on Hertel Avenue.

A homeless man barely moved while two Buffalo police officers stood over him on a sidewalk while one struck him with a baton six times before jamming it into his upper body.

The man was on the ground in a fetal position and showed no signs that he was resisting arrest.

A local resident who witnessed the March 13 incident captured about 40 seconds of the encounter on her cell phone, and said she was disturbed by what she saw.

The incident happened at about 11:10 p.m. Officers Joseph Walters and Richard Lopez wrote in reports claimed that they were allegedly on routine patrol when motorists flagged them down about an individual who allegedly turned aggressive when people refused to give him money.

Walters wrote that the individual “became verbally aggressive towards me and refused to get on the sidewalk.”

“I used my hands to guide him onto sidewalk and he pulled away many times and kept wandering into moving traffic,” Walters wrote in the use of force report. “He was eventually corralled onto a lot out of the street but refused to identify himself and kept reaching into his coat despite orders to stop. He was pulled to the ground to keep him still in an effort to calm him and identify him and pat down frisk him for weapons.”

The woman who recorded the video said she saw the man trying to pull away from officers as they walked him to a sidewalk, but once they reached the sidewalk, they pushed him to the ground. She said the man was in that neighborhood before and she’s never seen him get aggressive.

“At no point did they ever cuff him,” the witness said. “They didn’t seem like they were attempting to cuff him. Actually, what they did was push him to the ground and started beating him.”

Lopez’s use of force report states that the individual refused his orders to leave and give his name.

“Subject approached me in a threaten matter and I used my police issue baton to take away the threats, and forced him to the ground,” Lopez wrote.

However, the video obtained by the witness showed the man was already on the ground in a fetal position when Lopez struck him six times with the baton.

Both officers wrote that the man fled before they could write him a ticket.

But the witness of the incident said that the man never fled because she talked to him afterwards. It was then, she said, that she noticed he had an injured hand and a bump on his head. Officers both wrote in the use of force reports that they did not see any injuries.

“His hand looked like it was broken,” the woman said. “He had a very large lump that almost looked like back in the day if you see a cartoon character got hit in the head.”

Policy Violations

Buffalo Police Department policy states that officers must activate their body-worn cameras when responding to, servicing, and clearing any calls for service, as well as when conducting a traffic stop and when executing a search or arrest warrant, among other examples. Neither officer had their body cameras on, in violation of departmental policy, so the police department said it had no body cam video of what happened.

Department policy requires officers to fill out a specific form to explain why their body cameras were not activated or why they malfunctioned. The use of force report indicates that Lopez’s camera was “improperly deactivated” but provides no additional details.In addition. However, neither officer filled out a required form that would have explained why the body cameras were not turned on.

The department’s use of force policy states that officers can use objectively reasonable force to effect an arrest or prevent someone from escaping custody if the force used is consistent with state law. In other words, they may have had cause to use force at some point during the incident if the man did indeed resist or try to escape custody. The policy states that “excessive or unreasonable force shall not be used” and that officers can only use the amount of force that is objectively reasonable to overcome a subject’s resistance or aggression.

Despite evidence from the witness that the man was not resisting arrest and officers did not issue a ticket, Captain Jason Whitenight, wrote in the use of force report that the officers followed “the standards set forth by the Buffalo Police MOP. The officer used the correct amount of force needed to remove a subject from the street and then attempt to issue a ticket,” Whitenight wrote.

Outcome

No known disiplinary actions were taken against due to the misconduct and brutality of Buffalo Police Officer Walters and Lopez.

On October 31st, 2021, at approximately 12:42 a.m., in front of his friend’s home on Newfield Street, Andy Ocasio was filming an arrest taking place at that location.

Buffalo police officers Justin A Ayala, Daniel Carlson, Patrick Kinsella, Matthew Serafini, and Stephen Lesniak arrived on the scene and exited their police vehicle, grabbed Ocasio, and shoved him to the ground.

The police officers then beat Ocasio while he was on the ground, including sudden, violent kicks to the head, stomping on his head, and kneeing him and kneeling on his back, choking him, and spraying him with mace, and causing him to suffer serious injuries. None of the officers intervened. Lieutenant Erie Hofschnider, was the supervisor present at the scene of the incident during the assault, and also failed to interved.

While in police custody, Ocasio sustained serious injuries, including, facial trauma; significant hematoma of right eye; blurry vision of right eye; closed head injury; headaches; neck pain; and a laceration to his right cheek.

On October 25, 2021, employees of an automotive repair shop called 911 to report that Buffalo police officer Kiam Gunn came to the shop while on-duty and threatened them.

According to the owner of the shop and an assistant manager, a family member of officer Gunn previously brought a car to the shop for an inspection, which the vehicle failed. The shop provided an estimate for repairs that were necessary to pass the inspection, complete the repairs, and certify that the vehicle passed inspection.

The owner and assistant manager told BPD that several days later, officer Gunn came to the shop in uniform and began cursing and yelling at the assistant manager that the cost of the repairs was excessive. Officer Gunn told the assistant manager that they had taken advantage of his family member and demanded that the assistant manager pay for the repairs.

According to the owner of the shop, officer Gunn smelled like marijuana and told the assistant manager that he would “fuck with him like never before.”

During BPD’s internal investigation, the assistant manager stated that officer Gunn yelled at another employee that “something was gonna happen,” indicated that he would return in 20 minutes, and left.

During officer Gunn’s interview with the Office of the Attorney General(OAG), he stated that the reason he told employees that he was going to return after his shift was so he could get the owner’s phone number to discuss his concerns. He also denied threatening any employees and stated that he was yelling due to the noise within the shop.

Concerned that officer Gunn would return, the employees of the auto shop closed the shop early and called 911.

Officer Gunn gave a statement as part of the internal investigation and stated that after he left the shop, he went to the station to end his shift and a lieutenant told him that employees had complained about his conduct. He stated that he was instructed to meet the lieutenant at the shop and did so.

During officer Gunn’s OAG interview, he stated that the

lieutenant spoke to him when they met there and told him not to return to the shop in the future.

BPD investigated and sustained the allegation of unprofessional conduct by officer Gunn, and he was required to attend a conference with a Deputy Commissioner to discuss his conduct.

The OAG agreed with BPD’s conclusion and found that officer Gunn committed misconduct during this incident by violating Chapter I, Section 2.13 and Chapter III, Sections 3.2(a) and

3.2(b) of BPD’s Rules and Regulations.

One woman was killed and others were injured in a high speed pursuit initiated by Buffalo Police that ended in a crash. Authorities say patrol officers began pursuing what they describe as a "suspicious vehicle" at 3:45 a.m. near Sycamore and Fillmore Avenues. Based on police account, the vehicle was traveling south on Bailey Avenue at an apparent high rate of speed when it allegedly ran a red light and was hit by another vehicle.

A passenger in the vehicle was declared deceased at the scene.

Outcome

The Buffalo Police Department Internal Affairs Division and the Accident Investigation Unit investigated the incident. No publicly available information regarding the outcome of the investigation or disciplinary action has been released.

On July 18, 2021, Detective Richard Hy and other officers responded to a robbery call near Pennsylvania and Trenton Streets. Detective Hy arrived first, spoke to the victim, and drove him to the location to attempt to identify the suspects. Upon arrival, the victim identified several individuals, including a 14-year-old minor, as responsible for the robbery.

During the attempted apprehension, one individual threw a fanny pack containing a firearm to another, and both fled. Officer Frascatore apprehended one suspect and recovered the gun. Detective Hy returned to the scene and approached the minor, referring to him as “fat boy.” When the minor questioned this, Detective Hy grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pushed him into a police car.

Bystanders, including the 14-year-old’s family members, protested that he was a minor. Detective Hy responded aggressively, including yelling “I don’t give a fuck” and physically pushing multiple individuals: the minor's brother, father, and a bystander recording the incident.

The minor and his brother were subsequently arrested, with force used during the arrests. The situation became chaotic when the brother tried to open the police car door. Later, after securing another individual identified by the victim, Detective Hy shouted from his car window at the crowd: “You’re going to jail for robbery with a firearm, have a nice day!”

Internal Investigation and Findings

-The Internal Affairs Division (IAD) investigated the incident. Detective Hy was exonerated regarding allegations of excessive force but found to have violated departmental policies on discourtesy.

-The discourtesy violation was addressed at a Deputy Commissioner Conference with no further disciplinary action taken.

Independent Review Conclusions

-Discourtesy Violation: Detective Hy violated Chapter I, Section 2.13 of BPD’s Rules and Regulations. His use of the term “fat boy,” repeated cursing at bystanders, and taunting remarks unnecessarily escalated an already tense situation.

-Use of Force Violation: Detective Hy violated BPD’s Use of Force Policy, Section 6.2, which requires officers to use de-escalation techniques when practicable. His aggressive physical and verbal conduct toward bystanders unnecessarily escalated the encounter and led to avoidable use of force.

-Overall Conclusion: Detective Hy committed misconduct by violating department policies on courtesy and the use of force.

On June 19, 2021, Detective Richard Hy struck a motorcyclist with his patrol car during an attempted traffic stop. Hy had been following a group of motorcyclists for loud engine revving. When he tried to stop them, they evaded him by running red lights and crossing into oncoming lanes. Eventually, at a red light with no other motorcyclists present, Detective Hy positioned his patrol car ahead of the motorcyclist.

Surveillance and body-worn camera footage captured what happened next: Hy, after briefly deactivating his emergency lights, reversed his patrol car into the stationary motorcycle, causing the motorcyclist and his bike to fall. After striking him, Hy reactivated his emergency lights, exited his vehicle, handcuffed him and began searching him.

Throughout the interaction, Detective Hy was confrontational and discourteous, cursing at the motorcyclist and repeatedly questioning him without first issuing Miranda warnings, even though he was clearly in custody.

Hy’s written report inaccurately stated that the motorcyclist was moving forward and collided with his patrol car; however, Internal Affairs determined that the motorcyclist was stationary when struck. Detective Hy admitted during an internal interview that he reversed deliberately to prevent the motorcyclist from fleeing, although he denied intending to cause a collision.

Official findings regarding Detective Hy’s conduct

-Use of Excessive Force: Backing into a stationary motorcyclist was an unreasonable and excessive use of force under constitutional standards.

-Discourtesy: Detective Hy cursed at and berated Complainant 1, violating department rules.

-Violation of Self-Incrimination Rights: By questioning Complainant 1 without Miranda warnings while he was handcuffed and in custody, Hy violated constitutional protections.

Outcome

Detective Hy was found to have committed misconduct, forfeited 15 vacation days to resolve the disciplinary charges, and the criminal charges against Complainant 1 were later dismissed and sealed.

A lawsuit was filed in state Supreme Court, claiming that Hy intentionally backed his patrol car into the motorcycle at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Edward Street in June 2021. The city settled the lawsuit for $65,000.

Starting the evening of January 10th, 2021 and continuing into the next morning, Buffalo Police accompanied bounty hunters in a raid of a duplex. The bounty hunters were there to search for Jake Reinhardt's brother, who jumped a $5,000 bail bond for misdemeanors in Pennsylvania. But his brother was not there, and he has never lived there.

Reinhardt, the owner of the duplex on Oakdale Place off Seneca Street, constantly asked the police officers and bounty hunters for a search warrant. At least one officer and bounty hunter told Reinhardt that a search warrant existed, but one was never presented to him. Reinhardt pleaded with one of the bounty hunters to drop his gun because his fiancé and 3-year-old child were awake and inside, but he refused.

With long guns drawn, the bounty hunters barreled through the front door and into Reinhardt’s first-floor home as he continued to demand that they show him a search warrant. The armed bounty hunters searched Reinhardt’s house, and pointed their guns at his then-pregnant fiancé while she held their three-year-old child. The toddler can be heard wailing in fear in body cam footage.

Reinhardt asked an officer for his name, to which the officer replied, “We don’t give our names anymore.”

Neither the bounty hunters nor the police department ever produced a search warrant. Instead, a bounty hunter handed Reinhardt a bail slip. It was at that time that Reinhardt realized the two armed men were not police officers, but bounty hunters.

Outcome

The raid resulted in an investigation by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office. The Buffalo Police Department also opened an internal investigation.

Buffalo Common Council President Darius Pridgen asked the city attorney’s office to provide council members with the police department’s policies and procedures that govern how officers should interact with bounty hunters. However, the city does not have any such policies, despite the 1998 death of a city police officer who was struck by a vehicle while assisting bounty hunters apprehend a suspect. Six months later the city adopted a policy with the intention of ensuring that armed, unlicensed bounty hunters never force their way into a home in the same way as the pair did in with the support of Buffalo Police.

Buffalo Police Capt. Jeff Rinaldo said that although he had not seen the body cam footage or spoken with any of the officers involved, a detective told him that none of the officers entered the house or conducted any kind of search. “They stepped into the front of the hallway there, but my understanding is that they never went into the upstairs or downstairs apartments,” Rinaldo said at the time.

A civil lawsuit against the city, Buffalo Police Officers, the Bail Bond company is still being litigated. The attorney for both families and Reinhardt’s mother, whose home was also searched by the bounty hunters earlier, said the body cam footage “clearly” shows two different officers crossing a Fourth Amendment threshold by entering hallways connected to the front and back doors and flashing their flashlights inside.

“Buffalo police were absolutely illegally in the house, unconstitutionally in the house without a search warrant,” the attorney for the family said. The attorney waited months for the city to release the body cam footage and eventually filed an Article 78 lawsuit to compel the city to release the footage.

“They had no search warrant,” the attorney said. “They had no warrant whatsoever and the police were backing [the bounty hunters] up.”

Bounty hunters are private citizens granted special privileges from an 1872 Supreme Court decision. Those privileges can exceed what law enforcement officers are legally allowed to do, such as extraditions across state lines and entering a fugitive’s home without a search warrant.

“And the police were backing them up and speaking up for them and telling the homeowner when he was begging for their help that these guys had a search warrant for the premises, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s a complete lie,” the attorney for the family said.

Dennis J. White, one of the bounty hunters, pled guilty to 10 misdemeanor charges. The judge sentenced White to 60 days in jail, and two years and 10 months on probation upon his release. In addition to that, White cannot have any contact with the victims for five years.

Buffalo Police Officers John Davidson and Andrew Moffett were suspended for making false statements following a drug arrest. The statements formed the basis for the false arrest of Morgan Eaton on charges of possession of 30 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute. The alleged cocaine was his fiance's medicine. All field and laboratory tests on the pills proved that the pills were not cocaine.

Willie Henley, a 60-year-old Black homeless man, was shot in the chest by Buffalo police officer Karl Schultz on September 12, 2020.

Henley was sitting with his belongings on a bench near the corner of Genesee and Ellicott streets and talking loudly to himself. Police were asked to check on the man. Among Henley’s possessions was a metal baseball bat.

When officers got there, Henley refused any assistance. More police arrived, including Karl Schultz and Alyssa Peron.

Schultz pulled out his gun after exiting his vehicle, while Henley was walking briskly away from several officers as they shouted at him to drop the bat.

“We’re just trying to help you!” Schultz yelled to Henley.

“Put the bat down!” Schultz called out to Henley as he kept his gun trained on the man. “Nobody wants to hurt you!”

Henley, who tried to walk away from the group of more than half a dozen officers, with weapons drawn, responded, "I didn’t call y'all! I wasn’t doing nothing. I was by myself."

As officers closed in on Henley, he swung his bat, hitting Peron at least once.

Seconds after cursing at a group of people protesting the police presence, Schultz fired two rounds from his handgun. One bullet struck Henley in the chest.

Henley was known for carrying his baseball bat wherever he went, slept with it on street corners at night, and lined up for meals every day with it at the Buffalo City Mission. Those who regularly interacted with him described him as "very quiet, very peaceful."

What should have been a mental health check on Henley devolved into a needless confrontation in which many officers flocked to the scene, chased and surrounded Henley, shouting at him to drop a bat, when all he wanted was to walk away. As Peron closed in, Henley swung his bat at her.

Outcome

Henley survived the shooting.

Henley has been declared incompetent and then competent again twice since the day he was shot. A criminal case against Henley, who was charged with assault, has been delayed over his mental competence.

He has been held in a psychiatric detention facility on and off for several years. Meanwhile, Schultz was placed on fully paid leave for two years as the criminal case languished, left unresolved due to Henley’s mental health.

An attorney for Barbara Henley, the legal guardian of Willie Henley, filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court. Attorneys for the city had the case moved to federal court because the case involves alleged civil rights violations. The lack of progress in this criminal case has held up a related civil lawsuit against Schultz, Peron, the Buffalo Police Department and the City of Buffalo. Henley has waited almost five years for a criminal verdict, and more than three for his civil case to move forward.

On September 7, 2020 Alexis Rivera was shot while on Wyoming Ave. He subsequently spent several days at ECMC. When Buffalo Police responded to the scene of the shooting, Rivera’s vehicle was impounded. It was eventually searched, and inside, police say they found approximately 13 ounces of cocaine.

Later, prosecutors say Kevin Biggs, former Buffalo Police Detective donned police attire and falsely presented himself as an officer, entered the impound lot on Dart St. in order to obtain the vehicle. During that time, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office said Biggs provided forged paperwork while trying to acquire it.

Prosecutors also said that Biggs entered the Buffalo police garage on Seneca St. two additional times, but did not have permission to be there. During one occasion, they say he had bolt cutters.

Rivera was accused of going to the police garage with the same falsified paperwork allegedly used by Biggs after Biggs left on one of those days.

Outcome

Kevin Biggs, 51, the former detective who also served as an East Aurora village trustee, faced charges of criminal trespassing, criminal possession of a forged instrument, criminal impersonation and possession of burglar tools.

Alexis Rivera, 25, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first and seventh degrees, criminal use of drug paraphernalia and two counts of forgery.

After their arraignments, Biggs left on his own recognizance, but Rivera had to post $75,000 bail. Biggs’ charges were non-qualifying offenses for bail.

An off-duty police officer, Richard Hy, hit and subdued a Black man having a mental health crisis until other police arrived. No charges were filed and Hy was not suspended.

Buffalo police order Black woman not to walk on same side of the street as white men

Buffalo Police sit in their cars looking around clueless while a pair of armed white supremacists block traffic shouting racial slurs.

CW: Lieutenant Michael DeLong, was suspended after being videotaped directing a vile, misogynist insult at a woman outside a convenience store. DeLong called the woman a “disrespectful little fucking cunt” when she questioned how police were handling a man in distress outside the store who has a history of drug and mental health issues. The woman taking the video was upset about the size of the police response to the scene. DeLong was suspended the day after the June 28 incident for 30 days without pay for his insult, then, under state law, was returned to the payroll while remaining under suspension. He was paid about $63,000 while awaiting an arbitration hearing in which the city was expected to ask that DeLong be further disciplined or fired.

On June 24th, 2020, a handful of people were gathered at Niagara Square as part of a multi-day peaceful protest in response to police brutality. While exercising their First Amendment right to peacefully assemble, Buffalo police officers arrived at Niagara Square around 2:00 am and began unlawfully arresting the protestors.

Outcome

Each protestor was charged with violations of two City of Buffalo ordinances, laws or regulations, section 309-15[A], sleeping in "any park or park approach," and 309-25[A], remaining in a park, playground, or public school ground beyond open hours, a non-criminal offense punishable as a "Class C fine in the amount of $52.50."

Niagara Square is neither a "park," "park approach," "playground," nor a "public school ground" as defined in the Buffalo City Code, such that the sections 309-15[A] and 309-25[A] would apply to the protestors and prohibit their otherwise protected right of assembly at Niagara Square. Subsequently, in Buffalo City Court, all charges were dismissed for facial insufficiency.

The case was settled for $31,5000.

According to Buffalo News, forty-seven out of fifty-seven arrests made during George Floyd / BLM protests in the summer of 2020 were either dismissed or "given adjournments" and were considered for dismissal. Very few went all the way through court proceedings.

The Buffalo Police Commissioner suspended Robert Marth, a man who worked as police dispatcher. The suspension came after Marth made the following comments on FaceBook: "Enough is enough !!! What is going on is uncalled for.. FUCKEN WILD ANIMALS ... and what do you do to an animal that's rabid out of control you take it out !! Mayor stop being a patsy to these fucks and give the order !!! Allow the officers to shoot to kill!!"

CW: While at a Black Lives Matter protest, 75-year old peace activist Martin Gugino approached a line of riot police stopping in front of the them to talk, one officer yelled “push him back”; one officer pushed his arm into Gugino’s chest, while another extended his baton toward him with both hands. Gugino feel backward, with blood immediately leaking from his right ear. An officer leaned down to examine him, but another officer then pulled the first officer away. Several other officers walked by Gugino, motionless on the ground, without checking on him.

Outcome

The two officers were immediately suspended by Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood. An Internal Affairs investigation was completed. The District Attorney's office of John Flynn charged the two officers that pushed Gugino with felony assault. However, a grand jury chose not to indict. Martin is continuing to litigate a civil suit against the City of Buffalo.

Myles Carter, a young Black man, was tackled from behind by Buffalo police and arrested while he was being interviewed by the news media on Bailey Avenue during a protest. The trumped up charges that followed included second-degree obstruction of governmental administration, a misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct, a violation. The charges were later dropped.

Buffalo Police and National Guard swarm in to beat and arrest some people. After firing tear gas and obstructing the view, they then run away as an SUV drives through them and hits at least one officer.