Posted on 07/23/2010 4:38:12 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
Two Columbia police officers are the focus of a civil lawsuit concerning an incident last year in which a man was tasered after a traffic stop.
Attorney Samuel Trapp filed the civil suit yesterday in federal court in Jefferson City on behalf of Cadilac Derrick, 23, of Columbia.
On Feb. 24, 2009, Derrick was driving his registered Suburu down Providence Road when Columbia police Officers Tim Giger and John Logan pulled him over, according to the lawsuit
A video posted on YouTube shows the incident captured by police cameras. The officers approached each side of the car, in which Derrick’s girlfriend Amanda Reed and her 3-year old child were passengers. Derrick handed officers his license and registration and asked why he was being pulled over. One officer can then be heard instructing Derrick to step out of the car.
Throughout, Derrick remained seated, and he asked for his license back. The other officer then fired a Taser through the passenger window. Derrick thrashed and fell from the car, then attempted to run. A resulting scuffle can be heard outside the view of the police car camera.
According to a copy of the lawsuit, the officers assaulted Derrick, “placing him in a chokehold, beating him with their fists and knees” and then sprayed mace into his left eye. Derrick was then arrested.
“The way that was handled was unbelievable,” Trapp said.
Criminal charges filed against Derrick for resisting arrest were dismissed this week. Trapp said the prosecutor couldn’t show Derrick knew why he was being detained.
The Columbia Police Department conducted an internal affairs investigation last year and found that the officers acted properly, Public Information Officer Jill Wieneke said.
She declined to comment on the details of the incident because the internal investigation was part of the criminal case, which has been dismissed, and the records were closed.
“At this point, because of the disposition of the criminal case, … we’re not at liberty to talk about it,” she said.
Because the results of that investigation would likely come up in the civil suit, she said, “it would be a disservice of the judicial process” to discuss it.
She added that the police department had not yet been notified of the suit this morning and that neither of the officers had been subpoenaed.
Trapp said for now, the suit is against the two officers and not the department. “When you attack a police department or the supervisor for liability, you have to show a negligent policy,” he said. “We haven’t made that decision whether we are going to add the Columbia Police Department or not.”
VIDEO AT LINK ABOVE
Evidentially, unlawfully detaining someone, then assaulting them when they question you why is considered acting properly by Columbia MO PD...
Cops beating up some guy just because they want to? Say it isn’t so!
When this is over, it seems likely that Cadillac Derick will be Rolls Royce Derick.
Is there more to this story?
Wonder why the guy drove off after the initial stop?
Huh?
Kid was arrested for questioning authority, charges were all dropped in court, civil suit for excessive force has been filed. What you see on the video is all there is to it...
I see they have even discarded the initial admonition that if you taze someone, you had the duty to catch them, because they were going down hard.
The instructors at the friendly local P.O.S.T Academy are plaintiffs best witnesses.
Its not uncommon for officers to ask people who stop on a busy roadway to move up into a parking lot or an adjacent street with less traffic. That will also come back to haunt the officers in court, it also shows they were not that concerned about the driver and the reason for the stop was not very serious... further brings into question the escalation of the situation by the officers so quickly, 23 seconds...
For reasons that failed muster in court and paved the way for all charges to be dropped.
The guy should go to jail for being such a big baby. I realize it hurts like hell, but it’s over in a few seconds. Most people jiggle around for a bit, but this guy was way over the top. That woman should dump that wimp (of course, she should wait to see how much money he gets first).
Agreed, they are billed as less lethal, FBI says they are to be used just prior to firearms on the Use of Force Continuum.
And not as “Compliance Devices” as they are widely used today...
And the cops should all get medals, no doubt...
Oh, I got a pretty good idea what set the cops off.
Is that what happened? It's not referenced in this story. Poorly written.
I read the article several times ... where does it say he drove off after an "initial" stop?
And we wonder why police are being hated more and more?
No, it DIDN’T happen. They shot Derick into convulsions right on a busy street. Krank-case should have it happen to her in the same kind of location.
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