Cop beats up model Air Force captain in his own home, issues arrest weeks later

The Daily Caller ^ | 17 Apr 2014 | Robby Soave

[mandaladon]

An Air Force captain discovered he was banned from Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California, due to pending charges against him from a previous encounter with a cop who had tried to arrest him for entering his own home.

The charges — resisting arrest and obstructing an officer — have infuriated Captain Nicolas Aquino, a first-generation immigrant whose parents came to the United States from Paraguay as political exiles.

Last December, an officer paid a visit to Aquino’s Monterey residence. Apparently, a neighbor had seen a man entering Aquino’s home, and reported a possible burglary to the authorities.

The “burglar” was Aquino himself. No one else was in the house.

The officer told Aquino that he needed to see identification, according to KSBW.

“At that moment I’m like, ‘Excuse me sir, but who are you? And why are you here?’” said Aquino in a statement.

Aquino, who is well aware of his Constitutional rights, asked the officer if he was being detained. The officer said that he was.

“And so I said, ‘OK, then my name is Nicolas Aquino. I live right here. I’m in the military,’” said Aquino.

Aquino showed the officer — a deputy with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department — his military ID, but did not hand over the card. The officer interpreted this move as a hostile act, and proceeded to tackle Aquino, slam his head into the ground and put him in a choke hold.

The police report described the officer’s actions more favorably.

[sport]

Actually it is. Once upon a time a police officer had to have probable cause to confront a citizen. Until he had probable cause to confront said citizen, said citizen was considered to be not in violation of the criminal laws. To wit}Every the officer he encountered was considered to be innocent of committing a criminal until the officer had probable cause to believe otherwise.

[Ozark Tom]

And technology continues to shrink such that a songbird sized drone with camera is available now. Soon, an independent operation could keep tabs on the public minions so as to keep them toeing the line. A street level reconnaissance to evaluate the behavior of our “employees”.

[GilesB]

No he couldn’t - according to the story the cop just took him down when he pulled his ID back.

The cap was a freaking guest in the guy’s home - but he behaved like the overlord.

From the story - the cop overstepped big time, there is no excuse for escalating a case of mistaken identity in this way.

Once the man told him he lived there, the cop was duty bound to confirm it, but he was also just as duty bound to afford the man every courtesy until he could prove or disprove his claim. He didn’t do that, he was the one in control, he chose to attack. There is nothing you can say, other than presenting evidence that the story is wrong, that can change my opinion. The man was in his own home - the cop was there because of a false report. The cop forcably took him to jail - WRONG!

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

I do not know the details of the PARTICULAR event. I was commenting on the fact that cops often meet people who claim their “Rights” in an obnoxious “..in your face pig” manner. I have never had any difficulty with police when stopped and questioned, as I cooperate. There are a significant number of people on this forum who blame cops for every social ill all without looking at themselves.

[GilesB]

You were commenting on what this PARTICULAR homeowner could have done - so you were commenting on this event.

However, I will agree with you to a point. I have noticed the same tendency, and it does bother me. However, I do know that policemen can be heavy handed at times. I don’t believe it is the majority of them, or even a significant minority - at least not in my personal experience. But I have had the misfortune of twice being confronted by an obnoxious policeman. One stopped me and would not tell me why he was stopping me. Then he laid a reckless driving charge on me (which I beat) for “weaving all aver the road” when I had swerved to avoid a person jumping out into the road at night, then swerved back to avoid oncoming traffic - a pretty neat piece of driving, actually. This particular policeman was transferred from that town after he beat a guy with his maglight during a routine traffic stop.

Interestingly, I heard the same “weaving all over the road” phrase from another cop in the same town when he stopped me for basically driving after midnight (I was not under the influence). I was driving straight as an arrow, and he let me go, but he used this same bogus phrase.

Also in the same town (my hometown growing up) I was stopped, I had no idea why, I asked the policeman politely why he was stopping me and he refused to tell me (from the time of the “reckless” stop, I will not relinquish my license until I am told the reason for the request). I told him I would give him my license once he told me why he was stopping me - and I did, but he acted a complete jerk...my original request was polite, but I did responded negatively to his arrogant refusal to tell me why he stopped me.

So yes, they are out there, they give the rest a bad reputation and they should be confronted and weeded out whenever possible.