ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — An officer struggling to subdue a
woman at the scene of a family dispute acted properly when he hit her in the
head and wrestled her to the ground, despite her repeatedly telling officers she
was pregnant, the police chief said.
The chaotic Tuesday evening arrest of 21-year-old Brenda
Hardaway and her 16-year-old brother was videotaped and posted on YouTube.
WHAM-TV identified the person who took the video as the son of Hardaway's
neighbor.
The first 45 seconds of the five-minute video show Officer
Lucas Krull pinning Hardaway face-down on the hood of a car while trying to
cuff her hands behind her back. She resists, repeatedly telling him and other
officers that she's pregnant. Krull then punches Hardaway in the back of the
head and tosses her to the ground before other officers help him cuff her and
others take her brother into custody.
Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard told local media
outlets that the officers showed "tremendous restraint" while
subduing the teen and Hardaway, whose family said she's six months pregnant.
Krull used a distraction technique that officers are taught to employ to
disorient someone who's resisting arrest, Sheppard said.
"While the video may cause concern relative to the
officer's tactics, I stress that it is important that the incident be viewed in
its totality and to withhold judgment until all the facts are known, including
those parts of the event that are not shown on the video," he said.
Sheppard said Hardaway had pointed pepper spray at officers
checking out a report of a fight involving several family members. That part of
the encounter wasn't shown on the video, he said.
Hardaway was taken to Rochester General Hospital, where she
was treated and released. Krull was treated for injuries to his nose and elbow.
Hardaway pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that
included assault and resisting arrest. She was being held Thursday in Monroe
County Jail on $7,500 bail. A message was left for her public defender.
Her brother was released after being charged with disorderly
conduct and resisting arrest.
Sheppard said the officers' actions during the arrest were
being reviewed, as are all uses of force by city police officers. The review
will determine whether the officers complied with the department's training and
policy, the chief said.
Fairfax
County cops execute another unarmed man
The Fairfax County Police shot an killed an unarmed man who
was alone in his home. The police caused the situation, they escalated the
situation and they handled it poorly and are expected to take several weeks to
develop their justification story.
Police
said they were responding….in force with a tank, a helecopter, a SWAT team, K-p
units, and no less than 23 cops to a “Domestic dispute” but
Geer was alone in the house. The victim of this police shooting this time was John
Geer, age 46, a kitchen installer with no history of violence had to end in
death. He left behind two teenage
daughters.
According to Geer’s father, Geer had been throwing his estranged wife’s
belongings, she is 24 years old, into the front yard because she was leaving
him, so she called the cops who marked the call as a domestic dispute. She was
asked if there were guns in the house and she said there was. The weapons were
under lock and key
There's a Maura Harrington listed at the same address where the
killing took place.
Neighbors recalled him as even-keeled, outgoing and helpful.
A search of police records in Fairfax County showed that Geer was found guilty
of drunken driving in 2010 but no convictions for violent crimes or more
serious offenses. A neighbor said he talked to Geer in the minutes before the
police encounter. He said that Geer didn’t say anything suicidal but he was
deeply shaken about the impending breakup.
For forty minutes the cops demanded that Geer, who stood at
his front door, for forty minutes "They just continued to tell him: come
out, come out, come out," said one witness.
Geer had not showed the cops any sort of weapon nor had he advanced
toward them. He made no mention of harming himself or others. Geer’s hands were
up in the air, seconds before he was gunned down because they were on top of
the storm door. He as shot in the chest while slowly lowering his hands. He had
no weapon in his possession and there was no weapon within his reach.
Shot in the chest, Greer pushed his way back into the house
and bled to death. The heros from the SWAT team entered the house by way of
tank one hour later and found Geer dead.
