A federal appeals court has ruled the police departments of Easton, Monroe, Trumbull, Darien and Wilton cannot use a shield of immunity to protect them from millions of dollars in civil rights claims arising from a 2008 tactical-team raid that killed a Norwalk man and injured an Easton homeowner.

In a 51-page decision, 10 months after it heard arguments in the case, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for a jury to decide whether the police departments violated Ronald Terebesi's constitutional rights when a heavily armed team smashed down his door, tossed stun grenades into his home and fatally shot his house guest, 33-year-old Gonzalo Guizan, as the two men were watching TV.

During the raid, Guizan was shot half a dozen times by Monroe Officer Michael Sweeney.

The police team's action was based on a claim by an exotic dancer that she saw a small amount of cocaine and some smoking pipes in Terebesi's home.

Corrections Officer Brutally Beats Suspect for Clearing His Throat

A Florida corrections officer found himself behind bars — albeit for only a few minutes — after getting caught on camera slamming a suspect's head into the wall, leaving him unconscious and bleeding.
Footage from inside the Marion County Jail shows Officer Charlie Broaderick beating up DUI suspect James Duckworth after the latter cleared his throat.

Duckworth was in the process of being booked when he made a sound which Broaderick interpreted as an intention to spit on him.

Broaderick responded by slamming Duckworth into the wall and exclaiming, "You don't spit at officers."

The violent outburst left a visible streak of blood on the wall behind Duckworth.

The officers then engage in a conversation over Duckworth's true intention, leading Broaderick to realize his error.

An effort is then made to treat Duckworth's injuries.

Broaderick was subsequently arrested and charged with assault, but spent just 13 minutes in a jail cell before posting his $2,000 bail.

Marion County has since placed Broaderick on unpaid leave pending the result of an excessive force investigation.

Ruff claims he was roughed up by seven officers from the 35th District when he attempted to anonymously turn in three handguns at the precinct. Ruff, who says he suffered two sprained wrists and two sprained shoulders in the fracas, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

Ruff, an eight-year veteran assigned to the 16th precinct, said the acts of the 35th District officers “were committed willfully, wantonly, maliciously, intentionally, outrageously, deliberately and/or by conduct so egregious as to shock the conscience.”

The City of Philadelphia, he said in his civil suit, encourages and is deliberately indifferent to the abuse of police powers. Among other accusations, Ruff claims the city tolerates officers who misrepresent facts in order to establish probable cause, and allows officers to have persons falsely arrested or maliciously prosecuted. He also asserts the city permits the continued employment of officers who are psychologically or emotionally unfit to serve.

Ruff is currently under investigation by Internal Affairs in connection with the incident.

In his suit, Ruff said a friend asked him to turn in three firearms the friend had bought from neighbors “in a proactive attempt to stop violence.”

Ruff, who was off duty, checked to make sure the guns were unloaded and then drove to the 35th District station at Broad Street and Champlost Avenue. When he arrived at the precinct, he told an officer he wanted to turn in some firearms. The officer asked who owned the guns. Ruff – who refused to identify the owner -- said he was turning them in under a “no-questions-asked” policy and asked to speak to a supervisor, the suit states.

But according to a police spokesman, a “no-questions-asked” policy does not exist outside of periodic gun-amnesty programs.

“Can you drop them off like a baby? Typically, no,” said Lt. John Stanford, a department spokesman. “That’s only done when we do buybacks.”

After a supervisor failed to appear, another officer demanded to see Ruff’s identification. He told her that he didn’t have a state ID on him but had his work ID instead. Ruff asked to make a phone call outside the building. As he walked out, someone shouted, “There he is,” the suit states. Another officer came up behind Ruff and twisted his right hand behind his back. More than five officers ran to the scene. At that point, Ruff used a code number to identify himself as a fellow officer and said that his ID was in his pocket, according to the suit.

Two of those police officers held Tasers to his chest and rib cage and threatened to activate them. One of the officers spotted a weapon holstered to Ruff’s hip and demanded, “Why the hell would you come into a police station with a gun on your hip? Where is your permit to carry?” Ruff responded that his police officer ID was his permit to carry, according to the suit.

After being held for six hours, Ruff was released. On Aug. 4, he went to Chestnut Hill Hospital, where he was treated for injuries he said he received during his arrest and detention. The same day, Ruff was placed on desk duty, according to the suit, which seeks unspecified damages.

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Surveillance video shows an Ohio man talking on a cell phone, leaning on a toy gun, and facing away from officers moments before police shot and killed him in a Walmart store, according to an attorney for the man’s family.

John Crawford III died Aug. 5 after police were called to Walmart in Beavercreek, near Dayton, by another shopper who reported a man carrying what appeared to be an AR-15 rifle.

The 22-year-old Crawford was instead carrying an unpackaged MK-177 (.177 caliber) BB/pellet rifle he picked up in the store’s toy department.

Police claim Crawford ignored their commands to drop the weapon, and the former Marine who called in the report and witnessed the shooting said Crawford “looked like he was going to go violently.”

But attorney Michael Wright said surveillance video from the incident, which Ohio’s attorney general allowed him to watch with Crawford’s family, contradicted those accounts.

“John was doing nothing wrong in Walmart, nothing more, nothing less than shopping,” Wright said.

The attorney said surveillance video showed Crawford facing away from officers, talking on the phone, and leaning on the pellet gun like a cane when he was “shot on sight” in a “militaristic” response by police.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced Tuesday handed the case over to a special prosecutor to present to a grand jury Sept. 22.

Several of the rounds hit Roach, critically wounding him. One of their bullets went through the door of the bar and hit 22-year-old Maria Fernada Godinez, killing her.

“The preliminary indication is that during the situation a bullet was discharged from Officer Eduardo Sanguino’s firearm and fatally struck Maria inside the establishment,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said. “The Orlando Police Department is committed to a full investigation to understand how this tragedy happened.”

Mina also added that there is no indication that Roach fired any shots. Upon inspection of his weapon it was found to be empty.

In true unaccountable fashion, Orlando police have no idea which officer fired a shot at Lt. Frank Nunez striking him in the leg. Nunez was treated in the hospital and released.

A Marion County Sheriff's Office reserve deputy resigned after he was caught on camera using a stun gun on a race fan during the Indianapolis 500 weekend.

Paul McGann was hired in June 2013 and was placed on administrative leave on July 2 after the incident in the Coke Lot. He officially resigned Aug. 22.

No charges were filed in the case, but the prosecutor’s office was investigating.

By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, December 11, 2005
READING, England -- During his training to become a British police officer, Ben Johnson recalled, an instructor told him and other recruits, "If you ever see somebody carrying a gun, turn and run away as quickly as possible."

"It was a bizarre situation," said Johnson, 34, a former police officer in Garland, Tex., and U.S. Army soldier who moved here with his British wife three years ago and became this country's first non-British police officer. He said running from trouble was exactly the opposite of what he learned as an American cop.

Now Johnson is publicly challenging one of the great traditions of law enforcement in Britain, what he calls the "old-fashioned idea of the unarmed bobby on the beat." He has written to his chief asking for permission to carry a gun, arguing that Britain is no longer safe for unarmed and under-trained police officers. He says he will resign if the chief refuses.

Two former East Point police officers might have discharged their Tasers more than twice as many times as they reported in the death of a 24-year-old man in April, according to an attorney.

Chris Stewart, who is representing the family of Gregory Lewis Towns Jr., said Tuesday former Cpl. Howard Weems and former Sgt. Marcus Eberhart discharged their departmental Tasers at least 14 times, not the six that were documented in the required police reports they filed on Towns’ April 11 death.

While the medical examiners haves said Towns’ death was a homicide, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard is still waiting on evidence before decided if he will present the matter to a grand jury for possible criminal charges.

Stewart, who plans to file a lawsuit this week on behalf of Towns’ family, including his 7-month-old son, said what he has learned in recent days is “beyond belief” and “horrendous.”

According to a report produced by each Taser used on Towns, Weems pulled the trigger on his device four times for a total of 27 seconds and Eberhart activated his Taser at least 10 times for a total of 47 seconds.

“They used their Tasers as a cattle prod on Mr. Towns while handcuffed,” Stewart said.
As required by state law, Towns’ family has notified the city of East Point of their intent to sue.

“Mr. Towns’ killing is not about race,” Stewart said, noting that Towns and both officers were black. “It’s about police brutality … going to the extreme.”

East Point has declined to comment because of the potential litigation.

The World-Herald has learned that at least 30 shots were fired at the Wendy’s near 43rd and Dodge Streets.
Officials said it appears the only shots fired came from police.

The robbery suspect apparently had an air gun, a type of BB gun that looks like an actual firearm. He apparently was a prison parolee from Kansas, law enforcement sources said.

The names of the two dead had not been released at midday Wednesday. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer has scheduled a press conference for 2:30 p.m.

Evidence from a dashboard camera on a police cruiser ended a nightmare for a New Jersey man facing false charges of eluding police, resisting arrest and assault. Prosecutors dismissed all the criminal charges against Marcus Jeter, 30, of Bloomfield, N.J. and instead indicted two Bloomfield police officers for falsifying reports and one of them for assault after the recording surfaced showing police officers beating Jeter during a traffic stop, according to WABC of New York. A third has pleaded guilty to tampering.

Jeter's defense attorney requested all recorded evidence, but the police failed to hand over a second tape until additional evidence surfaced of a second police car at the scene. The tape showed Jeter complying with police, even as one punched him in the head repeatedly.

In Tennessee, a Knox County Sheriff’s officer has been fired after photographs showed him choking a college student until he collapsed. A sequence of photographs published in Britain’s Daily Mail showed Officer Frank Phillips squeezing his hands around Jarod Dotson’s neck until Dotson fell to his knees. Police charged Dotson with public intoxication and resisting arrest.