You need to hit the play button :0008
:mj07: :mj07:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_61a185db-74b7-541b-a5ab-88476fc95124.html
St. Louis. A St. Louis patrolman was pulled off the streets Tuesday after being captured on video striking a man repeatedly with a baton and spraying him with pepper spray in the early hours of New Year's Day.
The 2 minute, 13 second video, recorded on a smart phone and posted on the Internet, shows the police officer pulling a man from a car at a Shell gas station about 2:30 a.m. The officer then pushes the man to the ground, strikes him seven times with a police baton and uses pepper spray before handcuffing him and walking him toward a police substation on the property. Three men standing near the car witness the incident without getting involved.
The video was shot by a bystander in a nearby car. Internal affairs detectives are investigating the incident, and the officer has been placed on administrative duty.
The owner of the gas station, at 1815 Arsenal Street, identified the officer as Dustin Ries, whom he said was working off-duty for him. The owner, Joel Platke, said Ries had worked for several years at the station providing security out of the substation. Platke said the officer was justified in his actions and was reacting to an unruly, drunken customer.
Police spokeswoman Erica Van Ross said the department would not release details unless the investigation resulted in charges or disciplinary action.
"While all of the circumstances of the incident are not known, what is seen on the video is extremely disturbing to us," the department said in a statement. "Force is to be used only when absolutely necessary, and this department takes the use of force very seriously."
Police added that no one filed a complaint about the incident and that there were no arrest reports. The department first heard about the video Tuesday morning, after media outlets began asking about it.
Ries, 37, of Chesterfield, could not be reached for comment. His attorney, John Bouhasin, declined to comment because of the ongoing internal affairs investigation.
Ries has previously been named in two lawsuits accusing him of excessive force.
A 2008 federal suit alleged that Ries assaulted two men with his police baton and pepper spray while he was working off-duty at the Big Bang piano bar on Laclede's Landing in April 2006. Al Johnson, a Clayton attorney for the plaintiffs, said his clients were initially charged with assault but the charges were later dropped. The lawsuit was settled out of court, and Johnson said he was barred from disclosing the amount.
"I'm glad he got caught this time, maybe enough to where the police department can fire him," Johnson said of Ries.
A 2005 civil suit in St. Louis alleged that Ries struck a man on the head with his baton and sprayed him with pepper spray in an on-duty traffic stop on North Grand Boulevard in September 2004. Records show that case was dismissed; it was unclear Tuesday whether a settlement was reached.
The video is posted on STLtoday.com. It had been on YouTube, which removed it Tuesday, saying it violated the site's standards for 'shocking and disgusting content." YouTube later restored the video for registered users who say they are at least 18. A YouTube spokeswoman said the website did not comment on specific videos. Van Ross, the city police spokeswoman, said the department had not asked YouTube to remove the video.
Platke, 49, the owner of the Shell station on Arsenal Street, claimed the man seen being hit by Ries was being disruptive that night and was struggling with the officer.
Platke said he was not at the station that night but had spoken to two employees and had viewed security camera footage. He later provided footage to the Post-Dispatch, but it was grainy and the view of the altercation was largely obstructed.
"The guy was plainly drunk," Platke said. "Inebriated." He said the man's friends got him outside but he continued to cause problems, struggling with his friends. That's when Ries intervened, according to Platke.
"The officer grabbed him and tried to get him to come out of the car. The guy fell onto his chest and locked his arms around this officer's ankles and would not let go," Platke said. Ries "was there with his feet locked together, screaming at this guy to let go. He used his baton to try to hit him to get him to let go. He finally had to use (pepper spray) and the guy finally let go."
Blaine Thompson, 21, of south St. Louis County, said he was the designated driver for the man who was beaten and two friends. He would not identify his friends but said they were cooperating with the police investigation.
Thompson said Ries had been justified to "take action." As for the use of force, he said, "It's not really my call."
A Kirkwood man, 23, shot the video while stopping for gas at the station. The man, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution from police, said he thought the officer used excessive force. He said he did not see what preceded the encounter.
"That cop abused his power as a police officer," the man said. "A lot of times cops forget that. I guess they don't realize what they're doing sometimes. Maybe if other police officers see this, they'll think first before they fly off the handle."
The man said he and his friends left immediately after the officer took the suspect away in handcuffs.
GL
