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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: More Pig News, Murder and mayhem www.kctv5.com/news/18598637/detail.html Former Officer Admits Killing Toddler Nicholas Minet Sentenced To 16 Years In Prison LIBERTY, Mo. -- A former police officer charged with second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter changed his plea to guilty on Thursday. Nicholas Minet, a former Kansas City, Mo., police officer admitted in a Clay County courtroom that he shook Alyssa Eickmeier violently and threw her on the floor or a mattress causing a deadly blow to the head. Minet said he shook the girl because she wouldn't stop crying for her mother. "He was a new boyfriend. You go through the whole divorce process, every boyfriend you have around your kids, of course, you hate them, but I was actually comfortable with him for the fact that he was a police officer," said Chris Eickmeier, Alyssa Eickmeier's father. Minet was sentenced to 16 years in prison. "It's hard to deal with, reliving all this stuff. That's why this plea I'm glad happened. Like I said, memories, bad memories," Chris Eickmeier said. Alyssa Eickmeier's mother and several other family members were in the courtroom. They wore pink T-shirts in her memory. "I know he's sorry. He said he was sorry in court. I believe that he's sorry," the girl's mother Amy Eickmeier said. "She paid with her life. She didn't get a chance to plead for hers." www.courierpostonline.com...0129/NEWS01/90129011/1006 View video of controversial S.J. arrest MILLVILLE -- Sheila Stevenson and then-Millville police officer Carlo Drogo crossed paths on a cold early morning in February 2008. Advertisement It was still dark, around 6 a.m., and Stevenson was riding her bicycle on the sidewalk of North 2nd Street when Drogo, in his patrol car, pulled alongside her. What happened next is now the subject of a lawsuit in Superior Court in which Stevenson alleges Drogo beat her while she was in custody. The officer denies the charges. VIEW VIDEO BELOW Drogo resigned from the police force last fall and Stevenson has since been found guilty of resisting arrest. The city of Millville released two videos recorded on cameras in police cruisers at the scene. Here's how the arrest unfolded: Drogo got out of his car and walked toward Stevenson as she rode into the street in front of his cruiser. The former officer said in a statement Wednesday he stopped Stevenson because she was riding her bicycle on the sidewalk a violation of city ordinances. A camera mounted on the dashboard of Drogo's patrol car captured what happened next. Drogo defends his actions as appropriate. Many of the people with knowledge of the arrest -- including Millville's chief of police, the Cumberland County prosecutor and the lawyer representing Stevenson -- declined to comment on the video. But a law professor who reviewed the footage earlier this week at the request of Gannett New Jersey says the incident is a clear example of excessive force by police. Stevenson, 42, filed suit in state Superior Court last month, naming Drogo, the city and other officers as defendants. Gannett New Jerseyl obtained the video from the city by requesting it through the state's Open Public Records Act. The city denied the newspaper's request for the video twice before releasing it last week. In the video, Drogo exits his car and approaches Stevenson from behind. When she appears to resist the officer, he grabs her by the arm to subdue her. When that doesn't work, Drogo grabs the pepper spray on his utility belt. Still standing behind Stevenson, Drogo's tries to spray her, but instead accidentally sprays himself in the face. The officer, appearing stunned, then grabs Stevenson off the bicycle and drags her to the ground. Moments later, two backup officers arrive and struggle to handcuff Stevenson as she is facedown on the ground. Drogo is seen in the video doubled over from the pepper spray, with his arm over his eyes. "I'm not doing nothing!" Stevenson repeatedly yells as the officers try to handcuff her. Drogo then walks over and, as the other two officers struggle with Stevenson, appears to punch the woman four times in the head with a closed fist. "Why are you hitting me?" Stevenson screams. As the two backup officers continue to struggle with Stevenson, Drogo appears to throw another punch at Stevenson and kick her before putting his foot on or near her neck. After a few more moments of struggle, the officers handcuff Stevenson and sit her on the curb. Drogo, who is standing nearby, walks past and slaps Stevenson on the side of the head. "Why did you hit me when I'm handcuffed? Did anybody see it?" Stevenson yells. After being searched by a female officer, Stevenson is led to a patrol car while other officers flush Drogo's eyes with bottles of water. Drogo came to the Millville Police Department in 2004 from the Buena Police Department, where he had worked since 2001. Drogo resigned from the Millville force for undisclosed reasons in October. He viewed the video with Gannett New Jersey reporter Wednesday and, in a later e-mailed statement, defended his actions. The full statement can be read at the bottom of this article. "I stand by everything that I did that night and only ask for the same due process afforded earlier to the plaintiff," Drogo, 27, said in the statement, referring to Stevenson. "Please know that I am the person who activated the dash cam that night. I turned it on as an objective witness because I was acting in good faith to enforce the laws of the state." A tape from a backup officer's dashboard camera captured audio of the incident, but does not show most of the arrest. Millville police Chief Ed Grennon this week declined to discuss the videos, or say why Drogo left the force. "It's in litigation, therefore I can't make any kind of comments on it," he said. Cumberland County Prosecutor Ronald J. Casella on Tuesday declined to say whether his office investigated the incident involving Drogo and Stevenson. "If there were an investigation, it was done by" the Millville Police Department, "and if they asked us to review it" for possible criminal charges, "it would be confidential," Casella said previously. No criminal charges have been filed against Drogo or the other officers involved. Stevenson's attorney, Harold Shapiro of Vineland, declined to comment on the video and said he would not make his client available for an interview. Stevenson's lawsuit, which alleges she was a victim of excessive force, is pending in state Superior Court. In her lawsuit, Stevenson seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Grennon said his department follows the guidelines for use of force set by the state Attorney General's Office. Those guidelines recommend that in using force, "the law-enforcement officer shall be guided by the principle that the degree of force employed in any situation should be only that reasonably necessary," and law enforcement officers "should exhaust all other reasonable means before resorting to the use of force." This wasn't the case in the incident involving Drogo and Stevenson, said Donald F. Tibbs, an associate professor of law at the Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University in Philadelphia, who has studied the use of police force. At Gannett New Jersey's request, he viewed the video from Drogo's dashboard camera this week. "This is clearly excessive force," Tibbs said. "This is way beyond excessive force. This is actually a violation of her civil rights. "He's upset because he sprayed himself with pepper spray, and this is him acting out his frustration," Tibbs said of Drogo. "I would like to think this doesn't happen to you just because you're riding your bike on the sidewalk." Although Stevenson resisted the officers' attempts to arrest her, Drogo's actions went well beyond what was necessary to subdue her, Tibbs said. "There should be no more force used than is necessary to make the suspect submit," Tibbs said. "That is more force than is necessary to subdue her -- the other officers already have her on the ground and are using a reasonable amount of force." The blows delivered by Drogo in the video "have absolutely nothing to do with restraining a suspect who is already on the ground," Tibbs said. "I think most people would probably agree with that." In connection with the incident, Stevenson was charged with possession of cocaine, resisting arrest, providing false information to a law enforcement officer, obstruction of justice and failure to turn over a controlled dangerous substance to police. Stevenson was found guilty in Municipal Court last June of resisting arrest. She was fined $756 plus court costs, according to court records. On the drug possession charge, she was given a conditional discharge, meaning the count would be dismissed if she stayed out of trouble. However, Stevenson allegedly tested positive for cocaine use late last year and a warrant was issued Oct. 1 for her arrest for violating the conditions of the discharge, Municipal Court Administrator Jean DuBois-Chard said previously. It was unclear Wednesday whether the warrant was still active. Tibbs, the Drexel professor, said although police often have to use varying levels of force in the line of duty, it was difficult to defend Drogo's actions in this case. "His reaction is a violent one, and not one that is in response to performance of his duties. Police officers are not allowed to punch citizens just because they're angry, under any circumstances." Drogo, in his statement, said, "I invite anyone to view the dash cam video while reading a copy" of Stevenson's lawsuit. "You will clearly see the frivolousness of her suit, and the outright false statements contained in her complaint." That decision now will go to the courts. No trial date has been set. FULL STATEMENT FROM OFFICER DRAGO Ex-Millville cop issues statement about lawsuit The following statement was provided Wednesday by former Millville police officer Carlo Drogo: The allegations made in the plaintiff's civil complaint are an outright distortion of the facts and I assert that the stop was based on probable cause and that her arrest was lawful. The plaintiff was provided with due process in a court of law for any and all charges that she faced as a result of her actions on that night. She was charged with a city ordinance violation for riding a bicycle on a sidewalk in the arts district, a traffic summons for failure to keep right on a bicycle, and a list of criminal charges rangingfrom hindering apprehension by providing a false name, obstruction of justice, resisting arrest, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance (crack cocaine), and was lodged into the county jail on those charges along with other active warrants that she had at that time. With the advice of counsel, she plead guilty to resisting arrest and drug charges and was sentenced accordingly, so certainly the initial stop of her was deemed lawful andappropriate by my supervisors, the prosecutors, the judge, and even her own defense attorney. Please remember, no allegation of false arrest was brought up during any of the numerous court hearings the plaintiff had. I invite anyone to view the dash cam video while reading a copy of her complaint. You will clearly see the frivolousness of her suit and the outright false statements contained in her complaint. During the incident, I was accidentally exposed to police pepper spray and therefore was unable to see clearly.I was so affected that I could not even drive and had to be driven back to the police station. Every day that I worked the streets during my career, I learned that no stop was routine, and that the unexpected was to be expected. I stand by everything that I did that night and only ask for the same due process afforded earlier to the plaintiff. Please know that I am the person who activated the dash cam that night. I turned it on as an objective witness because I was acting in good faith to enforce the laws of the state. By the way, the ordinance prohibiting the plaintiff from riding her bicycle on the sidewalk was adopted long ago by the City Commission in Millville. I'm sure it was their intent to improve the quality of life of the residents in Millville. Just ask yourself: What was someone doing riding their bicycle in the middle of the night in a high drug area, just a short distance from where drug and gang related shootings have been happening? Well, that was the question I was trying to answer. And apparently my suspicions were correct, the plaintiff was under the influence and had crack cocaine in her possession, along with the fact that she had other outstanding warrants and decided to resist arrest. Another thought is thatSheila Stevensonmust think she is untouchable because she has been in and out of Superior Court for this lawsuit numerous times and yet,she has had an active warrant for the past several months. I guess the police are scared to arrest her in fear of getting sued next... Is that the kind of world you want to live in? www.startribune.com/local...7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU Taser jolt wasn't DJ's first shock by Minneapolis cops Quincy De'Shawn Smith, who died Dec. 9 after an arrest, also had been Tasered in a 2005 dust up with police. By ABBY SIMONS and LORA PABST Last update: January 30, 2009 - 12:01 AM Ex-radio DJ Quincy De'Shawn Smith survived an encounter with a police Taser in 2005, and in late November had learned that his suit alleging police brutality could go to trial. On Dec. 9, however, Smith, 24, died after a second confrontation, this time with officers who had been called to the 1000 block of Knox Avenue N. on a report of a domestic assault involving a man with a gun. Smith struggled with officers as they tried to arrest him and once again was hit with an electric charge from a Taser gun. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide Wednesday, saying it was a result of "cardiorespiratory arrest complicating physical exertion with law enforcement subdual and restraint." During cardiorespiratory arrest, the heart and respiratory system stop functioning. Quincy's mother, Bettie Smith, said she was surprised that the same Minneapolis police officer, Officer Timothy Devick, was involved in both incidents. "You have been through a trial with him," she said. "Why would you even get involved with someone who already has a pending lawsuit against you?" The Minneapolis Police Department has declined comment, pending an investigation by the Hennepin County attorney's office. Minneapolis police spokesman Sgt. Bill Palmer said the department's criminal investigation has been completed by the homicide unit and will be forwarded to the county attorney's office to determine whether any criminal charges will be filed in Smith's death. Devick and the other officers involved in the December incident, Carlos Baires-Escobar, Shawn Brandt, Christopher Humphrey and Nicholas McCarthy, were put on standard paid administrative leave after the death, but all have been returned to duty. www.startribune.com/local...:DCiUMcyaL_nDaycUiacyKUUr Ex-Minneapolis cops sentenced for firing guns Last update: January 30, 2009 - 12:10 AM Two former Minneapolis police officers who pleaded guilty to recklessly discharging their guns after leaving a party last spring have been sentenced in connection with the incident. Scott Donald Mars, 35, was sentenced Thursday to 30 days in jail or electronic home monitoring, two years probation and a $900 fine. William David Thornbury, 28, was sentenced to 160 hours of community service, two years of probation and a $300 fine. Last May, a man called police about shots being fired in the 4200 block of Wentworth Avenue S. in Minneapolis after he had told people having a party near his house that they were too loud. Shortly after, a person drove up to the caller's house in a sport-utility vehicle, swore and fired several shots as the SUV drove off. When officers responded and stopped the SUV, Mars and Thornbury were inside. Mars told police that he had fired his gun out of the SUV's sunroof. Mars had a blood-alcohol level of .19 percent and was cited for misdemeanor driving while impaired. Thornbury had a blood-alcohol level of .074 percent, just below the legal limit for driving. Mars and Thornbury pleaded guilty to one count of felony reckless discharge of a firearm. The Dakota County attorney's office handled the case to avoid a conflict of interest.
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#1. To: PSUSA (#0)
25 years ago friends couldn't understand my comment that I feared police more than criminals; now they understand...
"The 'uniter' has brought the entire world together - to despise and deride us." lodwick
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