Man pulled over and beaten after police say he failed to stop at a stop sign

[ksen]

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...affic-stop-in-inkster-caught-on-tape/31986806

The video shows Dent pulling over to the side and opening his car door. The situation escalates to the point that officers pull Dent out of his car and lay him face down on the ground.

According to police reports, Dent was put in a chokehold and hit 16 times in the head. The second officer struggles to handcuff Dent and a third officer uses a Taser three times on Dent.

Several Michigan State Police officers respond to the scene, too.

Dent said he doesn’t know why he was pulled over or why he was beaten.

“The next thing I know, the officer runs up to me with his gun, you know, talking about blowing my head off,” Dent said. “Then he grabbed me out of the car and started beating on me, you know. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Police said they first saw Dent’s car through binoculars while watching an area known to have drug activity. They followed Dent’s car and said he didn’t make a complete stop at a stop sign. Police said that when they turned on their flashing lights, Dent didn’t immediately pull over.

“When the overhead lights came on, I looked and said, ‘Wow, are they stopping me?’" Dent said. “So I just kept going until I realized that they were really stopping me.”

Dent said he didn’t try to flee police, and the video shows his Cadillac driving at a consistent speed until he pulled over.

“I had pulled over and opened my car door. I had my hands out,” Dent said.

video at link

The judge threw out charges dealing with Dent fleeing police and resisting arrest after looking at the video.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Why did he open the door? Was he instructed to?

 

[ksen]

I can only guess that maybe he thought getting out with his hands up would help the police understand he wasn't a threat.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I can only guess that maybe he thought getting out with his hands up would help the police understand he wasn't a threat.

Had his hands out, not up. It seems like a bad idea. Keep the door closed, hands on steering wheel. I hope never to be pulled over.

 

[ksen]

The couple of times I've been pulled over I've kept my hands on top of the steering wheel and turned on the interior lights.

However, that doesn't excuse what happened to this guy and he's lucky to be alive.

 

[laughing dog]

He is lucky to be alive. I wonder what possible excuses the copaphiles will make up to excuse this excessive force.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The couple of times I've been pulled over I've kept my hands on top of the steering wheel and turned on the interior lights.

However, that doesn't excuse what happened to this guy and he's lucky to be alive.

With any luck, he just won the lottery. But yeah, it seems officers across the country seem to have a propensity of just going hog wild.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

He is lucky to be alive. I wonder what possible excuses the copaphiles will make up to excuse this excessive force.

He was in a state that likely had a firearm, therefore, he was most likely dangerous and capable of killing all those officers.

I ponder how much excess force occurs in this situation when a single officer initially begins force, ie... kind of like how if one dog barks, the entire neighborhood gets in on the action. Are officers trained to just exhibit force if another officer has done so?

 

[crispy]

God damn assholes.

 

[Trausti]

That guy shouldn't be a cop.

 

[tupac chopra]

Hopefully he can now sue the police, and then justice can be done when the police sue for not being allowed to do this again.

Dollars, Death and the LAPD

 

[barbos]

Lucky bastard, he just hit a jackpot.

 

[fast]

The video looks edited around the time he was taken out the vehicle. At any rate, why can't there ever be evidence to confirm my suspicions and pervasive assumption that a provocative or combative demeanor immediately precedes such instances? It explains why these things happen. Of course, it doesn't justify it, but if my purportedly baseless suspicions are true, then 1) police need to be better trained on how to respond to the psychological stresses of confrontation and 2) citizens need to be better taught that testosterone-laced bravado usually results in them not being the badasses they think they are.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I can only guess that maybe he thought getting out with his hands up would help the police understand he wasn't a threat.

Had his hands out, not up. It seems like a bad idea. Keep the door closed, hands on steering wheel. I hope never to be pulled over.

Yeah, it sounds like he did a lot of wrong things in traffic stop. That certainly doesn't justify a beating, though.

 

[RavenSky]

Why did he open the door? Was he instructed to?

Purely speculation, but perhaps his window didn't work.

He didn't make any attempt to get out of his vehicle so I don't see how merely opening the door enough for the cops to see and communicate with him could be viewed as any kind of threat.

Current reports are saying the cop that put him in the chokehold also planted drugs on the car... and has a history of planting drugs on people.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Had his hands out, not up. It seems like a bad idea. Keep the door closed, hands on steering wheel. I hope never to be pulled over.

Yeah, it sounds like he did a lot of wrong things in traffic stop. That certainly doesn't justify a beating, though.

A lot? Opening the door seemed like the only mistake, something he kind of makes up for by putting out his hands.

Why did he open the door? Was he instructed to?

Purely speculation, but perhaps his window didn't work.

Let the officer instruct you exactly how things will go.

He didn't make any attempt to get out of his vehicle so I don't see how merely opening the door enough for the cops to see and communicate with him could be viewed as any kind of threat.

Most people don't open their door, so it definitely can be a cause for alarm. The beat down is entirely unjustified.

Even if he was armed, even if he was mouthing off to the officers, even if he was throwing punches, the officers are there to restrain him, not to administer justice (or take out their anger).

Current reports are saying the cop that put him in the chokehold also planted drugs on the car... and has a history of planting drugs on people.

Has a history of planting drugs and he is still a cop? I choose not to want to believe that. Oi!

 

[scombrid]

Most people don't open their door, so it definitely can be a cause for alarm.

Yep, the cop should have taken a defensive position with his weapon drawn when the door opened and instructed the man to the ground with hands visible. The guy put his hands out pretty much immediately, that should have given the cop plenty of time to ascertain that the guy was unarmed and not fighting. Had the guy been fixing to do harm to the officer then the officer rushing in would likely have been a bad choice for the officer's own safety.

Instead the cop rushed in ready to fight. Then he beat the guy while the guy did nothing but try to cover up. Unless the video was pretty carefully edited, the guy never made a move that a reasonable person would perceived as offensive.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Most people don't open their door, so it definitely can be a cause for alarm.

Yep, the cop should have taken a defensive position with his weapon drawn when the door opened and instructed the man to the ground with hands visible. The guy put his hands out pretty much immediately, that should have given the cop plenty of time to ascertain that the guy was unarmed and not fighting. Had the guy been fixing to do harm to the officer then the officer rushing in would likely have been a bad choice for the officer's own safety.

Instead the cop rushed in ready to fight. Then he beat the guy while the guy did nothing but try to cover up. Unless the video was pretty carefully edited, the guy never made a move that a reasonable person would perceived as offensive.

Great job taking a statement well out of context.

 

[scombrid]

Great job taking a statement well out of context.

Not really.

Post reinforced the point keying in the officer's poor response to the victim's mistake. I don't see where I took anything out of context or even disagreed with you.

Or do you disagree with my opinion of how the officer should have proceeded? If so, I read your post incorrectly.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Great job taking a statement well out of context.

Not really.

Post reinforced the point keying in the officer's poor response to the victim's mistake. I don't see where I took anything out of context or even disagreed with you.

Or do you disagree with my opinion of how the officer should have proceeded? If so, I read your post incorrectly.

On second thought, looks like I read your context incorrectly, initially saw a lot of sarcasm that isn't there. Sorry.