Posted in Uncategorized on March 2, 2013
A police officer accused of using excessive force faces termination by the police department. According to the department, police officer Charles Proctor disgraced the department and should be fired for striking Jermaine Lacey with a baton, choking him and slamming his head into the bumper of a squad car:
Video of the incident . . . shows Lacy trying to run from security and tripping on the sidewalk outside the casino.
Surveillance cameras inside the casino recorded the exchange between Proctor and Lacy from several vantage points. Proctor can be seen planting Lacy into a wheelchair and grabbing him by the neck while officers wheel him backwards through the casino and out the front doors. Lacy, who had one arm handcuffed to the wheelchair, can been seen squirming as officers escort him through the doors.
The footage outside the casino shows Proctor stopping the wheelchair behind a patrol car and shoving Lacy’s head into the bumper.
Proctor is also accused of striking Lacy once in the shin with his baton . . . before wheeling him outside. There was no video shown from inside the office but Charles Mellor, a casino paramedic and security guard, testified Monday that he saw Proctor strike Lacy while the suspect was handcuffed to the wheelchair. Mellor said a highway patrol sergeant and fellow city patrol officer also were present.
An investigation by the department’s office of internal affairs found that Proctor’s report never mentioned striking Lacey. Proctor further claimed that Lacey was stiffening his body, trying to slide out of the wheelchair and faking being injured.
Despite the video and the investigation results from internal affairs, the local prosecutor has refused to file any criminal charges against Proctor.
If you have any questions about police misconduct or the use of excessive force, contact the personal injury attorneys at Bryan & Terrill.
More here: St. Louis officer used excessive force, racial slurs in arrest, department says