Cops beat a dude after a van chase...

Yonkers · May 20, 2009

... and they get fired. And though I'm usually ragging on the cops, I find myself on their side this time.
I'd beat the crap out of this dude too.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/20/alabama.police.beating/index.html

Five police officers brutally kicked and beat an unconscious suspect after a high-speed chase through Birmingham, Alabama, in an incident caught on camera and discovered a year later.

The five officers have been fired, Mayor Larry Langford said at a news conference Wednesday. An internal inquiry is continuing.

The dashboard-cam footage, which officials believe was shot in January 2008, was aired for reporters Wednesday. It showed the end of a 100-mile-an-hour police chase of a van driven by Anthony Warren, suspected of illegal drug activity.

Police had chased the van almost 50 miles, winding from downtown Birmingham to suburban Hoover. The video captured the van knocking down a police officer standing on a roadway, then turning up an interstate highway ramp, where it flipped over and rolled into a ditch.

Warren was ejected from the van and stopped moving. The five officers -- one black, four white -- ruthlessly beat the suspect, who is black, the video shows.

A police mug shot taken five days after the beating was posted on the Web site of The Birmingham News. It shows a badly bruised man wearing a neck brace.

Police Chief A.C. Roper told CNN that the video was brought to his attention in March by the district attorney's office, which stumbled upon the footage as it was preparing for Warren's trial.

Warren was charged with attempted murder, but no trial took place because he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault. He is in prison serving a 20-year sentence.

Roper said he was "shocked" to learn of the video and that it had been around for so long without his knowledge.

In addition to a continuing internal investigation that could lead to disciplining supervisors, he said the Alabama Bureau of Investigation is considering criminal charges against the five officers.

Langford said the incident brought back to mind days of segregation and police brutality toward blacks.

"The culture of the past was that police brutality was acceptable," Langford said. "In Birmingham, Alabama, in the present day, it is not acceptable."

Langford said the five officers showed exceptional restraint in chasing the fleeing suspect and performed in exemplary fashion until the last scene caught on the video.

The camera captured 11 seconds of the five officers beating Warren with their fists and batons.
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"Those 11 seconds will not be tolerated," said Langford, who signed letters of termination for the five officers on Tuesday.

"Over 50 years of combined police experience gone over 11 seconds," he said.
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Rocket River · May 20, 2009

The way the guy flopped around after getting ejected from the van
it seemed like he was already down and out

Rocket River

RocketsBearFan · May 20, 2009

Yeah there was no point in the cops beating an unconscious man but fortunately it didn't last that long. Also, in the video the suspect almost ran over that one officer laying down the spike strips. Tough situation in this one.

Royals Ego · May 20, 2009

that's a shame

the guy ran over a cop in the beginning, and who knows what else he did prior to that

but did that justify the beating? maybe, maybe not

shame

GlenRice · May 20, 2009

what was the point of beating. the dude was already down and out.

SwoLy-D · May 20, 2009

GlenRice said:

what was the point of beating. the dude was already down and out.
Click to expand...

"Make sure he is REALLY down and out, y'all." "OK."

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Cops beat a dude after a van chase...

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