Title: Technologically Challenged Cops Assault Teen then Try to Delete Video, They Failed Source:
Free Thought Project URL Source:http://thefreethoughtproject.com/of ... e-footage/#DQu4R0QOsPKxoX0W.99 Published:Apr 9, 2015 Author:Cassandra Fairbanks Post Date:2015-04-11 00:51:35 by Deckard Keywords:None Views:17771 Comments:62
Virginia Beach, VA– In January, 18-year-old Courtney Griffith was pulled over for the light on her license plate being out. Concerned by the officer’s aggressive behavior and knowing her rights, she propped her cell phone up on the dashboard to capture the incident.
After brutalizing her 17-year-old friend and taking them both into custody, the officers attempted to delete the footage. Luckily, the video went to a “recently deleted” file on her iPhone and was able to be recovered.
The young mother had just pulled into her driveway with the father of her child as well as her 17-year-old friend Brandon. As they turned in, police officers who were following her turned on their lights and pulled her over, citing the light above her license plate. One of the officers who pulled her over, Officer Pittman, was the same officer who had previously arrested her as a minor for possession of marijuana, something she maintains she no longer touches. Griffith believes that he had remembered her from their previous encounter.
The officers proceeded to tell the teenagers that the vehicle smelled like marijuana and demand that the passengers step out of the vehicle. At this point, there were four cop cars on the scene over a broken license plate light and the alleged smell of marijuana. Brandon, being a minor, repeatedly requested that his parents be present.
Griffith asks if she is being detained and the officers reply that she is. At this point, an officer moves the front passenger seat forward and instructs the teens to keep their hands visible at all times, after asking another officer to “go cover the driver.”
The teenagers are asked to step out of the vehicle. Brandon continues to request his parents be present while Griffith is heard calling the officer out on being the same cop that had previously pulled her over. Things begin to escalate, and the sensible young woman requests a sergeant be present to avoid her rights being further infringed.
An officer is heard grunting an order at Brandon and his eyes widen as he asks Griffith to make sure she is recording. As he is speaking, he is shot in the eyes with pepper spray.
“I’m seventeen years old, stop!” he cries out as the pepper spray burns his eyes. He states that he is calling his mother and repeats that he is only a minor as the officers threaten to tase him.
Moments later he is hit with another round of pepper spray and tased. As he cries out in pain, the officers continue to grunt at him to get out of the vehicle.
“Get out, or you’re going to get it again!” the officer states.
“Alright,” Brandon complies. As he begins to step out of the vehicle, he’s shot with another volt of electricity from the officer’s taser, seemingly for no reason at all.
The officers begin beating him and screaming at him, continuing to escalate the situation and making things as hectic as possible. Brandon was ultimately tased four times. Eight cops were on the scene, with at least five of them involved in the assault on the unarmed teen.
At the end of the video, you can see an officer looking around the vehicle with a flashlight and then shutting off the camera. Griffith told The Free Thought Project that this was the Sargent she had requested to come to the scene. She believes he is the one who attempted to delete the footage.
“They arrested me, never Mirandized me or Brandon, and they sent me off with a summons. When I went back to my car, my phone had been brought off the dashboard and was on the drivers seat. I asked the cops who deleted the video, after looking for it in my folder, and they all started laughing. It was sickening. I later found it in my recently deleted folder,” Griffith told The Free Thought Project.
Brandon is currently imprisoned until July on charges of assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.
Please share this story widely and message the Virginia Beach Police to demand they conduct an investigation into these officer’s actions.
A comment left on the better written article, in the local posting. "Danny", obvioudly is a little more knowledgeable about details than the FTP.
"DANNY
Hey WTKR maybe instead of trying to get ratings and hits on your website you should actually report the facts and the news, which again are supposed to be facts, not just the story of a video shown liar which is the girl, and the family trying to not tell the full story. How about reporting if police smell weed coming from your car they don’t need permission to search everywhere in your car, and the people in it for one. Secondly, instead of updating with more divisive facebook post, update it with the facts that WAVY news reported on so easily. First the Police found weed in the purse that they attached to the female in the video, you want to ask her about that, since she doesn’t allow weed in her vehicle? Secondly the 17 year old telling police he won’t get out till his mom is there, which again he doesn’t have a right for unless he is being interrogated, was charged with possession with intent to sell (thats more than just a joint on him), resisting arrest, and obstruction of justice. Thirdly the police were all ready aware of the use of force from the Tazer video, which is FOIA material, why don’t you get on that? Fourth we are to believe the claim of deleted video from a girl on video lying to police, secondly her Facebook is PUBLIC so I suggest you visit it. I could go on and on but I guess actually doing investigative reporting, and asking people on video that lie to police why they lied about the weed in their car is to hard hitting for you. I’ll also add that a simple case search on Virginia Court Case Information site and her name, shows that Public Defender TORGERSON handled her case, again why not see why it was truly dismissed. However, I doubt you will research any of that stuff of just update the simple facts of charges or ask why she lied to Police, or the fact that the guy who refused to get out to be searched didn’t want to get out because he had weed on him. Again don’t put the spotlight on the criminals in this case, put it on the Police. How disgusting is this attorney for comparing the murder of a fleeing man by a cop, to a punk drug carrying 17 year old mouthing off and getting the proper response to get him out the car.
How about reporting if police smell weed coming from your car they don’t need permission to search everywhere in your car, and the people in it for one. Secondly, instead of updating with more divisive facebook post, update it with the facts that WAVY news reported on so easily. First the Police found weed in the purse that they attached to the female in the video,
Cops claiming they "smell" weed in the car could have been a fabrication on their part. It's a convenient alibi, since if they don't find any they can always claim, well, that they honestly thought they did and then the search is justified.
Cops may also have planted weed in her purse after the stop. Cops planting evidence is not unheard of. Knowing the girl had a prior incident with weed would make planting weed fairly safe for them to do.
If the cop stopped the camera from video recording, then that is something he had no reason nor right to do, regardless of whether he went further and attempted to delete it. Do whatever search is truly justified, but don't shut off recording devices. Attempting to delete the vid, if true, would constitute tampering and/or destruction of evidence, a crime if done by anyone, including of course cops.
Seems to me the use of the tazer was excessive, that after the first zap (regardless of whether that was appropriate) the kid was zapped again after he began to get out, in spite of there being about zero warning. Cops said to get out, he said, "alright" and began to move, and was zapped again. I've seen that before, where cops zap someone just as the person begins to comply, since that's the cop's last chance to harm the person involved.
Why was pepper spray employed? I can see pepper spray being used to stop someone who is attempting to get physical, which this kid was not, even if he was mouthy. Same for tazing, actually.
The kid was charged with assault and battery, and resisting arrest, apparently for actions that occurred AFTER he was pepper sprayed and tazed. How much of one's reaction, during and after being tazed and pepper sprayed, in the presence of numerous cops while being himself grabbed and forced to the ground in an escalated situation can be considered voluntary?
To me the vid shows cops escalating the situation unnecessarily. And it all starts over the horrible crime of a license plate bulb allegedly being out? I'd like to see the police dash cam on this one.
