LF: 'This is my vehicle, sir': Shocking moment black Northwestern University PhD student is beaten and cuffed when cops refuse to believe he owns the Chevy he's driving

Title: 'This is my vehicle, sir': Shocking moment black Northwestern University PhD student is beaten and cuffed when cops refuse to believe he owns the Chevy he's driving
Source: Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... e-believe-car-driving-his.html
Published: Jan 15, 2017
Author: Emily Crane
Post Date: 2017-01-15 07:32:06 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 12151
Comments: 38

This is the shocking moment a black Northwestern University PhD student was tackled to the ground when police thought he'd stolen the car he was driving.

Lawrence Crosby is now suing the Evanston Police Department for excessive force and false arrest following his confrontation in Chicago in October 2015.

Authorities released dashboard video recordings on Wednesday of the moment Crosby, then 25, was pulled over for a traffic stop and subsequently beaten and cuffed.

The video also included audio of the 911 call made by a woman who thought Crosby was trying to break into a vehicle, which sparked the series of events.

Police released dashboard video recordings this week of the moment Lawrence Crosby, then 25, was tackled to the ground in Evanston, Chicago in 2015 after they refused to believe he owned the car he was driving

Footage shows police signalling for Crosby to stop in the 1500 block of Ridge Avenue in Evanston about 7pm on October 10, 2015.

He can be seen getting out of his Chevrolet with his arms in the air before telling officers he owns the vehicle.

A number of officers shouted at Crosby as they approached him with their guns drawn, before wrestling him to the ground.

Crosby, who was studying for his doctoral degree in civil engineering, repeatedly told the officers he owned the car and had the documentation to prove it.

He also tried to tell them he was fixing a piece of loose molding on the top of his car when the woman spotted him and mistakenly thought he was trying to steal it.

When police eventually realized Crosby did own the car, the student was charged with disobeying officers. The charged were later dropped in March 2016.

The 25-year-old Northwestern University PhD student repeatedly told the officers he owned the car and had the documentation to prove it as they wrestled him to the ground

When police eventually realized Crosby did own the car, the student was charged with disobeying officers. The charged were later dropped in March 2016

Crosby filed a civil lawsuit last year against the city and arresting officers. The footage was released after an alderman's request at an Evanston City Council meeting last week, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Police justified the actions of the arresting officers saying they thought they were responding to an auto theft.

Evanston Police spokesman Joseph Dugan said the officers delivered knee strikes and open-handed strikes like they had been trained.

'He was not injured, no bruises, his face was fine,' Dugan said.

'The use of force is justified,' he said. 'They had to make a decision with what they had at the time.'

Footage shows police following Crosby in Evanston in 2015 after a woman called 911 to report she saw a black man trying to break into a car

He was inconvenienced and his life was put at risk. He will now be paid a nice tidy sum by Evanston for his trouble. That's how we clean up this sort of thing. Since we don't believe we can properly stop the behavior, we pay afterwards for the mistakes. If he were killed, same thing, just a lot more money.

We should all have a checklist on a little card in our vehicles at all times so that we can follow best practices when stopped.

Absent that the average citizen can be expected to react any number of ways when apprehended behind the wheel for specious reasons.

The guy jumped out the car with his hands in the air with his ID visible. He was subjected to contradictory orders brayed at him by a crowd of LEO's. He was then subject to The Blitz by half a dozen cops that was A) unprofessional, B) unnecessary and C) damaging to the public's perception of law enforcement.

If I were a police officer, I wouldn't relish having to defend such actions before a jury.

Yeah! What's wrong with that? Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you're pulled over?

"He was then subject to The Blitz by half a dozen cops that was ... unnecessary"

He's lucky he wasn't shot. What triggered "The Blitz" was (according to the video) the fact that he ignored the officer's orders then turned away, reaching to his waist with his right hand.

I will say this: I am glad these officers got home safe that night. You never know in these sorts of situations.

It just seems to me that there was no one in command of this situation and that led to panic on both sides. The bellowing and screaming were amateur hour.

It's human nature to be somewhat reluctant to get down on the ground especially when it's wet and grimy out.

They had the drop on him. "Put your hands on top the car" or "Keep your hands in the air, turn around and back up slowly" might have done the job. I've watched operations like this and these tactics seem to work reasonably well.

I watched and listened to the video and all I heard was "Get on the ground". All the cops were saying "Get on the ground". Did you hear anything different?"

You tell me. With all these cops pointing guns at him and yelling for him to get on the ground ... why did he refuse a lawful and reasonable command from uniformed police?

I would not. I would say that the police here are clearly, without any reasonable doubt, completely out of control. The city should be sued for their misconduct, and forced to pay large sums to this man.