... are the three Fort Lauderdale, Florida police officers (including budding fiction writer Officer Derek Lade) who assaulted Joshua Daniel Ortiz, breaking his nose, and then followed up by arresting him and charging him with "felony battery on a police officer" after the cops claimed that they
"'told Ortiz to leave, but instead he 'continued to yell at me and walked right up to me, hitting his nose to my nose,' Lade wrote, adding that he pushed Ortiz with both palms.
'As I approached Ortiz to take him into custody, Ortiz spun around to face me and assumed a fighting stance (both left and right hand clenched into fists and body bladed.),' Lade wrote."
The only problem with Lade's imaginative version of events is that it never happened; an elevator surveillance camera captured the entire incident, and merely shows Ortiz shouting at officers from the open elevator to leave some other men arguing in a hotel lobby alone:
"The video, captured up close in the elevator, does not show Ortiz strike the officers or assume a fighting stance."
Proving that the officers simply made up the incident in order to justify their beatdown of Ortiz, presumably because he deigned to express his opinion of their job performance. Annoying? Probably, but certainly not deserving of the treatment he received at the hands of the cops.
After viewing the tape, Broward County prosecutors first downgraded the charges to "misdemeanor resisting or obstructing without violence", then ultimately dropped the charges completely, as there was obviously no evidence of any crime being committed whatsoever.
"Internal affairs investigators with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department reviewed the incident over a month ago and found no violations of agency policy or procedures, said Sgt. Frank Sousa, the department's spokesperson."
Blatantly perjuring oneself on an official police report is now A-OK in that department, apparently. Be forewarned, and make sure and have a recording device available when traveling to that area in order to protect yourself from lying thugs like Lade.
(By the way, good luck in testifying in any other criminal trials, Mr. Lade. I imagine this news report will be Exhibit A for defense attorneys in every case you're involved in for the rest of your career.)
Who, again, says recording the police in public is a bad idea?
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2 comments:
Does Gary Olding carry a gun?
Yes, Olding is a part time Ramsey County Deputy now so he can carry his gun all the time. He is not suppose to be carrying his gun when he is fulfilling his full time position within the sheriff's department which is a civilian position. For all of you who have had your permit to carry refused by the department, check out Olding's criminal history. It was pled down to a disorderly conduct so that is how they justify it.
Off topic, but this is how I can get it to you. Topic: free speech. See: http://www.twincities.com/ci_11877712
In particular, this sentence:
"Unfortunately, spreading a rumor is not a violation of the law," he said.
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