Warren cop fired for cutting woman’s hair:
A Warren police officers’ union is challenging the firing of an officer who forcibly cut the hair of a woman restrained in a chair inside the Police Department’s lockup.
The Warren Police Officers Association has filed for arbitration to contest the termination of Bernadette Najor, a 10-year veteran of the force.
Warren Police Commissioner Jere Green said officers arrested Charda Gregory, 22, at the Suez Motel on Nov. 13 for suspicion of vandalism. Police pepper-sprayed her after she kicked the window of a patrol car while in custody.
Later at the police station, Gregory had difficulty standing inside the jail area. Video of the detention area but outside the holding cells shows Najor pushing Gregory against a wall. Officers then strapped her into a chair. Najor yanked Gregory’s head back and spent 3 minutes cutting off the Gregory’s hair and hair weaves as she writhed in the chair.
The police video system does not have audio.
The other officers who witnessed the hair-cutting filed the required use-of-force reports and submitted them to a commander. Najor did not.
Najor was suspended with pay Nov. 15, and Green and the department’s Internal Affairs Division reviewed the incident.
Green said there was no need for Gregory’s hair to be cut, especially after she was bound to the chair.
“The video clearly shows she’s intoxicated. Unless I’m blind, I don’t see where she’s offering any resistance whatsoever,” Warren’s top-ranking police official said.
Najor offered an explanation to officials.
“Bernadette claims that she removed the sewn-in weaves because it could be used as an instrument to harm herself or damage property in the jail,” Green said.
Green fired Najor on Dec. 12.
“I concluded that this was an unnecessary or unreasonable use of force. She doesn’t think she did anything wrong,” the commissioner said. “We can talk about policies and procedures, and that’ll be argued at some point in arbitration. I’ve been here long enough to know this is (the difference) between right and wrong – and that was wrong.”
The actions of three of the four other officers remain under investigation to determine whether they violated department policies. None of them were suspended and they remain on active duty, Green said.
For Gregory’s actions while in the lockup, Warren police sought a warrant charging her with resisting and obstructing police. The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office declined charge her.
Gregory was charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly ripping a television from the wall of the hotel. She told WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) that she had gone to a party in Detroit where she suspects someone drugged her. Her attorney, Paul Misukewicz, told the television station that she had a couple of drinks and woke up disoriented, unaware of how she got there. He called Najor’s treatment of his client “sadistic” and “demeaning.”
The Warren City Attorney’s Office earlier this week dropped the charge of malicious destruction of property.
On Friday, Green added: “Not only am I responsible for the safety of officers that work here, but I’m obligated to protect the rights of the public as well, and that includes those who have committed crimes. I’m responsible for the health and well-being of anyone in my custody.”
A hearing date for arbitration of Najor’s dismissal has not been set.
Attempts to reach WPOA President Mike Sauger for comment were unsuccessful.
Fired police officer charged with of stealing slain Taylor corporal’s shotgun
TAYLOR, MI — A former police officer fired earlier this year for allegedly stealing the shotgun of a slain supervisor is now facing trial.
A Taylor District Court Judge on Monday bound Andrew Voelkner over to circuit court on larceny of a firearm, receiving and concealing a stolen firearm and felony firearm charges, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office.
Taylor Police Cpl. Matthew Edwards, 31, was shot to death while responding to a home invasion at Coppertree Apartments near North Line and Telegraph roads on July 23, 2010.
A Westland man was sentence to life in prison without parole in the slaying.
An internal investigation later found that Voelkner stole the shotgun that had been assigned to Edwards. He was fired in February, according to the News herald
Voelkner’s lawyer Jim Amberg told WDIV on Monday.”He is innocent and I expect him to be exonerated.”
Officer Christopher Geraci slams woman into car in Pensacola, Florida.
A police officer in Florida was fired and charged with criminal battery after video showed him throwing a woman into her car, according to a Tuesday report.
The incident occurred after a hit-and-run crash in early August.
See below to watch video
ABCNews.com said Pensacola Police Officer Christopher Geraci located 29-year-old Abbi Bonds, who was identified by a witness as the driver who hit two vehicles before fleeing the scene.
Bonds reportedly had paint on her vehicle, which matched the two cars she allegedly hit.
According to the police report, Bonds told Geraci she was running after her car because someone had taken it.
Bonds was charged with driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to yield, and no proof of insurance, according to the article.
During the incident, ABCNews.com said dash cam video captured Geraci grabbing Bonds’ arm and tossing her into the side of her car.
ABCNews.com said she can be heard saying, “I’m not fighting you. Why are you hitting me?”
Geraci filed a use of force report for the incident to comply with the department’s policy and he was taken to jail and released. Read more.
Police Officer found GUILTY of felony battery with a dangerous weapon!
Some (hence “some”) cops are very stupid! Hello …cameras and action. Folks, always keep your cameras handy and report the bad cop.
PROVIDENCE — Seconds after a Superior Court judge found Lincoln police officer Edward M. Krawetz guilty of felony battery with a dangerous weapon — in this case, his shod foot — the defendant’s wife, Lori, wiped away tears.
Several other family members just looked around in disbelief after Justice Edward C. Clifton announced his decision at about 12:10 p.m., Monday.
Krawetz had been on trial for kicking a seated, handcuffed woman in the head after police arrested her for disorderly conduct at Twin River the evening of May 31, 2009. Surveillance videos showed Donna Levesque, 44, of Uxbridge had been intoxicated and belligerent toward police and security officers after being taken into custody.
While on the stand, the accused, who was suspended without pay from the Lincoln Police Department, stated he at first reacted to Levesque’s sweeping kick toward his knee with a block, then claimed he kicked her in self-defense.
Judge: Police ‘Code of Silence’ in bar beating
This is disturbing! This fat ex cop tried to cover-up his beating a 125 lb woman and the vicious beating was caught on video! In addition, some Chicago cops attempted to cover-up this bully’s brutal attack.
Five years ago, an off-duty and drunk Chicago Police Officer Anthony Abbate Jr. went off on the 125-pound bartender who refused to serve him any more alcohol. Video of the barroom attack went viral on the internet.
Abbate was convicted of aggravated battery, sentenced to two years probation for the brutal attack and thrown off the police force.
The victim, Karolina Obrycka, filed a federal lawsuit against Officer Abbate and the City of Chicago. Obrycka claimed that after being beaten by Abbate she was also victimized by a police code of silence that insulated Abbate.
Two Cops FIRED for beating a man and then celebrating.
A horrific footage shows two police officers heavily beating a man who’s helplessly lying on the ground, and then doing a chest bump in celebration of the whole act. These two officers didn’t know they were caught on the surveillance camera of the parking garage where the incident took place. After the video had been released in public, the officers got fired from the service.
The man on the footage is Nicholas Blume, who was stopped just for a traffic violation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Police officers John Doyle and Robert Woolever took him to the parking garage of the Barcelona hotel where they threw him to the ground while Woolever kept kicking him in the head over a dozen times. Blume was pinned to the ground and unable to defend himself while the kicking continued. After the cops finished with the beating, they did a bizarre thing — congratulating each other on the job and doing a celebratory chest bump.
Mugshots of Blume that were taken at the police station show cuts and bruises on his head as a proof of his injuries.
In an attempt to explain his actions, Doyle said that he suspected Blume had a gun on him and that he had to be restrained. That didn’t keep him or Woolever from getting fired shortly after the video was released.
New Mexico cop fired after chaotic traffic stop of minivan
A dashboard camera captured an officer opening fire on a minivan with five kids inside during a traffic stop in New Mexico. (KABC Photo)
TAOS, N.M. (KABC) — The New Mexico police officer has been fired following a dangerous traffic stop that was all caught on a dashboard camera.
The incident on Oct. 28 turned into a wild scene when the driver took off as she was being ticketed for driving 71 mph in a 55 mph. In the video, Oriana Farrell and a state police officer argue over a ticket just south of Taos. As the cop walks off, Farrell drives away and is pulled over again by the same officer.
The dashcam shows the officer trying to pull Farrell out while the five kids inside scream. Her 14-year-old son gets out, but thinks again when the officer pulls his Taser.
Finally, Farrell agrees to get out and talk, but the conversation doesn’t last long. Farrell and the cop struggle as she tries to get back into the van. Meanwhile, the 14-year-old gets out again, and this time, he rushes the officer, trying to defend his mom. After a short tussle, both the teen and Farrell run back into the minivan and won’t get out. An officer is seen in the video bashing the minivan’s window with his nightstick.
Farrell starts to drive off again, and then another officer, identified as Elias Montoya, fires three shots at the minivan full of kids as young as six. Montoya wrote in a police report that he aimed “at the left rear tire in an attempt to immobilize the vehicle.”
The dramatic video garnered national attention. Officials confirmed that Montoya was fired. His termination was effective at 5 p.m. Friday.
Montoya has 30 days to appeal his firing to a public safety advisory council.
Farrell and her son were arrested following a four-minute high-speed chase into Taos. She was charged with five counts of abuse of a child, aggravated fleeing an officer, resisting an officer, reckless driving and possession of drug paraphernalia. Her 14-year-old son was charged with battery of an officer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
