The video below has led to the dropping of charges against Ryan Dorm, 19, after four months in jail. Dorm was charged by Cpl. Donald Taylor who said that Dorm attacked him. However, the video shows that Taylor ran up to Dorm and struck him with his gun, which discharged – in full view of another officer.
According to news accounts, Dorm and a friend were at a “Lowest Price” gas station convenience store in Maryland when police became suspicious about his friend wearing a ski mask. Dorm said it was cold and his friend was wearing the mask for warmth. When police approached, Dorm said he decided to take off. The video shows Taylor running after him and hitting him with his gun without any provocation or justification.
Dorm is now suing for millions of dollars and Taylor is currently facing misconduct, reckless endangerment and second-degree assault charges.
Here’s my problem. An undercover officer appears to be accompanying Taylor. If not, it was a witness who was facing Dorm and Taylor at the time in close proximity. Why was the video necessary to clear Dorm? Did this officer or witness also file a false report? If so, where are the charges against him? Clearly, Taylor had lied about the assault and the second man could not have missed the fact that Dorm was struck by Taylor first. We have previously discussed how, even when officers are found to have brought unsupported or false charges, they are rarely punished and, when such punishment is meted out after public outcry, witnessing officers are rarely punished for their own failure to step forward.
A knowingly false arrest charge should be the basis for a mandatory termination of an officer and likely criminal charges for a false statement. I can understand how some officers misconstrue an action as a crime. However, this was a case of outright falsification by the officer. The police have not explained the apparent nonfeasance of the other officer. Indeed, we have not heard anything about the second officer’s incident report. Presumably, if the other officer gave the true account, no charges would have been filed — let alone the incarceration of this man for four months.
Source: Washington Post
AFTER ALL THAT HAS BEEN SAID AND DONE NO ONE HAS STATED THE OBVIOUS. IT SHOULD BE AGAINST THE LAW FOR ANY OFFICER TO HIT SOMEONE WITH THEIR REVOLVER. AND ANY JUDGE, DA OR PUBLIC OFFICIAL WHO DOES NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT SHOULD BE PISTOL WHIPPED HIMSELF. THIS IS THE SORT OF INJUSTICE THAT PERMEATES A JUDICIAL SYSTEM WHEN YOU GIVE A MORON BLANKET IMMUNITY. I FEEL THIS PRACTICE SHOULD BE DONE AWAY WITH. AND THEY WONDER WHY POLICE OFFICERS GET KILLED. PROBABLY BECAUSE THEIR GUILTY OF COMMITTING SIMILAR ABUSES. AND LITTLE BY LITTLE IT KEEPS GETTING WORSE. OH PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TELLING YOU ALL THAT THESE OFFICERS LIE, AND NOW THAT YOU’VE WITNESSED FIRST HAND, YOU STILL WILL NOT BELIEVE IT.
Officers should be subject to the same charges as non-officers for their conduct, with narrow exceptions for circumstances they may be in due to the uniqueness of their profession, mostly due to justifiable mistakes but not purposeful misconduct. The termination of an officer for certain offenses or misconduct, such as filing false charges, should be mandatory.
outrageous. with no probable cause, this police officer followed and assaulted a US citizen with a deadly weapon. why is he not charged with assault with a deadly weapon, or attempted murder? And why is it not a hate crime based on race?
the fact that he is a police officer is irrelevant since NO CRIME WAS COMMITTED that necessitated pursuit, which the police officer knew before he attacked.
I say this was a race based hate crime (no, you losers, I am not black, I am white and a real patriotic american, which is why I want scum like this police creep put away so the rest of us can walk freely in our nation.)
and the man with him? Accessory during and after the fact! Charge him, too. They are low life rats and scum, the worst of this fine nation of good people.
“Hey, hey, be careful. It’s dangerous out there”
Yeah, Sarge—-for citizens who don’t and will never look like WASPs. And even WASPs get butchered at times.
See above quad proof.
Darren,
I have scoured Dr. Google and cannot find out why he was brought in and booked. After scratching my head for a while, the only thing I can come up with was he might have been a no-show at court and a capias was issued. He apparently was booked and released, then went immediately to the emergency room to get checked out and that is when he found out he had two broken ribs. That can be fatal in a quad if he developed a hemothorax.
I assume he called his lawyer who got a copy of the jail security video, made a copy and gave it to the reporter. I have a feeling whatever Hillsborough County had to pay him more than covered the cost of that traffic ticket.
It could have been worse for the deputy had he developed a hemothorax and died. Then the charge would have been manslaughter.
Otteray:
The actions by the jailer was completely and totally unacceptable. Criminal? Certainly.
In addition, I would question why this man was brought to jail to begin with. I would have never booked a quad confined to a wheelchair for a traffic violation. Was a cite and release unavailable in this jursidiction? My God, just call up a judge on the phone, explain the situation, and PR the guy to a responsible person. If he is convicted, and jail is ordered, arrangements for his incarceration can be made ahead of time.
Unjustified use of force to say the least.
Pistol whipping a person is a deadly force by statutory definition. Practically speaking, it is better than shooting them, but no reason for anything less than that.
I believe the bystander was another LEO based upon my observations.
No reason they couldn’t have just grabbed his hands and frisked him if that is what was actually necessary. I can see the reasonable suspicion to detain him, though I don’t agree with it, but I can see it.
Pistol whipping is never considered a safe and reasonable action, unless one could argue it was necessary to try and stop somone where the alternative is otherwise to cap him, but it is risky for the very reason of the gun going off as it did in this case.
This situation here did not justify a pistol whipping in the least. I had far more dangerous situations than this, and I never pistol whipped anybody.
As I said on another blog: Black men have to deal with weird white guys (some of them in cop’s uniform) all the time. These cops were not in uniform.
Malisha
i’m guessing you’ve never been represented by a public pretender.
Lexmanifesta: I was not trying to avoid jury service. I was truthfully answering the questions put to me. That said, I do now see the court system more as a game – the law is the rule book of the game – nothing fundamentally moral about it as companies and people pay law makers to have the law written to advantage them and/or selectively enforced. The Courts are the umpires enforcing the rules and the lawyers are the players – the better player you can afford, the better chance you have of winning. “Right”, “Wrong” and “Truth” no longer have anything to do with the law or government here.
I’ll sign off with that it is not only a career ender, but hopefully the beginning of a long prison sentence, and a psychological review of all personnel, and a big award to this gentle person.
How about running it as a program pause s few million times on national TV? Other suggestions.
Video cams were first motivated to prevent crime. Seem to work against the LEOs sometimes, if not erased before it is secured as evidence.
Who thought the day would come when we would be glad
for Big Brother’s commercial advanced troop?
Does it take long to stop feeling queasy when you witness dumping quads on the floor. What if anything is going on in this deputy’s mind?
To be a doctor is tough, getting used to death and all.
To be a cop just requires kicking puppies when you are six years old.
Milord,
The sheriff was blindsided by seeing his own security camera video on the reporter’s laptop for the first time. The expression on the Sheriff’s face says it all. He was diplomatic and told the reporter about the only thing he could, that this had just come to light, so the investigation was ‘very new.’
After an IA investigation she was fired. It did not stop there. The sheriff turned over the result of the investigation to the District Attorney, who presented it to a Grand Jury. They indicted her on a charge of, “Felony Abuse of a Disabled Person.” Now that is a career-ender in law enforcement if there ever was one.
OS,
Just to stir up a little trouble, is it any wonder Tampa was chosen for this years fascist party convention?
Standard procedure for PG County Police:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isP_2qcGZc0
Nothing to see here…
RE: new hires
Screening law enforcement hires. One video I show them is what has to be the worst booking officer in all of law enforcement.