We have another case of a citizen cleared of a charge after review of a videotape. Officer Derek Middendorf of the Melbourne Florida Police is shown in the tape attacking Albert Flowers, 66, without provocation. As shown in the video below, he not only attacked Flowers but tried to disable his dash camera before the attack. After Middendorf assaults Flowers, another officer tasers Flowers in the face.
Flowers was charged with two crimes that appears facially at odds: assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest without violence. Presumably, he first attacked Middendorf and then resisted without violence. The first problem is that you can be charged with resisting without violence, a crime so ambiguous that it invites abuse. The second problem is that he didn’t assault Middendorf.
Middendorf’s report says that ““Flowers walked towards him in an aggressive manner” and “refused to stop at a safe distance.” So that is justification for kicking him in the groin and proceeding to beat him down?
Middendorf thought that he had disabled his camera but the film was able to be extracted later.
What is astonishing is that statement of Wayne Holmes, chief of staff for the Brevard State Attorney’s Office, when his office belatedly dropped the charges: “although there is probable cause to support the legality of the arrest, a full review of the in-car video, the written reprimand by the Melbourne police of their officer’s actions that prevented an audio recording, and the documented mental health history of the defendant would not support a successful prosecution.”
In listening to Mr. Holmes, it is easy to see why Melbourne officers think that they can assault citizens. “[P]robable cause to support the legality of the arrest”? Exactly where does Holmes see that? Middendorf spent most of his time trying to disable his camera and barely spoke to Flowers before assaulting him. Holmes gets this week’s Anita Alvarez Award For Willful Blindness In The Face Of Police Abuse.
Now here is the real kicker. Middendorf is still on the force and there is no indication of discipline for assaulting the man. He was disciplined for tampering with the camera. Why wouldn’t an officer be simply fired for tampering with a camera before an assault? How about firing him for the assault or the less than truthful police report?
Source: Florida Today
“He walked so close that the officer could reach his groin? ”
The officer took two steps forward to reach him.
It also looked like the officer may have been urging the man to approach him, not stay away.
I don’t understand the need for the taser. The man was being held down when the second officer arrived with the taser with 2 more officers right behind him.
I see 2 officers needing to be fired.
Certainly gives one pause about approaching a FL LEO to have a conversation.
leejcaroll 1, March 15, 2013 at 12:38 pm
AP, nothing like following the example of the old USSR, don’t like what they say, put em in a psych hospital
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leejcaroll,
Yep, and we’re seeing more of it in the U.S., as you probably know.
(Frank Serpico joins forces with whistleblower (Adrian Schoolcraft) suing NYPD for $50 million
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/serpico-assist-whistleblower-suing-nypd-50m-article-1.1255305#ixzz2NczDJSv9 )
Bruce,
Haven’t spent much time around police or sheriff’s departments, have you?
“He was disciplined for tampering with the camera.” -Jonathan Turley
From the following article:
“Middendorf was initially reprimanded for tampering with the recording device, but the city chose not pursue an administrative review at the time.”
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Another take, with additional details:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/20/dashcam-catches-cop-beating-66-year-old-man-suffering-from-dementia/
Technicians in Florida have recovered dashcam video of a Melbourne police officer beating a 66-year-old man who suffers from dementia even though the officer deliberately tried to disable the recording.
An attorney for beating victim Albert Flowers told Florida Today that his client was prepared to sue the city of Melbourne.
“He should be fired,” attorney Paul Bross said of Officer Derek Middendorf. “Anyone who’s being pulled over by this officer should be terrified.”
“It’s clear (Officer Middendorf) tried to destroy all the video in this case. He thought he had turned off the camera, and that’s why he acted the way he did.”
The video clearly shows Flowers calmly walking towards the police cruiser before Middendorf suddenly delivers a kick to his midsection. Before Flowers is able to get up, the white cop drops to his knees and pounds his fists into the African-American man’s face.
Flowers spent a month in the hospital after the encounter.
Melbourne City Attorney Paul Gougelman promised to review the video to see if the city had any responsibility to pay for Flowers’ health care.
“What I urge everybody to do is stand back and let the dust settle,” Gougelman said. “There is always more to the story. It’s always important to have a good working relationship in the community.”
Charges against Flowers were dropped by the Brevard County State Attorney’s Office after they learned about his dementia.
Middendorf was initially reprimanded for tampering with the recording device, but the city chose not pursue an administrative review at the time.
“Information regarding the arrest of Albert Flowers was sufficient to indicate that an internal investigation was not warranted,” Melbourne Police Chief Steve Mimbs said in a press advisory before the video was released publicly. “Officer Derek Middendorf is a valued officer whose record since joining the department in 2005 reflects the fact that he has done a very good job for the city.”
Middendorf indicated in his report that he used force against Flowers after the man did not obey orders to stop moving toward him. The officer had suspected Flowers may have had a knife.
“I had to react and protect myself in fear he was going to attack me,” the report said. “Not knowing if he was still armed or not … I struck the defendant in the face to distract him.”
Flowers’ dementia has worsened since returning home from the hospital, according to his granddaughter, Donna Jackson.
“The family’s just upset by the whole thing,” Jackson explained. “We are glad they dropped the charges. We just want to move forward.”
AP, nothing like following the example of the old USSR, don’t like what they say, put em in a psych hospital
“The good cops in the minority need to stand up to the corrupt majority of their brothers who tarnish their name…” -TheDisco
Yes, but it isn’t an easy road for those who do. (See below.)
A little OT:
Lawyers for Whistleblower Cop Slap Queens District Attorney Richard Brown With A Subpoena
By Graham Rayman Fri., Mar. 1 2013
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/03/bam_lawyers_for.php
Excerpt:
Lawyers for whistleblower cop Adrian Schoolcraft today served Queens District Attorney Richard Brown with a subpoena demanding that he give a videotaped deposition and turn over all documents related to Brown’s finding that there was no criminal conduct when Schoolcraft was forcibly removed from his home by police commanders in October, 2009, the Voice has learned.
As the Voice’s NYPD Tapes series reported, Schoolcraft was dragged out of his home by police on the orders of Deputy Chief Michael Marino on Oct. 31, 2009 and held against his will in the Jamaica Hospital psychiatric ward for six days. This took place three weeks after he reported corruption in Bed-Stuy’s 81st Precinct to investigators.
Those allegations were later proven true in a report kept secret by the NYPD for nearly two years before it was disclosed in the Voice last March. Schoolcraft’s lawsuit alleges he was forced into the psych ward as retaliation for talking to investigators.
It’s fairly rare for a sitting district attorney to be hit with a subpoena in connection with a case he oversaw. But then, the Schoolcraft story is anything but routine. It may be the most embarrassing episode of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s long tenure. And the list of unanswered questions about Schoolcraft’s treatment could fill a book. (article continues)
Some interesting history:
NYPD Tapes Update: Queens DA Richard Brown’s Report on Whistleblower Cop Raises More Questions Than It Answers
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/12/nypd_tapes_upda.php
Seeing police misconduct in a video is like seeing a cockroach in the light of day. For everyone you see, there’s likely hundreds more you don’t.
There must have been some provocation, or this cop wouldn’t last ten minutes on the force. you just don’t go around beating people up badge or no badge.
I’m not buying this officer’s version of the events. Disabling the dash cam is certainly a violation if any deparment’s policy on these. The phrase where the officer described walking toward him in an aggressive manner I would have expected that in order to justify using force against the other man would have included words such as “I’m going to kick your arse” or “You’re a dead man” or something to back up the accusation the guy represented a plausable threat. But I don’t have the official report to review and even then it would be suspect given the officer attempted to disable the camera.
Taser in the face? Idiots. That is rather aggravated, used to cause extreme pain and the training is to not use it against a person’s face.
Under what circumstances are the Police allowed to disable the dashcam?
The behavior of the cops and the DA’s office is an example of how government workers conspire to protect each other.
Ordinary citizens (except for the many unthinking “law & order” types) increasingly fear and mistrust cops and the judicial process.
““Flowers walked towards him in an aggressive manner” and “refused to stop at a safe distance.” He walked so close that the officer could reach his groin? Either the cop let him get way too close (and the officer could have moved further back when there was no other apparent threatening behavior) or he has an extraordinarily long leg.
Lying bullies with badges.
Since the officers committed a crime in assaulting this “defendant,” they should be investigated by the FBI and arrested and brought up on federal charges. Why is this not happening? Because there is no time, money and energy for a march on Washington?
That is why this kind of thing happens 999 out of 1,000 times; because the citizenry cannot stop all that it must do on a day-to-day basis to march in protest for every outrage, every illegal act of abuse of power and/or corruption, every violation, every indignity, every official crime.
Cop starts the situation and beats the guy and then often has to accompany the individual to the hospital to have the uneccessary injury treated all the while collecting overtime.
Pigs will be pigs. Always and forever. The good cops in the minority need to stand up to the corrupt majority of their brothers who tarnish their name in equal measure each time something like this happens.
When Officers attack illegally like this, or like the famous pepper spray incident in Portland (I think), why can citizens not defend themselves? Why can a witness not come to the victim’s defense against the officer and arrest the officer on the spot?
If you’re from central Florida, or the Melborne area specifically, you know exactly what went down. I won’t use the N word.
Do they drug check these guys for steroids?.
I know there are many good quality police officers that protect the rights and safety of us. Kudos and Laurels to them for the sacrifices and dangers they face to protect and serve.
I have heard of the thin blue line. Examples such as this one serve pure negative emotion against LEOs. This thin blue line that good officers do not cross, is destroying the good name of good cops.
This idiot, sadist, paranoid, mud head needs to be fired. The community may find some good faith in their Police dept.
I find revulsion at the current outcome.
This is a sad abuse of power….