Story here: http://www.denverpost.com/...
Some key excerpts...
Denver officials are deeply divided over the proper level of punishment for a police officer who was seen on video tackling and beating a 23-year-old man who was doing nothing but talking on a telephone outside a LoDo nightclub.
The video [shows] Officer Devin Sparks repeatedly hitting Michael DeHerrera of Denver with a department-issued piece of metal wrapped in leather, picking him up roughly and slamming a car door on his ankle
DeHerrera, in interviews, has described police as beating him unconscious. He said he woke up in a hospital bed, with stitches in his head, and a swollen head. He said he later was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome.
In addition, the officials found the police officer guilty of submitting a false police report...
The police report from Sparks that describes his force as justified because DeHerrera "spun to his left attempting to strike me in the face with a closed right fist."
Perea said a witness said DeHerrera pushed another officer moments earlier and that Sparks feared DeHerrera was about to strike him. Other witnesses disputed that DeHerrera had pushed anyone.
The police had taken into custody DeHerrera's friend, Shawn Johnson, then 24, after he used a women's restroom and was ejected from a nightclub. DeHerrera said he feared for his friend's safety and was asking for advice from his father, a Pueblo sheriff's deputy.
Both the video and the witnesses on scene dispute the claims made in the police report. Yet, all the officer received for filing a blatantly false report, and beating a person unconscious without provocation is a slap on the wrist...
Safety Manager Ron Perea, who oversees the police department and has final say on discipline, has rejected Rosenthal's argument that the officers should be fired. He suspended Murr without pay for three days for submitting an "inaccurate report." Sparks also lost three days pay.
Three days without pay is horridly insufficient even for lying on an official police report, that in itself should be grounds for the officer to be fired. An officer beating someone unconscious without provocation should be prosecuted in a criminal court, regardless of what uniform they're wearing.