Body camera video released by a California police department showed two police officers harassing day laborers and leaving one of the men with a bloody face because they appeared too closely to bottles of beer. "They just grabbed the guy, punched him, ground his face into the gravel," Charlie Dresow, the injured man's attorney, told KTVU. “That's not right.”
San Rafael Police Lt. Scott Eberle told KTVU that officers Daisy Mazariegos and Brandon Nail of the San Rafael Police Department were put on paid leave Friday while the department completes an internal investigation following the incident, which took place in July.
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Body camera footage showed Mazariegos' initial interaction with the men. One of them explained that they were drinking after a long day's work and that they chose to come to a location on Windward Way because they had earlier received noise complaints from neighbors at the apartment complex of one of the men, KGO-TV reported.
Warning: This video contains violent footage that may be triggering to viewers.
"Put your beer down!" the officer told the man, who responded while smiling that he has nothing to say.
"You have nothing to say? You're just out here drinking, you think it's funny?" the officer asked. The man said, "No, it's not funny" and when the officer asked for his identification, he started to look for it.
Mazariegos, who spoke to the man in Spanish, told him to sit down, a request Nail later repeated when he arrived, but in the form of a profanity-laced demand: "Hey, sit the f--- down!" he yelled.
The man being questioned by police responded: "Hey, you don't have to talk to me."
When Mazariegos reminded him that she had also asked him to sit down, the man complied.
“Take out your ID, dude,” Mazariegos demanded.
The man seemed to try and explain that he can’t locate his identification without standing up and being able to search his pockets, but officers didn’t give him an opportunity to complete his statement.
Mazariegos continued demanding that he sit down, and both she and Nail forced the man to the ground, with Nail punching him in the face.
"He had a bad day," Nail said, laughing as he later described the man's bloody face. Nail also alleged that the man put him in a "headlock."
A sergeant later said, "You're giving me great experience with use of forces, dude."
Police Chief David Spiller said in a statement released on Friday that he recognizes "the anguish this incident has caused" and he's "saddened by it."
"I want to assure members of the San Rafael community that our department cares deeply about the community's feelings concerning this matter," the chief said. "Rudeness, lack of professionalism, or any unnecessary force are all examples of expressly prohibited conduct and such behavior is not-at-all condoned in our delivery of public safety services.”
The chief continued:
The SRPD is conducting a thorough investigation of this incident. The actions and conduct of all department members involved are being examined. Any member of our department who is found to have failed to meet expectations or behaved outside our standards of conduct will be held accountable and disciplined as appropriate. Professionalism is an expectation of all members of this organization and treating all members of our community with dignity and respect is a clear expectation from the leadership of the San Rafael Police Department.
The San Rafael Police Department is accountable to those we serve. As your police department, we have the duty and responsibility to help people live in safety and to enjoy the wonderful quality of life for which San Rafael is known. We cannot do this work alone. Our leadership team emphasizes “working together” to accomplish our organizational objectives. Our goals include working together with our community. Everyone in the community has a role to play in keeping our community safe; however, as professional members of law enforcement, we must be accountable.
I am both personally and professionally concerned about this incident and how it impacts the trust our department has worked hard to build in this community. I want to assure all members of the San Rafael community that not only is this incident being critically examined, but we will examine our behaviors, including that of our leadership and for those department members that have fallen short, they will be held accountable.
As the Police Chief, I take responsibility for all the actions of our department. I am committed to addressing our shortcomings with an affirmative commitment to continuous improvement and advancing the professionalism of the department.
Marin County prosecutors who reviewed the body camera video dropped all charges against the injured man, including public intoxication, resisting arrest, and battery on an officer, KTVU reported.
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