Willing To Testify In Court Against Police Gets You A Punch In The Face

City responds to LoDo police beating video
By Heidi Hemmatr
Story posted 2010.08.18 at 09:18 PM MDT

DENVER - Coloradans are outraged and demanding action from city leaders after seeing our investigative report about a dog owner beaten by two Denver Police officers.

It's a story FOX 31 News broke Tuesday night.

Now the Denver police independent monitor says he's responding to the public outcry and reviewing the video to see if a larger investigation is warranted.

Mark Ashford was walking his dogs near 20th and Little Raven, when he witnessed police pull over a driver for failing to stop at a stop sign. He told the driver he saw him stop and would be willing to testify in court.

His attorney, Will Hart, said the police officers overheard Ashford's comment and "weren't happy about it."

Hart said the officers demanded Ashford's I.D. and wouldn't let him leave. "They had no reason to stop him or detain him, that's a violation of his fourth amendment rights," said Hart.

Ashford then tried to take a picture of the officers to document the incident, but both the officers pulled his hand behind his back and attempted to arrest him. Ashford appeared to struggle before he was slammed into a railing, punched repeatedly in the face and wrestled to the ground.

Ashford was charged with interference and resisting arrest, but the charges were later dropped, "because the city attorney agreed his fourth amendment rights were violated," said Hart.

Excessive force complaints were filed against the officers.

A Denver police department spokesperson said the internal affairs investigation is closed, but the independent police monitor says he is reviewing the surveillance video to determine if the police officers used excessive force.

Richard Rosenthal said it is likely he will recommend a more thorough investigation.

Ironically, it's the police department's own surveillance camera that may provide the proof.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was notified about the alleged beating caught on tape. A spokesperson tells FOX 31 the mayor is aware of the latest video.
Story posted 2010.08.18 at 09:18 PM MDT

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