NYPD Cop Stomps On Man’s Head Like He Was A ‘Roach’

The trial for a New York Police Department Officer accused of stomping on a man’s head while trying to arrest him began on Tuesday, April 26.

Also in BK Supreme today, bench trial for NYPD Officer Joel Edouard accused of stomping on the head of a cuffed suspect. Caught on video

— Christina Carrega (@ChrisCarrega) April 26, 2016

Officer Joel Edouard’s action was like “stomp(ing) on a roach that you intend to kill,” prosecutor Marc Fliedner told the room inside Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Fliedner proceeded to describe the cop as “fueled by his own blind and uncontrolled anger” when he allegedly cuffed and then attacked Jahmiel Cuffee during a marijuana-related arrest on July 23, 2014, reports the NY Daily News.

Edouard’s lawyer responded to Fliedner’s description, claiming Cuffee resisted arrest and acted as though he was grabbing for a weapon.

Cuffee was “reaching into the small of his back” when cops tried to subdue him, the defense attorney said.

Witness Gary Dormer, who also testified on Tuesday, caught the arrest on film.

https://youtu.be/C3UDGxSbcl4

The prosecutor argued that the video shows Edouard getting progressively rougher with Cuffee. The attorney also stated that Edouard unnecessarily took out his gun just moments after stomping on Cuffee’s head.

“He removed his service weapon from the holster and pointed it at Mr. Cuffee’s head,” he continued. “Mr. Cuffee started to cry out to folks on the street, ‘Help me!'”

Fliedner claims Edouard lost his cool when he realized the incident was being filmed.

According to defense attorney Anthony Ricco, the prosecutor’s version of the events didn’t show the full picture of what happened that day.

Cuffee’s injuries were “all as a result of his own struggles in the street with the officers,” Ricco said. “He was smoking weed and drinking in public when cops approached,” he continued. “Mr. Cuffee resisted arrest… by force. While the officers were trying to cuff him, you will see him reach into the small of his back…”

Cuffee told the court room that he was reaching for his marijuana, but Ricco said it would have been impossible for the cops to know what was on Cuffee’s mind.

“Those officers have no idea [why Cuffee is] reaching into the small of his back,” he said. “He’s taking something from his person that he doesn’t want these officers to see or get,” he added.

Ricco also disputed Fliedner’s assertion that Edouard got increasingly aggressive during the arrest.

Dormer, the man who caught the incident on tape, was also called to the stand to testify about what he saw on that summer day in 2014.

At the time Dormer was working at a jerk chicken restaurant and serving Cuffee when Edouard, accompanied by another cop, approached and asked Cuffee for his ID.

“I seen an aggressive officer grab Mr. Jahmiel Cuffee,” Dormer said of Edouard. “He grabbed him as if he was a child who was being disciplined for something he done wrong.”

Dormer also admitted that Cuffee seemed to be resisting the officers’ attempts to arrest him, but decided to continue recording the arrest anyway.

He said he saw Edouard remove his service revolver from his holster and point it at Cuffee’s face.

“(Edouard) looked me directly in my eyes at the time… and he immediately put away his firearm,” Dormer said.

Dormer testified that Edouard walked away as more officers appeared on the scene.

“As they showed up, Mr. Edouard walked up to Mr. Jahmiel Cuffee and stomped on his head,” Dormer said.

During cross examination, Dormer confessed to seeing Cuffee and another man in gray exchange something moments before the arrest. Ricco argued in his opening statement that it was unclear for the officers as to whether the two exchanged marijuana or a gun.

“I seen that exchange of hands,” Dormer acknowledged.

Cuffee was initially charged with evidence tampering, obstruction, and resisting arrest, but the case against him was dropped by prosecutors in late 2014, records show.

According to court documents, he also filed a $25 million notice of claim that fall, signaling his intention to sue the city, the NYPD, and officers involved.

Edouard was placed on modified duty after the arrest, but official misconduct charges against him were dropped last summer. However, Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson chose to pursue the misdemeanor assault charge.

“This defendant allegedly stomped on the head of a suspect as he lay on the ground, which is unacceptable for a police officer,” Thompson said at the time.

[Photo from Shutterstock]