Officers were working off-duty at a downtown nightclub; say man was drunk
By Mike Schneider
Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida banker who is shown on a video being kicked repeatedly by an Orlando police officer while he is sitting passively on a street curb asked on Wednesday that criminal charges be filed against the officers involved.
Noel Carter asked the State Attorney in an affidavit to file battery charges against the officer who kicked him at least a half-dozen times as well as against another officer he said had used a stun gun on him. The 30-year-old man said he has bruises up and down his body, abrasions to his head and has had anxiety since the encounter.
The officers were working off-duty at a downtown nightclub last Thursday.
“When I was essentially abused by these officers, I was completely taken aback and surprised by the situation,” said Carter, a licensed business specialist for Wells Fargo, speaking at a news conference outside the Orange County Courthouse. “I was surprised by how the situation escalated, especially given my demeanor.”
The video was captured by a bystander from an apartment across the street.
Hours after Carter made his request, Orlando’s police chief said that he had asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the case. The State Attorney’s Office will review the evidence once the FDLE completes its investigation and prosecutors will decide what charges, if any, would be filed, said Angela Starke, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney’s Office.
Mina said the video only shows a portion of what happened. Carter and his ex-girlfriend were arguing outside the nightclub, and the officers intervened when it appeared that Carter was forcibly pulling the woman away, Mina said.
Carter has been charged with domestic battery, resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer. The officers are still working their normal beats.
“Based on witnesses and officer reports, it is clear that Carter was intoxicated, resisting officers, uncooperative and attempted to flee multiple times,” Mina said. “We absolutely had an obligation to intervene in any type of altercation, especially something that might be domestic violence.”
Carter’s attorneys said the officers’ accounts are false, and that the officers chased him before using a stun gun on him and then kicking him. They described the allegations of domestic violence as “ridiculous,” and they said Carter was merely having a disagreement with the woman that didn’t require police intervention.
“The police department is not trained to beat, punch, kick, tase people who are in a submissive position,” said Natalie Jackson, an Orlando attorney who also has represented the family of Trayvon Martin. “There is nowhere in the training matrix where you will see that. Their job is to de-escalate situations and to handle incidents with appropriate force.”
