Two Illinois cops were arrested Wednesday for beating a man in an incident that was caught on a dashboard cam.
Photography is Not a Crime is one of the few sites that has the raw video showing the entire chase.
Peoria police officers Andrew Smith and Gerald Suelter were each charged with four counts of official misconduct and single counts of battery, mob action and aggravated battery. Mob action. That’s not one you hear very often.
The incident, which occurred last year, took place after police chased suspect Bryce Scott for several blocks through city streets.
At one point, Scott stopped and thrust his hands out the window. A group of officers approach him with two of them pulling him out of the car. Scott appeared to fall onto his knees on the pavement next to his car, which was outside the camera frame.
Suddenly he starts screaming as if being tasered continuously.
After a few seconds, an oversized cop with a bulletproof vest later identfied as Smith comes out of nowhere and jumps into the melee, appearing to stomp on the suspect at least 20 times.
This is how Assistant State Attorney Steve Pattelli described the incident:
Suelter allegedly “approached and drew his electronic Taser … Suelter removed the air cartridge from his Taser and began to repeatedly stun the driver,” Pattelli said.
By the time Smith arrived, Scott had been pulled from the SUV and was on the pavement with five other officers above him,” Pattelli said.
“When Smith arrived, he began to kick and stomp the driver at least 20 times, at one point repositioning himself for leverage,” Pattelli said.
The two officers are facing five years in prison. Meanwhile, Scott is in jail on an unrelated heroin charge.
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