Grand Rapids Police Accused of Bashing Black Man with Police Radio after he had Surrendered
A Grand Rapids police officer is off the job and may be charged criminally for allegedly beating a man. Officer Matthew Lockhart is officially suspended without pay pending discharge. The complaint of excessive force against the nine-year veteran of the police department was brought not by a family member, not by a victim, but other officers. Officer Lockhart is off the job for what police say he did to 19-year-old Derrius Joseph. But the big question is what happened during the arrest of Joseph in June behind a house on Gold Avenue in Grand Rapids. "I really don't know what to think right now. I just want to see my son. I haven't seen him in a while, and I'm just ready for him to be home," said Ouida Kellie, Joseph's mother. "My heart just kinda drops, because when I went to the jail to see him, he was limping." Her son violated parole for stealing, officers then went looking for him, and he ran from them. Officer Lockhart was involved in the chase, and according to documents obtained by 24 Hour News 8, other officers said Lockhart jumped onto the back of Joseph, slammed his police issue radio several times in the back of his head and kicked him in the mid-section. This all happened after Joseph apparently had given up, fell to the ground in the prone position. [more]
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