Phoenix police to investigate officers' handling of Latino Man: Beating Caught on Videotape
Monday, November 29, 2004 at 05:17PM
TheSpook
Phoenix police asked the Maricopa County Attorney's Office on
Wednesday to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against
two police officers for their actions caught on videotape during the
arrest of a 22-year-old assault and carjacking suspect on
Tuesday. The 12 News video shows officers hitting and elbowing
Jaime Jimenez, a Mexican national who was already handcuffed. Jimenez
is accused of assaulting and robbing a pregnant woman at gunpoint
outside a supermarket near 43rd Avenue and McDowell Road. Phoenix
police are conducting an internal investigation into the incident and
will forward their report to the County Attorney's Office when it's
complete. Some Hispanic leaders said that such
behavior can't be condoned. "If I went out and did that . . . it
would absolutely be criminal conduct," said attorney Stephen Montoya,
who called a description of the incident a classic case of assault and
battery. "Just because a police officer does it doesn't make it
trivial." According to police descriptions of the
two officers, the video shows: Officer Steven Huddleston, 31, lunging
into Jimenez, who appears to be facing a wall, with his hands in the
air; An officer striking Jimenez in the upper body; An officer
putting his foot on Jimenez's midsection; Officer Thomas Beck, 32,
holding his fist on Jimenez's neck, putting a large amount of weight on
it; Beck punching him in the groin after rolling him in the dirt while
searching his pockets; Huddleston, 31, standing on the back of
Jimenez's left knee; Huddleston elbowing Jimenez in the face as he was
walked to the patrol car. Jimenez suffered no serious injuries, police
said, and was booked into a Maricopa County jail on charges of
kidnapping, armed robbery and assault. [more]