From [HERE] and [HERE] Four Cleveland police officers were charged Friday with assaulting a Cleveland Heights man while arresting him on New Year's Day.
Third District officers Martin Lentz, 34, Christopher Randolph, 26, Kevin Smith and Paul Crawford, both 25, were charged Friday with felonious assault and obstruction of official business. They have been suspended without pay, said Safety Director Martin Flask.
The charges filed by the city's prosecutor's office said that Officer's Lentz, Smith, Randolph and Crawford, all hired in 2008, attacked Edward Henderson after he was detained, and withheld information from police investigators.
Henderson, 40, of Cleveland Heights said he was beaten by police on Jan. 1. The pursuit began when an officer knocked on Henderson's car window when he was stopped at a traffic light late at night. Henderson said he had no idea it was a police officer. He says he panicked and took off. Once he knew police were giving chase, he says he finally pulled over and got down on the ground.
He said that after he was handcuffed, he was held down by police, kicked and kneed in the head. Henderson, severely beaten, suffered a detached retina, broken eye socket and nose. In all, 28 police cars and 41 officers responded to the chase. The city has refused to turn over the video from the police helicopter that Henderson says will show he was beaten by police.
Judge Nancy Fuerst ruled recently that the video could be turned over only to Henderson's lawyers and not to anyone else, including members of the news media.
One of Henderson's lawyers, Daniel Caplin saw the video and called it shocking and disgusting.
Ironically, he was charged with six counts of felonious assault on a police officer and failure to comply with a police order. He has pleaded not guilty and is in Cuyahoga County Jail.
Flask said the internal police investigation followed within days of Henderson's arrest when another police officer reported it to a superior.
In the original police report, officers made no mention of having to use force to detain Henderson. In the report, a doctor who treated him at Huron Hospital, stated Henderson's injuries were common with someone who had been in a car accident. When force is used against a suspect, it must be documented in a special report.
The chase began after they said Henderson nearly struck two other officers who had stopped another motorist for a traffic violation on Superior Avenue. Henderson said he sped away when one of the officers knocked on his passenger side window while he was at a stoplight, telling him to pull over. Henderson has argued the officer never identified himself and he was scared.
Authorities said they called off the chase when Henderson began driving erratically and let the police helicopter follow his minivan.
Daniel Chaplin, Henderson's defense lawyer, said he feels the charges against the officers should have happened sooner and said he is working to get his client released from jail. Though Henderson has a long criminal history, Chaplin said the majority of it is rooted in mental illness.
"I think what this tells us is that you can't count on the Cleveland Police for the truth," Chaplin said. "How did this incident get complicated, there were 11 guys on scene?"
Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Steve Loomis said, "I certainly hope the public does not rush to judgment and these are all fine officers and they have the same rights as any citizen charged with a crime.
"We have every confidence in the criminal justice system and we look forward to our day in court."
Henderson's longtime girlfriend, Tiffany Allen, who is the mother of his five children, ages 19 to seven months, said she called Cleveland Heights police before he left in the family minivan on New Year's Day because he had a "flare-up" when he didn't take his medication. She said they searched for him in the suburb but were unable to locate him.
"I hope they dismiss the charges so he can get the help he needs; he isn't going to get it in jail," Allen said. "The kids saw this on the news and they are so worried, it has been devastating to our family."
The four officers are among several in recent weeks to be charged with similar crimes.
In February and earlier this month, Cleveland officers Lyndsey Bissell and Addona Perez were charged with assault and obstruction of official business and other related charges after they allegedly hit a handcuffed female inmate in December. The incident was also captured on video.