From [HERE] and [HERE] Two Prince George's County police officers are facing accusations of police brutality from a D.C. police officer. After completing his Saturday shift, D.C. officer Richard Merritt was outside the Ebony Inn, located in Fairmount Heights, when he was approached by two Prince George's County police officers. Merritt said the officers ordered him to stand against the wall.
Officer Richard Merritt, a 23-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department, said police officers used “excessive force,” striking him in the legs with their batons as they attempted to get him to lay on the ground and punching him several times in the face after he was restrained, according to a civil lawsuit filed in Prince George’s County Circuit Court. He said it wasn't until they retrieved his wallet and saw his badge that the beating stopped.
"When he retrieved my ID, he said, 'You [expletive] D.C. police. You [expletive]...threw it to the left side of my face," Merritt continued. Merritt was cited for having an open alcohol container and resisting arrest.
In an account of the incident written by county police, one of the officers admits using “a couple of knee strikes and pain compliance technique” during Officer Merritt’s arrest but states that the officer did so believing that the 6-foot-10-inch Officer Merritt was armed after he declined to comply with the officers’ commands.
Jimmy Bell, Officer Merritt’s attorney, said that early in the confrontation his client identified himself as a police officer. Mr. Bell questioned the officers’ account.
Merritt filed a $3 million lawsuit against the Prince George's County department Wednesday, alleging abuse.
Merritt's claim was backed by a witness at the Ebony Inn Wednesday, who asked to not be identified.
"The two police officers bum rushed him and wrestled him to the ground and twisted his leg and he wasn't resisting arrest at all...," the witness said.
Two county officers, identified in the lawsuit only as Officer Singh and Officer Shkurti, said they saw Officer Merritt in the parking lot with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a cup of the whiskey. When officers confronted him and several other men in the parking lot, he was talking on his cellphone and refused to comply with commands that he stand up against a wall. Court records indicate that police noticed a bulge underneath Officer Merritt’s shirt and thought it was a weapon. The bulge turned out to be Officer Merritt’s department-issued handgun.
The documents, written by Officer Singh, do not indicate how Officer Merritt ended up on the ground but state that once there his arms were underneath him and officers struggled with him, inflicting several blows in order to handcuff him.
The lawsuit says Officer Merritt immediately identified himself as a police officer and indicated he was armed but that “Officer Singh did not believe him” and “attempted to snatch Officer Merritt’s phone from his hands.”
County police officials declined to discuss the lawsuit Wednesday. The county’s police union said protocols dictate encounters between officers and officials from other law enforcement agencies.
“There is a way that officers are to identify themselves to other agencies,” Fraternal Order of Police President Vincent Canales said. “I’m sure our members were acting lawfully.”
Four criminal charges — including possession of an open container of alcohol and resisting arrest — were filed against Officer Merritt, and D.C. police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump confirmed that he had been placed on noncontact status while the charges are adjudicated.
Two other incidents have prompted recent allegations of excessive force against Prince George's County police officers, both resulting in criminal charges this year.
Cpl. Rickie Adey faces assault charges from an Aug. 4, 2011, incident during which he is accused of holding his gun to the head of a 13-year-old boy and threatening him. Cpl. Donald Taylor faces misconduct and assault charges that say he tried to cover up an incident during which he struck a man on the head with his handgun, causing the gun to fire.
The number of high-profile incidents involving police officers worries the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.