The Psychopathic Racial Personality From [HERE] Florencio Vazquez Jr. was waiting for a bus on the steps of a corner store at Sixth and Tilghman streets in the summer when white Allentown police officer Andrew Holveck approached him.
Holveck claimed that he was concerned that Vazquez was intoxicated to a degree that he was a danger to himself and others, the officer wrote in court papers, and began to ask him questions. In the video Vazquez appears to be quietly sitting on the steps of a house.
What should have been a routine check by Holveck quickly escalated into a violent arrest that left Vazquez with bruises and scrapes across his face and hands and psychological trauma, Vazquez alleges in an excessive force lawsuit filed against Allentown and Holveck in U.S. District Court.
Allentown police surveillance video of the July 26 arrest released by Vazquez's attorney, Richard J. Orloski, shows the officer reacting as Vazquez slowly reaches into his right pocket for a cigarette. Holveck grabs Vazquez by the wrist and pulls him from the steps to the sidewalk behind a trash bin, which obscures the camera's view of all but Vazquez's right leg.
Then, two unidentified white police officers approach "to assist" Holveck in the arrest. One of the officers bends over behind the trash can and throws three punches toward Vazquez on the ground. With each punch, the unidentified officer's arm and elbow are seen popping up from behind the trash bin. Five officers, in all, responded to the scene.
Vazquez, 28, of the 500 block of North Penn Street in Allentown, was treated for his injuries, including a black eye and bruises to the left side of his face, at Sacred Heart Hospital.
He pleaded guilty last month to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to six months of probation. Charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and prowling were withdrawn, court records show.
Orloski said Tuesday he trying to find witnesses to this crime.
His Oct. 16 lawsuit, which alleges violations of the constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure and the guarantee of due process and equal protection under the law, is the third excessive-force suit Orloski has filed against Allentown and its police officers since September.
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