Black Corrections Officer Suing Over Police Brutality by White Cleveland Vice Cops

Reason.com

A state prison corrections officer said he was left with career-ending physical and emotional scars after an early morning face-off with a group of Third District vice officers, according to a federal lawsuit.

Martin Robinson sued the city and four vice officers after the 2009 confrontation that took place near a hole in the prison's fence on East 30th Street. Robinson and two other corrections officers were guarding that gap to prevent escapes around 1 a.m. on July 10, 2009, when Cleveland officers Lt. Jerome Barrow and detectives Anthony Spencer, Erin O'Donnell and Michael Demchak drove into the area and got out of their unmarked cars.

In 2012, he won a $900,000 settlement for the attack. Robinson, received various injuries and continues to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. He claimed vice members failed to identify themselves on state property and threatened to shoot Mr. Robinson. [MORE]

The suit accused vice officers of attacking and falsely arresting Martin Robinson about 1 a.m. July 10, 2009, as he worked outside the Northeast Pre-Release Center on East 30th Street in Cleveland. He and two other corrections officers were guarding a prison fence, where a car had crashed into it the day before, creating holes.

In court documents, Robinson said he reached for his weapon after two cars pulled up, and the occupants, dressed in dark clothing, approached the guards.

The guards yelled to the people in the cars -- who turned out to be vice cops from the city's Third District -- that they were on state property and ordered them to stop. Before Robinson could draw his gun from its holster, an officer pointed a gun at Robinson. In a matter of seconds, the guard was on the ground, handcuffed.

Another guard, Jennifer Jones, said the vice officers didn't immediately identify themselves as officers until Barrow said, "These are badges, motherf-----. We're with vice squad."

Before Robinson could draw his gun from its holster, a gun was pointed at his head and in a matter of seconds, the guard was on the ground, handcuffed.

City lawyers defended the officers saying their actions were justified because Robinson had reached for his weapon, a .38-caliber handgun, putting the officers' lives in jeopardy.

A federal judge characterized their arguments ridiculous.

"The defendants say they should be able to come on state-controlled property at 1 a.m. and [be] permitted to beat a state corrections officer when that officer told the defendants to stop approaching an opening in the state prison fence," U.S. District Judge James Gwin said.

Robinson said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and could not work after the incident.