 |
West Palm Beach rookie quits, 2 officers face discipline after being caught on tape beating suspect
MICHAEL LaFORGIA
Palm Beach Post
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
WEST PALM BEACH — One city police officer resigned and two more were placed on administrative leave after a dashboard camera captured images of them punching and kicking a handcuffed man in the face.
On May 26, Officer Louis Schwartz had pulled a car over outside a CVS pharmacy at 6800 South Dixie Highway when a pharmacy clerk told him a man in a black ski mask looked like he was about to rob the store.
As Schwartz walked in, the man, later identified as Pablo Gilberto Valenzuela, 42, of West Palm Beach, ran out through an emergency exit, turning to spray Schwartz with pepper spray as the officer gave chase, according to police reports.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
A video recording captured what happened next:
Schwartz drew his gun and, ordering Valenzuela to the ground, approached as Officer Kurt Graham, who had heard Schwartz’s calls for help over the radio, closed in on the prone man. Graham put a knee into Valenzuela’s back and handcuffed him.
The video then showed Graham punch and kick Valenzuela in the face. Schwartz approached and also kicked Valenzuela in the face.
Later, as Officer Jason Zangara hoisted a bloodied Valenzuela to his feet, the video showed Valenzuela lurching away from Zangara’s grasp. Zangara whirled on the handcuffed man and punched him several times in the face, until the man collapsed on the pavement, the video showed.
Officers hauled him up again and led him out of the frame.
Valenzuela was held at the Palm Beach County Jail on charges of robbery, assault and battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.
Prison
Planet.tv Members Can Watch
Fall Of The Republic
Right Now Online -
Don't Miss Out! Get
Your Subscription Today!
CANCER CONSPIRACY? Are
"they" suppressing the cure? Will YOU
be the next victim? Learn
the Secret Truth! - READ FULL STORY
-
- Social bookmarks
- Email this article
-
- Print this page
5 Responses to “West Palm Beach rookie quits, 2 officers face discipline after being caught on tape beating suspect”
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||
| By N2H | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
August 12th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Surprised are you? You should see what these ghouls do in the lock up…
August 12th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Oh, when the cops say assulting an officer it means the officer assulted the civilian. You can’t trust cops any more…they too are the enemy…sad situation for all parties…which include the good cops, and there are a few.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
flagrant abuse of the law and their sworn oaths …. and it is getting worse.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
This one actually isn’t bad at all. It’s when they’re tasering random motorists for driving to fast, or tasering a guy having a seizure, or putting little kids in choke holds for skateboarding… “Non-compliance”. That’s when I get pissed off. Frankly, if someone sprayed me in the face with pepper spray, handcuffs or no, I’d feel compelled to punch him in the face. Maybe not as much as they did, but…
August 12th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
The question is who is letting these corrupted cops in. It seems the qualifications to be a cop is against civil liberty. It’s the guys on the top that need to account for these inhuman activities. Alex Jones is right we must fight back as a group to win this. Continuing to disagree with all those wolves up the top and put them all behind bars were they all belong.
Just to let in you in on something, did you know that the psychiatrist’s are “treating” these cops and all the nut’s that go out on a killing spree. They are all on some kind of psych drugs before the insanity. food for thought.