Police Complaint Center

On January 8 2007 at 8:01 pm. I , my girlfriend, , and her three kids, 13 yrs old,10 yrs old. , 8 yrs old. were returning home from having dinner at the Texas Steakhouse.

As we were coming up to my girlfriends parents house on Rt.11, a State police cruiser was coming from the north, sitting in the middle of the road, and another cruiser was behind us. The cruiser in front of us flicked his lights for us to turn into the driveway. They followed us into the driveway with their lights flashing. My girlfriend went to exit the car, telling me to"Stay in the car, I'll handle this"
I then heard someone say, (very forcefully) "Get the fuck back in the car!" She got back into the car as the officer came around the car and opened my door and told me to"Stay the fuck in the car and identify youreself !" I replied "I am ______, Who the hell are you?" my girlfriend was telling the officer that I was ---, Not ----! The officer was telling me to identify myself as my girlfriend got back out of the car telling him "That is ----, He is not who you think he is!
I told the officer that I had my I.D. in my wallet. I tried to get to my wallet, but, the officer crowded me in the car, pushing on my arm saying,"Where is you're I.D.?" I replied again," It is in my wallet,let me get to it and I will show it to you, you need to back up!" He then grabbed my arm, pinching and yanking on me,saying "Get the fuck out of the car!" I pulled away from his painful grip and asked him, "What in the hell are you doing?, I told you I was going to show you my I.D."
Two other officers came around the car, and one of them had a gun pointed at my head. ( I really had no idea what was happening) I asked "Just what in the hell is going on here?" They only replied, "We are the State Police!", (as they were pulling on me), I replied " I am a Citizen!".....To say : I should be treated with a little respect, since i knew that i had done nothing wrong! At that point I was hit in the head by the officer with the gun, and i was pulled to the ground to recieve a savage beating. After the first hit,( I knew they had busted my head open) I was saying," yall have split my head open, you need to fix me! They continued to beat me with sticks and kneeing me in the back ect., saying " quit resisting! " I was plainly tortured, I really thought they were trying to kill me.
After they quit beating me,they handcuffed me and pulled my wallet out, they drug me across the yard and threw me up against a tree, saying " you can stay here, ----! " I said once again, " I am not ----! "
As I was waiting for the ambulance, an officer came back over to me and pulled my phone out of my pocket and under it was a small bag of marijuana, which he took. Then one officer dipped a towel into a cold mud puddle and was forcefully trying to wipe the blood away from my face before the ambulance came. He was banging my head against the tree and being real ruff with me. Then they left me alone until the ambulance came.
After struggling to get to my feet, (because they would not help me up.) They then took everything out of my pockets and threw it on the ground and told my girlfriend, " There is his stuff, you may want to get it." at that point they found 2 pills in my pocket which were percocet.
I was then placed into the ambulance. At some point i had been pepper sprayed, because the guy in the ambulance was complaining about it burning his eyes, He said i had defenetley been sprayed.
In the hospital I recieved 8 staples to the back of my head, 8 stitches under my left eye, I was unable to have any medications of any kind for numbness ect. because the officer told them i was "drunk", Which I was not! I had a couple beers about 5 hrs before that, but I had just came from dinner where I had ice tea with my steak!
In the hospital, the officer that stayed, just kept saying, " We knew we had the right person, because we had very reliable information that he was in the car with her! (my girlfriend) " I told him that I had repeatedly told him that I was -----, and i was trying to show him my I.D. He said, " Yeah, but ----- had said he was --------" I told him once again, " yes, but I am not -----!, You have beat the wrong guy!\
After leaving the Hospital, I was taken to jail where i was charged with Assault on an officer,obstructing an officer,and two counts of posession. I spent the night on a cold hard jail cell floor. I awoke in the morning to unbearable pain in my head and face. My whole body hurt,. I had gotten the pepper spray on my hands,(from my pants) And i wiped my eye which put me in pain i have never endured before.
All in all I do believe this is eneough torture to test the sanity and belief in mankind of any living breathing creature in this world.

Hi SSW,

I'm truly sorry to hear about all your troubles with the police. They doesn't seem they had probable cause to stop you or a warrant.

You've started down the right road to ending your problems with the police simply by posting your experience here. Negative publicity such as posting in police abuse forums can have a big effect in ending police abuse.

Police are currently seen in a very negative way all across our country and can't survive much negative press. Also the police routinely read these forum posts in an attempt to stall or build a defense for themselves before the storm hits. After your story becomes more publicized, the pressure of the negative press may force them (mayor and chief) to take action in regard to this cop who has destroyed your family.

Further more don't be afraid to use the cops name and the name and address of the police department in your postings. By identifying him you put him and his department in the spotlight instead of yourself. By identifying him you've put the public on notice as to who this "good-ol-boy" is...and believe me many folks in your community will start watching him and his activities. Also this will give others abused by this "good-ol-boy" the courage to come forward and speak out also. The more negative press there is concerning this "good-ol-boy" out there in public view the more likely the mayor and chief will finally take the steps necessary to stop this abuse. Also understand that the police have set up "Google Alerts" so anytime something is posted on the Internet containing the name of the department or the officer's name they are alerted and they will immediately check out your posting.

I suggest that you do a browser search and post your story in every police abuse forum and thread you can find. Start by posting your story in each of the threads contained in the forum on this website then post at the following:

copwatch international
copwatch.com

See my posting here in the forum "share your experiences." The thread is called "Coweta Sheriff Depart. & Newnan Police Misconduct" later today a man from Louisiana will be posting a reply to my post with more links to other sites where we can post misconduct complaints.

You need to go to the The United States Department of Justice and file a formal complaint against this "good-ol-boy". You can do it online and it's free. This will not only get the department's attention but it also sends a direct message to this "good-ol-boy" that it's over for him and you’re not going to put up with anymore of his abuse. By doing this it will also get the message across to the rest of the "good-ol-boys" that to continue abusing you and your family will not be tolerated and to continue to do so will only end badly for the abusers.

The United States Department of Justice will start an investigation and they will find evidence of misuse, misconduct, and police abuse on the part of this "good-ol-boy". If they feel there is enough evidence of misconduct, police abuse, or criminal activity they will bring federal charges against the department and officers involved. Now understand this! Any police department found guilty at a federal level of misconduct, abuse, brutality, ect. can lose any federal funding they are currently receiving. Most departments depend on federal funding for at least 25% of their operating budgets. Obviously they will do anything to protect their funding and will take the steps necessary to reign in their rouge "good-ol-boys".

Also you should file complaints with the following:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
Your local Police Oversight Committee
The Civil Liberties Union

Under no circumstances should you file a complaint with the police department's internal affairs division. It's my understanding that if you initiate a complaint with internal affairs all information from their investigation then becomes privileged and then is not admissible in court to be used by you for your defense or prosecution of the "good-ol-boy". They will be contacting you ...just ignore them.

Feel free to email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Or you may call me at 678-621-0308

Please keep us informed by posting updates here in your thread. Give me a call if there is anything I can help you with.

Sincerely

Patrick Keeley

Mr. Keeley,

Thank you for all of your helpful information, it seems to be putting me on the right track now. The story I posted was the one I wrote the day after the incident. I have another one that I tried to post, but I believe it was in the wrong format.

The Police department that was responsible for this is Martinsburg West Virginia State Pollice, Who by the way, their sergeant Pesko investigated the matter and concluded that His officers did nothing wrong. The three officers who did the beating were, officer TFC.J.D. Burkhart, Sr/Tpr. J.B. Flanigan, andTpr. J.J. Bowman.
The "Justification charges" which they charged me with, have now been dismissed. The Judge stated " This is clearley a case of mistaken Identity".
I have a video of the first part of the stop. That video has no sound, because it would have clearly contradicted what the officer had written in his report. Even with no sound, there is still evidence that contradicts the officers statements.
Thanks again for the helpful information. I will post any updates on the forum.

ssw

SSW you really should be suing the police to recover your time lost from work due to your injuries, legal cost, and medical bills. Keep in mind that you have suffered permanent physical damage which is not going to go away. In fact as you get older the physical problems you suffer now will only worsen. In the future, medical costs related to treating these problems will only increase. It's not fair to you or your family to be expected to pick up these costs on your own, especially since YOU DID NOTHING WRONG. What they did to you is terribly wrong and they should be held accountable. I know that the last thing you want to do is endure more legal cost and go back to court but you really need to do this.

Folks across this country are taking on the police in court and winning, not always, but some of the time. I'm not an attorney but it seems to me you clearly have grounds for legal action.

Your attorney should be filing criminal charges against the police officers and the department in your local courts, and you should also be filing federal criminal charges against them with the Federal District Court serving your district.

By filing criminal charges against them they will quickly see you mean business and after the prosecutor looks at the evidence I think they will clearly see they haven't a leg to stand on and will offer you an out of court settlement to keep from having to fight you in court and to minimize the bad press generated by it. When they are clearly wrong they will pay whatever it takes to make you go away.

In your posting I see that you have included the offending officers names and the name of the department. This serves to give others in your area a heads-up as to who the offenders are and private citizens will start watching the offenders more closely. If they brutalized you they are probably brutalizing others too.

Sincerely

Pat Keeley

Maybe this will make you feel better.

Reservoir Dogs (1992) was dDirected by Quentin Tarantino. With Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen. After a simple jewelery heist goes terribly wrong, the surviving criminals gather at an old warehouse.

The scene where Mr. White cuts the cops ear off is the feel good sceen of the movie.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XBKuyWFPEx0

Remember, most cops are wife beating cowards who will always zero in on the weakest.

Enjoy.

Mr.Keeley,
I have retained civil representation on this matter, It is just a long process that I should not have to endure, But, that is our "system",I guess.
I would like to say, I am not anti-Police,or anything like that. I know they have a job that most people would not want.
What happened to me was a very unfortunate incident. From what I understand, the guy that they were looking for, had done some pretty rotten stuff to alot of people. And these are the types of people that the police have to deal with every day. (Not to say that ANYONE deserves to be beat like that)
I actualy am quite upset to have been profiled in such a way.
I am sure they will compensate me for their mistake. I really don't see where they have much choice not too.
My main objective in this is to try anything I can to ensure this does'nt happen to anyone else. I have always said that the Police are no more than a legalized "gang". But , they are supposed to be there for the GOOD for the people, Not to rule by terror.
I do believe the Police brutality thing is getting way out of hand, or is it just that it is becoming more in the public eye? Whatever is happening, I know it is'nt right. and yes, I am going to fight this all the way! There has to be some statement made some way in some shape or form that says we the people still have some of the rights that our forefathers fought so hard to reserve in the constitution for us!
Thanks,
ssw