The Peoria Police Chief responds to a lawsuit claiming his officers used excessive force in an arrest. Peoria Police Officers say Bryce Scott was resisting arrest. Scott's Attorney calls it a case of police brutality. Chief Steve Settingsgaard is now conducting an investigation.
Is it a case of police brutality or were officers justified in using their force?
Peoria Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard says he's conducting an investigation to find out the facts in a May 2008 arrest. Chief Settingsgaard says if he's going to do a full investigation he needs a statement from the alleged victim, Bryce Scott. He has yet to get one even though the incident happened eight months ago. Officers say Bryce Scott was resisting arrest. Scott's Attorney, Dan Cusack, calls it a case of police brutality. "It's not right. I think the tape will tell you it's not right.
That's the bottom line to the whole thing. Do you see the guy getting pepper sprayed. Was he resisting? That's when you saw his hands out the window," Cusack says. Cusack provided News 25 video from the dashboard of a Peoria Squad Car. The incident started as a police chase and ended up with what Cusack shows in pictures as a bloodied Bryce Scott. "I take these allegations very seriously. I have very serious questions about what I see on the video. But, I can't jump to any conclusions, and I need to conduct a thorough investigation before I can make any determination," Chief Settingsgaard says. Chief Settingsgaard does question why it took eight months for the lawsuit to be filed.
"Normally, when we have an allegation of misconduct or an allegation of excessive force, you learn very quickly after the incident was made," Settingsgaard says. "We're not going to go and participate with the school principal when my client the pupil got the hell beat out of him, ain't going to happen," Cusack says. The Chief says his officers report the struggle on the ground, which is not visible on the video tape, included the alleged victim battering an officer. "That officer indicated in his report that the suspect grabbed him by the inner thigh and wouldn't release him and was squeezing I guess very hard," Settingsgaard says.
Cusack is ready for the courts to decide whether this was excessive force as his client is seeking more than 50-thousand dollars in damages. The six officers involved in the incident remain on the job during the police chief's investigation.
Other Information: http://centralillinoisproud.com/content/fulltext/?cid=42631
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