03-07-2010, 12:52 PM
IA investigation clears officers in another arrest, big surprise huh? :roll:
Officers were found deficient but cleared, no recommendations. Same old crap, different day. When will it end?
Cape Coral police cleared (by themselves) in arrest
1:10 A.M. — Three Cape Coral police officers accused of using excessive force in 2007 will not be disciplined, according to an internal affairs report released Friday.
Lewis MacDonald, 41, a local charter fisherman, filed a complaint with the department in March 2009, alleging three officers involved in his arrest on Sept. 16, 2007 abused him and lied to cover it up.
But Cape Capt. Lisa Barnes noted in a 25-page report that Sgt. Georgeann Lytle - whose participation was limited to writing a report about what happened - and officer Michael Moore only violated department policy by not completing "accurate and detailed reports of the incident." Moore, along with detective Nicholas Jones and officer Joseph Cieslinski, were cleared of excessive use of force, and Moore was cleared of being involved in a pursuit that wasn't properly documented.
Police spokeswoman Connie Barron explained why the report's two-line "recommendation" at the end of the report contains no recommendations for the officers.
"Obviously, we admit that there were mistakes," Barron said. "It makes no sense to discipline (Lytle) now for something that happened two years ago and for something she hasn't violated again."
The same goes for Moore, who has had other disciplinary issues, but nothing involving this same type of actions, the report states.
MacDonald's attorney, Jon Herskowitz of Miami, doesn't want MacDonald to discuss the case. Private investigator Clark Shedden, who was hired by MacDonald to look into the case, said the investigation wasn't thorough enough. During the nine-month investigation, Barnes wrote she couldn't get in touch with two eyewitnesses.
"They're doing more to cover up for their employees," Shedden said. "What I can't believe is the two best witnesses to show these guys were lying, she couldn't get in touch with."
MacDonald was arrested that night after a tornado struck his neighborhood. After getting gasoline for a generator, he got to the intersection of Mohawk Parkway and Skyline Boulevard, where officers set up a roadblock, telling drivers they couldn't turn south on Skyline because of downed power lines. MacDonald told Cieslinski another officer said he could, but Cieslinski insisted otherwise.
He turned south anyway, avoiding police cruisers, but denies intentionally driving toward Jones. During depositions in MacDonald's criminal case, the officers said MacDonald accelerated toward Jones, trying to hit him with the truck. That wasn't noted in 2007 reports from the officers.
The officers pursued MacDonald to his house - less than half a mile from the intersection - and Moore, with gun drawn, ordered MacDonald to the ground. After a struggle to handcuff him, Cieslinski arrived and deployed his Taser twice on MacDonald. Head injuries put MacDonald in the hospital. Moore hit his head on the concrete driveway.
MacDonald was charged with aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding, resisting arrest with violence and failure to obey a lawful order. He pleaded no contest to four misdemeanor counts of failing to obey a lawful order and was sentenced to 24 months of probation.
The officers' depositions provided inconsistencies about where each officer and cruiser was positioned in the intersection, which is noted in the investigative report.
A police communication log makes no mention of an officer nearly being struck by a driver, and the first time the officers called in to dispatchers was after the Taser was deployed and MacDonald arrested, according to MacDonald's complaint.
Officers were found deficient but cleared, no recommendations. Same old crap, different day. When will it end?
Cape Coral police cleared (by themselves) in arrest
1:10 A.M. — Three Cape Coral police officers accused of using excessive force in 2007 will not be disciplined, according to an internal affairs report released Friday.
Lewis MacDonald, 41, a local charter fisherman, filed a complaint with the department in March 2009, alleging three officers involved in his arrest on Sept. 16, 2007 abused him and lied to cover it up.
But Cape Capt. Lisa Barnes noted in a 25-page report that Sgt. Georgeann Lytle - whose participation was limited to writing a report about what happened - and officer Michael Moore only violated department policy by not completing "accurate and detailed reports of the incident." Moore, along with detective Nicholas Jones and officer Joseph Cieslinski, were cleared of excessive use of force, and Moore was cleared of being involved in a pursuit that wasn't properly documented.
Police spokeswoman Connie Barron explained why the report's two-line "recommendation" at the end of the report contains no recommendations for the officers.
"Obviously, we admit that there were mistakes," Barron said. "It makes no sense to discipline (Lytle) now for something that happened two years ago and for something she hasn't violated again."
The same goes for Moore, who has had other disciplinary issues, but nothing involving this same type of actions, the report states.
MacDonald's attorney, Jon Herskowitz of Miami, doesn't want MacDonald to discuss the case. Private investigator Clark Shedden, who was hired by MacDonald to look into the case, said the investigation wasn't thorough enough. During the nine-month investigation, Barnes wrote she couldn't get in touch with two eyewitnesses.
"They're doing more to cover up for their employees," Shedden said. "What I can't believe is the two best witnesses to show these guys were lying, she couldn't get in touch with."
MacDonald was arrested that night after a tornado struck his neighborhood. After getting gasoline for a generator, he got to the intersection of Mohawk Parkway and Skyline Boulevard, where officers set up a roadblock, telling drivers they couldn't turn south on Skyline because of downed power lines. MacDonald told Cieslinski another officer said he could, but Cieslinski insisted otherwise.
He turned south anyway, avoiding police cruisers, but denies intentionally driving toward Jones. During depositions in MacDonald's criminal case, the officers said MacDonald accelerated toward Jones, trying to hit him with the truck. That wasn't noted in 2007 reports from the officers.
The officers pursued MacDonald to his house - less than half a mile from the intersection - and Moore, with gun drawn, ordered MacDonald to the ground. After a struggle to handcuff him, Cieslinski arrived and deployed his Taser twice on MacDonald. Head injuries put MacDonald in the hospital. Moore hit his head on the concrete driveway.
MacDonald was charged with aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding, resisting arrest with violence and failure to obey a lawful order. He pleaded no contest to four misdemeanor counts of failing to obey a lawful order and was sentenced to 24 months of probation.
The officers' depositions provided inconsistencies about where each officer and cruiser was positioned in the intersection, which is noted in the investigative report.
A police communication log makes no mention of an officer nearly being struck by a driver, and the first time the officers called in to dispatchers was after the Taser was deployed and MacDonald arrested, according to MacDonald's complaint.