A dash-cam video showing a confrontation between a driver and a St Petersburg (that’s Florida…not Russia) Police officer has gone viral.
The event took place on December 26, 2013, when Curtis Shannon was pulled over by a cop for allegedly driving “in an erratic manner; in and out of lanes”.
When asked for his license and registration, the young man offers them through a small opening through the window, which did not sit well with the cop who threatened to break his window.
“My name is Cpl. Shannon, USMC,” Shannon says. “You can have my license and registration.”
“I need to see you,” the officer replies. “I need you to get out of this car, that’s what I need you to do.”
Shannon then asks why he needs to exit his vehicle to which the officer says, “Because I asked you to.”
“That’s not a good reason,” says Shannon. “You pulled me over a half a block from my house; I’ve cooperated fully so far. I’ve already heard enough about SPPD around here. I’m not going to step out of this car so you can beat the hell out of me.”
“So, I can do what to you!” the officers responds.
After backup arrived and the cops purportedly promised not to hurt him, Shannon exited the car.
Shannon shared his account of what happened after on GoFundMe, where he claimed that he was beaten:
“I let go of the frame of my car and accepted my fate. I was getting beat up tonight, there’s no denying that. The officer then slammed me onto the ground, making sure that my head made full contact with the curb on the way down,” he wrote.
“For almost two minutes, he would elbow me in the back of the head (elbows don’t leave bruises or bumps as easily), knee me in the ribs and kept yelling for me to give him my arm,” added Shannon.
The Florida man also obtained a copy of the police officer’s report in which his name was withheld. Among other things, the officer wrote:
“I reached inside the car and placed my hands on Shannon’s left arm and attempted to pull him out of the car and he pulled away aggressively with force. Shannon then exited the car and charged towards me. Shannon pushed me in my chest causing me to lose my balance as I stilhad a hold of his triceps, which help me regain my balance. I then pushed Shannon away from me and advised him “to stop resisting”. Shannon then attempted to charge towards me again and I escorting Shannon to a the ground using an armbar takedown maneuver.”
“While on the ground Shannon continued to resist as I attempted to place, my department issued hand cuffs on his arms, as I yelled for him to “stop resisting and place you hands behind your back”. Ofc [#2] abd Ofc [#3] were unable to assist me in detaining Shannon because we were on the ground between a set of closely parked cars,” wrote the officer.
In the end, Shannon was arrested and spent the night in jail and was initially charged with resisting/obstructing with violence, which is a felony, but the charges were reduced to resisting/obstructing without violence, which is a misdemeanor. He says that the lawyer cost just shy of $2,000.
Shannon says he created the GoFundMe Campaign to help him out and has raised $1,495 out of a $5,000 pledge.
“For 8 months, I have been scraping by making sure we don’t miss any bills or rent payments,” he writes.
“I was hesitant to set this page up because I’m not one to ask for help, not even from family. They’ve done all they can and now I come to you, the people. Help me get my family back on our feet. I was barely able to scrape enough to fund a small 1st Birthday party for my son, and now we’re paying for that. Whatever you can give will be greatly appreciated and will be used to catch up on our bills and any future lawyer fees I may have to pay.”
So, what do you think; was Shannon provoking the cops or did the police officers misbehave?
Photos: Curtis Shannon
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