(10-16-2019, 09:42 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: That's the biggest issue, here, and one some of the cops and former cops I follow on social media have been saying. Every one of them had said that based on their training and procedures, for a call like this one officer goes to the back door while another officer knocks loudly at the front and announces "police." This covers both entrances and announcing yourself sets things in motion. Since there was no announcement of police, even when he was telling her to put her hands up, she was completely within her rights to have that firearm ready to go to protect her and her nephew (I believe it was). Every cop I follow was like "if I was that homeowner in that situation, you better believe I'd have my handgun ready to go."

Honestly, from the get go on this, my take has been that this wasn't malicious. This cop made a mistake, a tragic one. I don't know how long he had been an officer, but that seemed like a more "rookie" mistake. Failure to announce and a lack of trigger discipline. That being said, when an officer sees a gun there is going to be that immediate response to end a threat to the public and themselves. It's completely understandable to me what happened, but that doesn't excuse it.

(10-16-2019, 09:46 AM)GMDino Wrote: From the initial reports I think they said he was on the force since 2018.

We have to train these guys better.  Period.

Quote:This "mistake" took an innocent life, in her own home.

No excuses.  Find out why this man didn't know or follow procedure for a non-emergency welfare check and fix it.

(10-16-2019, 09:48 AM)GMDino Wrote: Meanwhile....

https://www.theroot.com/like-a-prisoner-in-my-own-home-black-nj-family-says-th-1838980994

(10-16-2019, 10:10 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Pretty much all of this.  Nice to see a reasoned response in this thread.  I don't know about the lack of trigger discipline though.  It's very possible the officer saw the gun and intended to shoot.

(10-16-2019, 10:12 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: That's just based off of the body cam footage where it almost seems like the shot surprised him. He had barely finished his statement when the firearm discharges. This is just my opinion, but I recognize that it could be wrong and I am reading too much into it.

(10-16-2019, 10:10 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Pretty much all of this.  Nice to see a reasoned response in this thread.  I don't know about the lack of trigger discipline though.  It's very possible the officer saw the gun and intended to shoot.

(10-16-2019, 10:10 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: You have zero idea what kind of training this guy got.  Also, everyone could be exposed to the best possible training and not absorb it the same way.  Your line of thinking completely ignores that every human has different abilities.

(10-16-2019, 10:10 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: If it's a fixable issue, absolutely.

(10-16-2019, 10:49 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Yeah, it's a possibility to be sure.  This is another reason I'll be a hammer fired guy my entire life.  If you're in a position where panic/excitement/whatever makes you forget your trigger discipline at least a half cocked hammer fired pistol gives you a more forgiving trigger.  It's the exact reason my father had my mom send him a Smith and Wesson Model 39 to carry (against regulations btw) after he almost shot a kid while tunnel crawling.  All he saw were eyes in the darkness and the 1911 being single action almost cost that kid his life and my dad a lifetime of horrible memories.  

(10-16-2019, 10:10 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Like I said at the outset, a ton of unanswered (methinks deliberately) questions here that would have to be even asked before such an article should even be "published".  That is, if we adhered to any standards of journalism at all.

(10-15-2019, 08:54 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Who exactly is spinning?

(10-16-2019, 08:50 PM)ballsofsteel Wrote: "Seems like a terrible move by the Leo. But when a story of such tragedy leads with: "White cop kills black woman" then there is little wonder why we are so divided as a society. By reading the story there's a possibility this dude saw nothing more than a shadow; much less took the time to racial profile". 

Quote:Phoenix police officer involved in viral video stop of couple fired

PHOENIX – Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams has fired the officer involved in a viral cellphone video depicting him threatening to shoot at a family.


The video, recorded by a bystander on May 27, shows Phoenix Officer Christopher Meyer pointing a gun at a car occupied by Dravon Ames, his pregnant fiancee, Iesha Harper, and their children.


In the video, Meyer can be heard yelling, "You're going to get f--king shot," when Ames didn't immediately open his vehicle's door. The officer also told Ames, "I'm going to put a cap in your ass."

A second officer, who police did not identify, received a written reprimand. Williams described the officer's actions as trying to de-escalate the situation. 


The announcement of Meyer's firing during a Tuesday news conference came at the same time Phoenix police announced the firing of Clinton David Swick after an unrelated investigation into his Facebook posts.


Gun pointed at family: Phoenix mayor apologizes after video shows police pointing gun on family accused of shoplifting

The Plain View Project, launched by Philadelphia lawyer Emily Baker-White, created a database of public Facebook posts and comments made by current and former police officers from several jurisdictions across the United States. The posts endorsed violence in some cases against Mexicans, Muslims, women and criminal defendants.


Earlier Tuesday, Phoenix police also announced it had fired Sgt. Daniel B. Jones in a separate unrelated internal affairs investigation.
[img=15x15]http:://thebengalsboard.com/data:image/svg+xml;base64,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[/img]
"No chief ever wants to discuss discipline, like this in a public format," Williams said. "I expect my officers to be respectful, to be professional, to be courteous, and that is not what happened in (these) cases."

The officers have the right to appeal the decision.

'Suspension is just not sufficient'
Williams said the Police Department's Disciplinary Review Board recommended Meyers receive a 240-hour unpaid suspension for his actions in the police stop.


But, she said, this wasn't enough.


Ultimately, the police chief decides what kind of punishment an officer receives if investigators find wrongdoing.


"I have notified him of my intention to terminate his employment," Williams said. "A 240-hour suspension is just not sufficient to reverse the adverse effects of his actions on our department, and our community." 


Family speaks out: 'I was just trying to survive': Phoenix family in viral arrest video wants officers fired


Williams said she didn't come to the decision lightly. Meyer has been with the department since 1995.


"I will say this, it was difficult for both of us. For me to make the decision, and for him to take the call," she said.


For the the second officer involved in the stop, Williams said the disciplinary board recommended he receive a written reprimand. Williams agreed.

'This is partial justice for my clients'

Tom Horne, who is representing Ames and Harper, had filed a $10 million claim against Phoenix.


“This is partial justice for my clients. To get full justice, the job is now mine to get it for them with compensation in the lawsuit," Horne said during a news conference.


Horne, a former Arizona attorney general, said he has always been a supporter of police. But, he said, it's important that those who are tarnishing the profession be held accountable.


“I think the vast majority of police are fine public servants. In any group, whether it’s lawyers, journalists or anybody else, you get some bad apples," Horne said. "And it’s my job to be sure that justice is done when we do get these bad apples.”


Ames said he also welcomed the decision, saying he hopes this sends a message to officers not to treat others the way Meyer treated him and his family. He said the incident has left his family traumatized.

“It’s been real bad. It’s hard to get over that type of stuff," he said. "It was a very tragic and traumatizing moment. So to know that he’s been fired is some type of little relief, but there’s still a lot to work on.”


Union denounced Williams' decision while advocacy group applauds it
The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, the Phoenix police union that represents the department's rank and file, posted on Facebook that it doesn't agree with Williams' decisions to fire Meyer and Swick.

"PLEA has a complete understanding of the position Chief Jeri Williams is in as the leader of the Phoenix Police Department and as an appointed employee of the City of Phoenix," the statement said. "PLEA is dedicated to its members, and we ensure that we carry our members’ interests through until the end of all the processes that encompass employment with the City of Phoenix."


Community support: Hundreds gather at Phoenix council meeting after viral arrest video


Poder in Action, a Maryvale-based advocacy group that has been critical of Phoenix police's use of force, applauded Williams' decision to fire Meyer.


"Community made this happen! Without the pressure and bystander video, Christopher Meyer would still be on our streets," the group stated on Facebook. "If he has (the) audacity to appeal to the civil service board for his job, we gotta make sure he doesn’t get rehired."


The viral stop

The couple said it all stemmed from an anonymous call to police that their daughter stole a doll from a Family Dollar store — something the family says was an accident. 


Ames said they were dropping off their daughter at the babysitter's apartment when an officer stopped them. He alleged the officers didn't use lights or sirens before they walked over to the parked car carrying Ames, Harper and their two daughters, ages 4 and 1.


"Next thing you know, a police officer ... comes up, open the door, banging on the window with a gun, saying he's gonna shoot us in the face, telling us to get out of the car," Ames said during a news conference.



In one of the videos, which was recorded by a resident of the apartment complex, officers can be heard yelling and cursing at the couple.


Meyer then goes to the back driver's side door, but could not open it because it was malfunctioning, the notice of claim detailed. He bangs on the window and tells Harper, who was pregnant and holding her 1-year-old, to open the door and to put her hands up. She tells him it wouldn't open and that her hands were up.


A second officer then comes up to the front seat of the car with his gun drawn and points his weapon at Ames, according to the notice of claim. 
The officer pulls Ames out of the car. 


Another video starts with Ames lying flat on the pavement as a Phoenix police officer handcuffs him. Ames is then pulled off the ground and pressed up against a police car before the officer kicks out one of his legs. Ames is handcuffed at this time.



"He told the father to spread his legs, which the father did," the notice of claim the family filed with the city detailed. "The officer kicked him in the right leg so hard that the father collapsed, and then the officer yanked him back up. He kept his knee between the father’s legs. He punched the father very hard in the back for no reason."


Harper and her two daughters then step out of the car. One of the officers attempts to grab one of the daughters from Harper while he's trying to take the mother into custody. She refuses to follow the officer's orders to place the baby on the hot pavement.


The family said the baby was injured when the officer pulled her by the arm. Harper ultimately handed the baby off to a resident of the apartment complex. 


Ames was kept in the back of a police car for 30 minutes and Harper for 15. Ames told the officers he owned the car when questioned if he stole it. They were released after another lieutenant came and defused the situation, according to the claim. Neither Ames nor Harper was charged in connection with the incident. 


The officers were not wearing body cameras. 

"Our officers are dispatched 1,800 times each day when our community needs us and 99% of the time we get it right," Williams said at the news conference. "But when we don't, it does come at a cost. Nearly 4,000 other members of the Phoenix Police Department must bear the burden of that failed contact with our community members."

(10-31-2019, 11:10 AM)GMDino Wrote: Just listen to the officer and do what he says.  Wait....don't do that!

This officer told a 61-year-old man to slap him in the face. When the man listened, the officer knocked him to the ground and arrested him.#PoliceBrutality #PoliceState #CHANGE #BringBackTheLove #STAYINTHEFIGHT

pic.twitter.com/os3dQ0Eo5d pic.twitter.com/FswA7YSPuX

— Police Brutality? (@AfricaMustWake) October 31, 2019

 

(10-31-2019, 02:06 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/deputy-indicted-accused-of-slapping-61-year-old-man-at-ihop/285-9ba9b04d-a6cc-416e-b899-e3d791aacb20

Quote:Video showing teen with no arms or legs being tackled and pinned by deputy prompts Arizona investigation



The shirtless 15-year-old screams as he lies facedown on the kitchen floor of his group home in Tucson, Arizona. He has no arms or legs, so he can't flee or fight back. A sheriff's deputy at least twice his size is crouching over him and pinning him to the ground, using his body weight to restrain the quadruple amputee.


The eight-minute cellphone video has now prompted an internal affairs investigation at the Pima County Sheriff's Department, according to KOLD, which first published the footage on Thursday.


But Pima County Public Defender Joel Feinman told The Washington Post that the disturbing incident likely wouldn't have come to light if it weren't for another teenager at the group home, who filmed the confrontation and then had his head slammed into the wall by deputies.

"These are kids who have already been traumatized in some way," said Feinman, whose office is representing both boys. If a parent reacted to their teenager acting up in the same way the deputy did, he added, "they might be arrested for child abuse."
TOP STORIES
While most information about the teens is being withheld to protect their privacy, Feinman said that Immanuel, the 15-year-old quadruple amputee, is in state custody because he was abandoned by his parents. On the morning of Sept. 26, an adult who works at the group home called police to report that Immanuel had knocked over a trash can and was yelling and screaming. Feinman isn't sure what riled the teen and, in his opinion, it doesn't matter.



"Fifteen-year-olds who have not been through what Immanuel went through act out all the time," he said.

The deputy from the Pima County Sheriff's Department who responded to the call determined that Immanuel was disturbing the peace, and decided to restrain him, Feinman said. That's when C.J., a 16-year-old who also lives at the group home, began surreptitiously filming from an adjoining room.

At the video's start, a white deputy in wraparound sunglasses can be seen kneeling on the ground and holding the black teenager in a headlock. Immanuel grows increasingly upset, his voice rising to a frantic shriek as he tells the officer not to hold him down.


When the deputy loosens his grip, Immanuel tries to shake him off and break free, but he doesn't get far. The officer tackles him, wrapping his arms around the teenager and practically lying on top of him as he wrestles him to the floor. An uncomfortable minute passes as the quadruple amputee swears and screams at the deputy, who uses one forearm to hold him pressed to the ground.

Eventually, Immanuel stops protesting and the officer lets him get up, asking him what his problem is, and why he kept moving when he was told not to move. As the 15-year-old insists he doesn't have a problem, the cop gets louder, bending over so that his face is inches away from the teenager's.


"I will raise my voice to you whenever the [expletive] I want, you understand?" the officer yells.


C.J., who has been quietly filming the scene as he eats his breakfast in the next room, interrupts. "Hey, you asked him a question and he answered," he tells the deputy.


"Shut the hell up!" the cop snaps back. He tells the 16-year-old to go to his room; C.J. responds that he's eating his cereal and isn't allowed to be in his room. The deputy storms over, screaming at C.J. and telling him to stay out of something that doesn't involve him. "You shut the hell up!" he yells again. C.J. tells him to get out of his face.


"You're going to get arrested, too," the cop says.


A third teenager takes the phone and begins filming as C.J. is turned around and placed in handcuffs. Without warning, the deputy slams the head of the unsuspecting 16-year-old into the wall. There's a loud crash, and then the black teen is led to a squad car by the two officers, who appear to be white.

Both C.J. and Immanuel were jailed and charged with disorderly conduct, Feinman said. The deputy hadn't been wearing a body camera, but when C.J. met with his attorney from the public defender's office, he suggested watching the video he had captured before his arrest.


"We did, and it was horrific," Feinman said. He cried the first time he watched the footage, he said, as did many of his colleagues. "We're public defenders, so we have an iron stomach for a lot of things, but this was especially terrible."


Given that Immanuel has no legs and is missing most of his arms - and wasn't even wearing a shirt, making it unlikely that he could have somehow been hiding a concealed weapon - Feinman questions how he could have posed a threat to "this very large policeman with a badge and a gun." Regardless of what the teenager said to the officer, he argues, the better response would have been to sit down and try to de-escalate the situation.


The Pima County Sheriff's Department could not be reached for comment late Thursday night, but told KOLD that they hadn't previously been aware of the video and would launch an investigation. After the outlet's story aired on Thursday, the Pima County Attorney's Office dropped the charges against both teens, Feinman said.

"These are kids who live in a group home because they can't live with their parents," he added. "This is exactly the type of person that law enforcement needs to protect and defend. Instead we see them being treated like they're animals."

Quote:Judge exonerates three men in 1983 ‘Georgetown jacket’ school killing
[url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/cgnews-tim-prudente-20150512-staff.html][/url]

Three men were convicted of the November 18, 1983, murder of fellow teenager DeWitt Duckett, but have been exonerated and released.

Sarah Chestnut bought her son a gift in November 1983 of a popular Georgetown University Starter jacket, one that would become evidence to convict and imprison the teen and two other boys for murder.

Thirty-six years later, on Monday, the 75-year-old mother walked with some help across the street to see her son set free and his name cleared.

“Hey, mama,” said Alfred Chestnut, wrapping her in a hug outside Baltimore Circuit Court.

“My mama, right here," he told the crowd, “this is what she’s been holding onto forever, to see her son come home.”

Chestnut and co-defendants Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart were formally exonerated Monday for the notorious 1983 murder of a junior high school student over a Georgetown basketball jacket. Police and prosecutors had claimed the Georgetown jacket found in Chestnut’s closet belonged to the victim. Now, they acknowledge the jacket had, in fact, come from his mother.

On this month 36 years ago, DeWitt Duckett, a ninth-grader at Harlem Park Junior High School, was shot in his neck inside the West Baltimore school. Police said the 14-year-old boy was jumped by three youths for his blue Georgetown jacket. He struggled down the hallway and collapsed in the cafeteria. School officials called his death the first homicide in a Baltimore public school, and his killing touched off a firestorm of debate over school safety.

Baltimore City States Attorney Marilyn Mosby speaks to the media after the three men who were convicted of the November 18, 1983, murder of fellow teenager DeWitt Duckett, but were exonerated and are released. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun)

The boy’s death also became another cautionary tale in a wave of so-called “clothing murders," cases where city youth were gunned down over sneakers or sports apparel. Duckett’s murder drew widespread attention and Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon mentioned the case in his book “Homicide.”

Police charged 16-year-olds Chestnut, Watkins and Stewart Jr. with his murder. The three were convicted on the testimony of four Harlem Park students who identified them. A judge sentenced the three teens to life in prison.



Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said Monday the detective and prosecutor in 1983 coached and coerced the testimony of the four students. Her prosecutors appeared Monday afternoon in Baltimore Circuit Court to ask a judge to throw out the three convictions.



“Present day, all four of those witnesses have recanted,” Assistant State’s Attorney Lauren Lipscomb told the judge. “There is evidence of coerced pretrial preparation ... One former student told the state that they were told quote ‘Get with the program.’”



Lipscomb said police withheld exculpatory evidence, particularly interviews from other students who identified the killer as another man, who died in 2002, prosecutors said.

She said prosecutors told the Duckett family of their decision. They chose not to attend the hearing.

The three men became the latest prisoners exonerated and set free by a partnership between Mosby’s conviction integrity unit and two nonprofit innocence projects.

In May, they exonerated the East Baltimore brothers Kenneth “JR” McPherson and Eric Simmons who had been serving life terms for a 1994 murder. Investigators found new evidence that they said confirmed the brothers’ alibis.

Last December, Clarence Shipley Jr., 47, stepped out onto the sidewalk in downtown Baltimore as a free man. He had spent 27 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. He too had been convicted on faulty witness testimony.

In July 2018, the nonprofit investigators freed Jerome Johnson, who was wrongly convicted of murder in Park Heights and spent 30 years behind bars.

Previously, Lamar Johnson was exonerated of murder in September 2017 after serving 13 years in prison. He had been misidentified as having the nickname of the shooter.

Malcolm Bryant was exonerated of murder in May 2016 by DNA evidence and set free after 17 years in prison. Bryant died of a stroke less than a year into his freedom.

Outside the courthouse Monday, Mosby announced a program to help these men and others adjust to life outside of prison. She named her program “Resurrection After Exoneration” and said the services will range from medical care to education and mental health counseling. She also announced plans to lobby the General Assembly next session to pass legislation mandating restitution payments to those convicted wrongfully.

“We must make sure the level of coercion and coaching seen in this case never happens again,” she said.

Watkins told the crowd the three men “went through hell" in prison.

Stewart called news of their upcoming release overwhelming.

“I sat on my bunk when I got the information and I cried,” he said.

The judge wiped out their convictions and prosecutors dropped all charges. Before setting them free, Circuit Court Judge Charles Peters took a moment to address the three men.

“On behalf of the criminal justice system," he said, “and I’m sure this means very little to you gentlemen, I’m going to apologize.”

Quote:At least four New York City correction officers failed to act for seven minutes as an 18-year-old detainee tried to hang himself at the Rikers Island jail complex, with some of them watching the suicide attempt before intervening, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.


The officers have been suspended while the city’s Department of Investigation conducts an inquiry, officials said. The inmate was hospitalized and put into a medically induced coma on Tuesday, the people said.


The suicide attempt was captured on a video feed that the officers are expected to monitor periodically, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The actions of the officers, one of whom was a supervisor, were recorded by a separate camera, the people said.


“There is video of him and video of them,” one of the people said, referring to both the inmate and the officers.


The inmate, Nicholas Feliciano, was in an empty holding pen in plain view of a central guard desk in the jail’s intake area, where officers can also monitor activity in cells via video feeds, the person said.

On the video, which was described to The Times, one officer can be seen going to the pen where Mr. Feliciano was hanging, opening the door, closing the door without entering and then walking away, the person said.



Cynthia Brann, the city correction commissioner, said in a statement that the agency had suspended three officers and a captain and confirmed that the city’s Department of Investigation was conducting an independent inquiry.

“The claims being made here are extremely troubling,” Ms. Brann said in the statement. “The safety and well-being of those in our custody is our No. 1 priority and an investigation into this incident is underway.” If warranted, she said, the officers could face “disciplinary action up to and including termination.”


Diane Struzzi, a spokeswoman for the Department of Investigation, declined to comment beyond acknowledging that agency was conducting an inquiry, noting that the case was an active matter.

Elias Husamudeen, the president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, said in a statement that the officers would “be given the best legal representation possible to ensure their rights are fully protected under the law.”


“They are innocent until proven guilty, just like anyone else in our justice system,” he added.


The episode is the latest in the troubled history of the aging jail complex, which has long been plagued by violence, abuse, neglect and mismanagement at levels that have made it among the most notorious correctional facilities in the United States.


In October, the City Council approved a plan to close Rikers Island within seven years and to replace it with what officials envision as safer, smaller and more humane jails that will become a model for the rest of the country.


Mr. Feliciano was in the Elmhurst Hospital Prison Ward on Tuesday, according to city jail records. He was on a respirator with no brain activity, the people with knowledge of the matter said. He was arrested on Nov. 19 on a parole violation and was being held at the complex’s George R. Vierno Center when he tried to hang himself.


One of the people with knowledge of the episode said that Mr. Feliciano had been in a fight the day he attempted suicide. 
After the fight, he was moved from the general housing area to the intake cell block, where he appeared to be in distress before he tried to hang himself.


The episode occurred one night last week, said one of the people with knowledge of the matter. Mr. Feliciano tied one end of a garment around his neck and the other around a pipe on the ceiling while standing on a waist-high partition separating a toilet from the rest of the pen, several of the people with knowledge of the matter said. He then stepped off the partition, the people said.


At some point, one of the people said, Mr. Feliciano apparently had second thoughts about what he was doing as he began to choke and tried to put his feet back on the partition in hopes of saving himself.


Seven minutes passed before the officers intervened to free Mr. Feliciano from the makeshift noose, said the person, who noted that Rikers Island inmates sometimes threaten suicide as a manipulative gesture. It was unclear, the person said, what Mr. Feliciano’s intentions might have been.



In 2012, the building where Mr. Feliciano tried to hang himself was the scene of a brutal beating of an inmate by five correction officers who were later convicted by a Bronx jury on charges that included attempted gang assault and official misconduct.


A spokeswoman for Darcel D. Clark, the Bronx district attorney, whose jurisdiction includes the Rikers Island complex, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Quote:Cop forced homeless man to lick public urinal or face arrest, then tried to cover it up


HONOLULU – A Honolulu police officer plead guilty Monday to depriving a homeless man of his civil rights by forcing him to lick a public urinal.

John Rabago said in court that he told the man, identified in court by his initials S.I., that he wouldn't arrest him if he licked the urinal. The man knelt down and put his head in the urinal, Rabago said.

Rabago and another officer had responded to a nuisance complaint when they found the man in a stall in the restroom. The man was uncooperative and initially gave a fake name, Rabago said.

The man told Rabago he would do anything not to get arrested. Rabago said he told him, "If you lick the urinal you won’t get arrested.”

Rabago said he threatened the man in an aggressive tone.

Rabago, who remains on restricted duty, and Reginald Ramones, who left the department in August, were arrested and charged earlier this year with conspiring to deprive the man of his civil rights. Ramones pleaded guilty in September to a lesser charge that he knew Rabago committed a civil rights violation but didn't inform authorities about it.

U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi said Rabago's threat wasn't a mistake or miscommunication. “You knowingly and willfully forced S.I. to lick the urinal,” she said.

The homeless man feared he would be arrested and reluctantly obeyed Rabago’s orders, according to court documents. Rabago had previously threatened another man he was questioning by saying he wouldn't be arrested if he stuck his head in a toilet, court documents said.

Ramones previously said in court that Rabago persuaded him not to tell authorities what happened in the public bathroom and to delete their text messages about it.