You may have read in the Citizen earlier this week that another Key West Police officer has been charged by the State Attorney's Office— this time for three counts of battery on two men who had been arrested. The officer allegedly punched the two men in the face after they had been peppersprayed and handcuffed.
We broke the story about the alleged battery last year in an August 31 article headlined " Two Cops Allegedly Handcuffed Suspects— Then Peppersprayed and Punched Them."
Here's an insider update:
Back in July 2000, after an alleged burglary spree that spanned six states, Jessie Gene Gregory, 19, and Daniel Holte Stambaugh, 22, found their way to Key West. In the early morning hours of July 6, Gregory allegedly pointed a 32-caliber Smith & Wesson at a man in a motel parking lot and demanded his money. The man ran away and called the police.
Earlier, the pair had allegedly been involved in a car burglary in Marathon. They were not, it seems, model citizens.
But it was not their robbery exploits that attracted the attention of the Key West cops on that morning; it was their erratic driving. After a car chase across Old Town, they found Oliva Street blocked by a garbage truck. They jumped out of the car and tried to climb the cemetery fence.
Officer Michael Beer-bower caught Gregory before he could get over the fence. There was a struggle, during which the bare-footed Gregory reportedly kicked Beerbower in the head. Beerbower subdued Gregory by pepperspraying him in the face, taking him to the ground, handcuffing him— then, according to court records, allegedly punched Gregory in the head and face several times after he was handcuffed and on the ground.
Officer Robert Currul told an Internal Affairs investigator that he saw Beerbower hit Gregory "three, four or five times" and that, finally, he had to literally pull Beerbower off Gregory, telling him, "That's enough!"
Meanwhile, Stambaugh had made it over the cemetery fence, only to confront Officers Ron Ramsey and Steve Austin. Reportedly, Stambaugh charged Ramsey, who peppersprayed him and punched him in the face so hard that he broke his hand.
Stambaugh was handcuffed— and, then, Ramsey reportedly peppersprayed him again!
Austin told investigators that he was holding the handcuffed Stambaugh face down on the ground "when Ramsey came up behind my left shoulder, kneeled next to me, looked in both directions, then gave the defendant another short blast of pepperspray. It took effect immediately," Austin said. "The defendant screamed in pain."
Stambaugh was then placed in the back seat of a patrol car. At that point, Beerbower allegedly also paid Stambaugh a little visit.
While Austin and other police officers watched, Beerbower allegedly opened the back door of the patrol car and punched Stambaugh in the face with his fist. Stambaugh was still handcuffed and recovering from being peppersprayed.
A few minutes later, Beerbower reportedly returned to the car and punched Stambaugh in the face again.
Austin told investigators that other officers watching Beerbower batter Stambaugh were shouting to him the word "Clear!" when, apparently, there did not seem to be any witnesses nearby.
The following day, the incident was the talk of the Police Department. And it is possible that both Chief Dillon and Internal Affairs Inspector Bob Christenson knew about the allegations of excessive force. But if they did, they took no action.
Even when Austin formally reported the story to Christensen two months later, in September 2000, Christensen took little or no action. He said that none of the reports by other officers at the scene contained any references to excessive force— and, besides, neither Gregory nor Stambaugh had made formal complaints to Internal Affairs.
So the alleged beatings were relegated to the Police Department's Closet of Secrets— although Beerbower was given some special remedial training.
Austin, although he had been on the force for only seven months, resigned— reportedly disgusted at what he had seen and top management's reaction (or lack of reaction) to it.
He now works for the Sheriff's Office.
But in mid-2001, the attorneys for Gregory and Stambaugh, preparing for trial, began to take depositions. They called Officer Austin. And, again, he spilled the beans bigtime.
Sitting in on that deposition was Assistant State Attorney Manny Madruga. He was there because he was prosecuting Gregory and Stambaugh. But when he heard Austin's allegations of excessive force, he reported them back to new State Attorney Mark Kohl.
Under former State Attorney Kirk Zuelch, it is likely that such allegations would have been routinely ignored. But Kohl immediately launched an investigation.
On July 6, 2001, Officer Austin was interviewed again— this time by an investigator from the State Attorney's Office. Also present was an FBI agent. Christensen was also invited.
When asked why he initially reported the alleged abuse to Christensen, Austin said, "Because the two officers, the officers who made the arrest (presumably Beerbower and Ramsey) broke the law— and just because you put a badge on your chest does't mean that you're above the law. What they did was wrong."
At this point, Christensen apparently throught that it might be a good idea to show some interest. He reopened his investigation.
In his investigation report, he said he talked to a number of officers who were at the scene— most of whom told Christensen that they couldn't remember very much. Maybe a bad case of "Blue Amnesia" was going around that night.
Of note, both Beerbower and Ramsey refused to even talk to Christensen.
Assistant State Attorney Steven Ellison told Key West The Newspaper this week that, while he and investigators in the State Attorney's Office have seen Christensen's report, they conducted their own independent investigation.
And late last Friday afternoon, the State Attorney's Office charged Officer Beerbower with three counts of battery.
"Officer Beerbower is alleged to have punched the first of two defendants in the face with his fist after the defendant was handcuffed and no longer a threat to him," the press release from the State Attorney said. "Afterwards, Officer Beerbower is alleged to have gone to a police car where the second defendant had been taken by other officers, and on two separate occasions, opened the door and punched the handcuffed defendant in the face with his fist."
Somebody called in to the Citizen Voice this week, taking up for Officer Beerbower. "The man that he is accused of assaulting has a long criminal record and, in my book, is scum," the anonymous caller said.
Frankly, we share that opinion. The guys that Beerbower allegedly beat up are probably scum. And they should have been arrested and they should have gone to jail. But most citizens in this town do not want a Police Department in which officers are allowed to repeatedly punch handcuffed suspects in the face while other officers look on and cheer.
A personal note: If you keep up with what's going on here, you know that Buz Dillon had me arrested last June for continuing to write about incompetence and corruption in his department. The charges were bogus, of course, and State Attorney Kohl quickly threw them out into the street— but I was handcuffed, searched, fingerprinted and jailed for three hours.
Knowing what I know about our Police Department, don't you think I was just a little concerned about "falling down the stairs" while I was there— or having an officer like Michael Beerbower come to my cell to "interview" me?
Beerbower is scheduled to be arraigned before Judge Susan Vernon on March 26. Battery is a first degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $1000 fine and/or up to one year in jail— for each count.
At press time, Beerbower was reportedly still on the job. The rationale for that, according to Sgt. Alan Newby, is that Beerbower has been neither arrested nor indicted. He has simply been charged. Newby is the commander of the department's Bureau of Professional Standards.
Gee. Why, do you think, a newspaper publisher, accused of telling the truth, has to have the "jail experience"— and a police officer, accused of repeatedly beating handcuffed suspects, simply gets a letter requesting his presence at a hearing?
In any event, we have yet to hear Chief Dillon proclaim, "I wish I had a dozen officers like Beerbower!" That's what he said about Lt. Al Flowers after Flowers— just two weeks ago— was forced to resign from the force after he got caught falsifying an arrest affidavit.
Of course, it is possible that Dillon doesn't see anything wrong with falsifying an arrest affidavit. The American Civil Liberties Union has accused him of doing just that.
It is also possible that Dillon doesn't see anything wrong with a police officer repeatedly punching and/or pepperspraying a suspect who has been handcuffed and subdued. Otherwise, why wouldn't he have pushed the Beerbower investigation on his own, rather than waiting for the State Attorney to do it for him?
Any questions about why this town needs a Civilian Review Board to oversee the police?