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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBlack Store Owner Reported Robbery, Got Punched by Cop and arrested
https://www.newser.com/story/291998/black-store-owner-called-911-responding-cop-punched-him.htmlAn armed black business owner who called to report a robbery in his store in Alabama was punched in the face by a responding police officer who mistook him for a suspect, police said, per the AP. After the March 15 altercation, Kevin Penn, owner of Star Spirits & Beverages in Decatur, suffered a broken jaw, his teeth were knocked out and he needed to get his mouth wired shut, his lawyer, Carl Cole, told AL.com. Surveillance video of the interaction started circulating on social media over the weekend. Decatur Police Chief Nate Allen held a news conference Monday to show footage of the altercation and to be transparent with the public, news outlets reported.
The body camera video shows responding officers coming into the store and the suspect, later identified to be a person involved in an alleged shoplifting at Penns store, lying on the ground.
An officer walks past the suspect and tells Penn to put down his weapon. Penn refuses saying, I have a right to have my gun." Allen said thats when Penn moved his hand over a gun lying on a counter next to him. We do know there was a gun there, we do know that the magazines were there, we do know that he was reloading the magazine, Allen said at the news conference.
Penn's lawyer said his client previously told police he was holding the suspect at gunpoint and had showed his gun to let them know he was armed. Penn had also removed the clip and ejected the bullets from the weapon, Cole added.
The video shows Penn telling officers hes going to file a complaint as they came close to him. The body camera footage doesnt clearly show what happens next, but surveillance video from the store shows an officer punching Penn and being joined by two other officers to wrestle him to the ground. He was arrested on a charge of obstructing a robbery investigation, according to court records.
The name of the officer who punched Penn has not been released. He has been placed on desk duty while the department investigates the altercation, the police chief said.
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Black Store Owner Reported Robbery, Got Punched by Cop and arrested (Original Post)
Demovictory9
Jun 2020
OP
police departments payout on civil damages left and right. He's got an attorney.
Demovictory9
Jun 2020
#3
tblue37
(65,459 posts)1. Will the NRA leap to his defense? nt
SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)2. He should sue them into oblivion
But Im sure the jury would side with the cops
There is no justice in this country
Abolish the police and start over.
Demovictory9
(32,468 posts)3. police departments payout on civil damages left and right. He's got an attorney.
JHB
(37,161 posts)4. Taxpayers paying out left and right
Those settlements don't come out of police budgets.
Demovictory9
(32,468 posts)5. yep. more than likely they are calculating an offer amount