St. Albans police officer faces another brutality charge

http://wvgazette.com/News/201007160732

HARLESTON, W.Va. -- For the second time since he joined the department in 2008, a St. Albans police officer has been accused of using excessive force while subduing a suspect.

James Allen "J.J." Pauley Jr., 20, of St. Albans, says Brandon Tagayun struck him repeatedly with a Maglite flashlight while he was lying on his stomach during an incident on May 16.

As he crawled out, he said Tagayun told him to lie down on the ground and put his hands behind his back, which he said he did.

Without warning, Pauley said, Tagayun hit him on the temple with the butt of his flashlight. During the beating that followed, Tagayun hit him repeatedly about the head and back, breaking his nose, according to Pauley.

"He never used his fist at all. It was nothing but the light," Pauley said. "When I told him to stop, he said, 'Shut up, bitch, or you're going to get some more.'"

A different version

In a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court, Tagayun gave a different account of Pauley's arrest.

Tagayun told him to come out, and Pauley began crawling towards him, the complaint states.

"At that time I ordered the suspect to place his hands behind his back, then aggressively lunged towards me and grabbed my leg . . . I pushed the suspect downwards away from my position. After a brief struggle I was able to place hands behind his back."

After-effects

At the hospital, a doctor told him that he was lucky that the blow to his temple hadn't caused more serious damage, Pauley said.

Two months later, he still has hearing problems in his right ear and his eye hurts and is sensitive to light, he said.

Deputy J.R. Hatfield charged Pauley with destruction of property, and Tagayun charged him with fleeing, obstruction and battery on a police officer. Those charges are pending.

Prior allegations of brutality

Pauley's allegations mark the second time a suspect has claimed police brutality by Tagayun. In August 2009, David A. Botkins sued Tagayun and the St. Albans Police Department, alleging that Tagayun hit him on the head with a gun, then kicked and spit on him as he convulsed on the ground.

In a criminal complaint against Botkins, Tagayun wrote that he feared for officers' safety because Botkins had a cast on his arm, which he could use as a weapon. When Botkins made a sudden move towards Tagayun, the officer "attempted to physically place him in a position of disadvantage," and inadvertently struck him in the head with his gun, according to the complaint.

Botkins required seven surgical staples on his scalp and three staples for another cut toward the back of his head, according to his lawsuit. His lawsuit is pending. The criminal charges against him were dismissed.

Also, as a member of the Charleston Police Department, Tagayun was involved in a fatal crash in Kanawha City in October 2005. Tagayun later admitted that he was speeding and not using his emergency lights and siren when his cruiser struck a pickup driven by Patsy Sizemore.

Sizemore, who was driving, was killed in the collision. Tagayun resigned from the Charleston department in April 2006, He was indicted on a charge of negligent homicide, but that charge was dismissed when he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and was placed on probation.

St. Albans Police Chief Joe Crawford said he is aware of Tagayun's arrests of Botkins and Pauley, but that no internal investigation had been conducted in either case because no formal complaint had been filed.

Crawford said the first time he had any indication that a flashlight might have been involved in the Pauley incident was in the letter from Pauley's lawyers.

Without knowing what the allegations against an officer are, it is impossible to try to get both sides of the story, Crawford said, noting that the officer's version is already in the criminal complaint and police report.

"How can we investigate if there were no independent witnesses?" the chief asked.