SCHENECTADY 3 officers hurt in breaking up fight BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
Three city police officers were injured Thursday night as they broke up a fight on Schenectady Street, authorities said. One of the officers, Sgt. Christopher Scaccia, suffered a possible broken nose, according to papers fi led in court. Three people were arrested in connection with the fight and the aftermath, according to papers, with two accused of injuring the offi cers. The incident happened about 8:40 p.m. on Schenectady Street near Van Voast Street. The reason for the original interaction with police was unclear. Joseph E. Toomer, 39, of 464 Livingston Ave., Albany, was charged with two felony counts of seconddegree assault. He is accused of injuring Scaccia and Offi cer Michael Randle, who suffered a scrape to his hand. Both were injured as they tried to arrest Toomer. Toomer also faces one count each of second-degree riot, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and menacing. He is also accused of encouraging others to fi ght offi cers. Manuel Toomer, 23, of 525 Schenectady St., faces one count of second-degree assault. He is accused of injuring Offi cer Brandon Kietlinski, who suffered a scrape to his hand. Manuel Toomer is also accused of trying to help prevent Joseph Toomer’s arrest. Manuel Toomer also faces misdemeanor counts of third-degree hindering prosecution, second-degree riot, obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest and menacing. Dodie A. Toomer, 43, of 532 Schenectady St., was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration, both misdemeanors.
Possible broken nose....AT LEAST six months paid leave for recovery and PTSD
Scrapped hand....AT LEAST three months paid leave for recovery as well as compensation for the box of 'Hello Kitty: Island Adventures!' band-aids
"Approval ratings go up and down for various reasons... An example is the high post 911 support for GWB even though he could be said to be responsible for the event." --- Box A Rox '9/11 Truther'
Melania is a bimbo... she is there to look at, not to listen to. --- Box A Rox and his 'War on Women'
lets see the actual data on how many ny state arrests have a "obstructing governmental administration"and/or injured officer charges during arrest per year...
I'm a bit surprised. cops don't usually get involved in fights in 'those areas of the city'. They will usually stand by...wait till the fight is over....then wipe up the blood and pick up the pieces.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I'm a bit surprised. cops don't usually get involved in fights in 'those areas of the city'. They will usually stand by...wait till the fight is over....then wipe up the blood and pick up the pieces.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
TROY — Six Troy Police Department officers had to be treated at Samaritan Hospital Saturday morning after breaking up a massive melee at a downtown bar that ended with the arrest of six people.
Officers originally responded to a report of an assault of an employee at Kokopellis, a bar and nightclub at 124 Fourth St. at 2:43 a.m., according to police.
As officers arrived, a crowd that included numerous fighting patrons was spilling into the street.
And when they entered the bar, police said they encountered a crowd of more than 200 people, some of whom began kicking and punching the officers and spraying them with pepper spray and even a fire extinguisher.
It's believed that the initial brawl inside the nightclub began after some patrons were caught smoking marijuana, police said. In a statement to police, the owner said he decided to "call it a night" due to the pot smoking, and as people were being moved outside, the crowd became unruly and started a fight with employees that led to the attack on a bouncer.
State Police and officers from the Green Island, Watervliet, Menands, Colonie and Cohoes police departments were called on for help.
Troy police eventually were able to find the original victim, a 23-year-old bar employee who had suffered facial cuts and bruising.
Outside, one patron threw a garbage can that hit a police officer and shattered the rear window of a Troy police car. Bottles and other objects were also thrown at police, striking two of them in the head.
A total of eight Troy police officers ended up suffering injuries, although only six needed to be treated at Samaritan. All have since been released from the hospital.
Six people, five of them from Troy, were arrested on charges including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and second-degree harassment.
Quaivon Venson, 22, Troy, and Zainob Shaibu, 23, Queens, are charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Tony Carter, 39 ,Troy is charged with harassment. Michael Haight, 23, Troy, is charged with disorderly conduct. Rashad Thomas, 22, Troy, is charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Roshawon Donley, 25, Troy, is charged with harassment, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.
They were arraigned, but their status was unavailable.
Video shows officer striking man in bar Incident occurred during melee at Kokopellis in Troy By Lauren Stanforth Updated 6:32 am, Monday, January 27, 2014
Troy
A cellphone video taken during a melee between bar patrons and police early Saturday shows a Troy police officer using a baton to hit a man multiple times when he was already on the ground.
The video, which was posted to YouTube, shows the man being held against the bar by an officer in one instance and then falling to his knees while being hit in the back with a baton. Another police officer comes over to hold the man down as the first officer continues to hit the man with the baton.
The video, which contains violence and strong language, is available to view at this link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M_YcbZ3GqA Anyone attempting to view the video needs to sign in to their YouTube account; there is a warning that "this video may be inappropriate for some users."
It is the fourth case involving alleged brutality by Troy police since 2012.
The Saturday incident happened at Kokopellis, a bar and nightclub at 124 Fourth St., around 2:43 a.m. after police responded to a report of a bar employee who had been assaulted. Police said they encountered a crowd of more than 200 people who began kicking and punching the officers, as well as spraying them with pepper spray and, in one case, a fire extinguisher. Another patron threw a garbage can outside that struck an officer and broke a patrol car window, police said. Troy police said six officers were treated at Samaritan Hospital for cuts and bruises and were released.
The video shows a largely cleared-out bar area, with one police officer appearing to be holding the fire extinguisher in question. The man in the video has a swollen eye and is being held against the bar by the police officer. Someone off-camera tells the man to be calm. He says "I'm calm; he started touching me." The person who captured the video pans away to show the bar's front door, only to swing back to show the man on his knees being hit in the back by the police officer.
"We acknowledge it shows an officer using force to make an arrest," said Troy police spokesman Capt. John Cooney on Sunday. "As far as how necessary that force is, it is something that if a complaint is brought to our attention it will be reviewed."
When Cooney was asked if it would only take a complaint for city officials and police to review the video, Cooney said: "It's so early in the process. Our department has always been forthright in terms of initiating internal investigations. It's fair to say once responsible people sit down and review the video, there will be decisions on if it will be investigated."
Cooney couldn't confirm who the man is in the video who is being hit. But one of the six people who Troy police arrested Saturday, Roshawon Donley, 25, of Troy, also had a swollen eye in his police mug shot, although the shirt he was wearing was different. Donley was charged with harassment, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.
The department is already investigating a Christmas Day incident in which a defendant was bloodied in a confrontation with Officer Sean McMahon inside police headquarters.
A surveillance video captured that alleged assault, but it has not been released. The Troy Police Benevolent Association said the defendant, Lawrence D. Nesmith, was being uncooperative and McMahon acted appropriately.
Officer Kyle Jones is also involved in an excessive force from December 2012. Meanwhile, the department exonerated Jones in a June 2012 alleged assault case, but the alleged victim, Brian Houle, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the department.
Sunday, January 26, 2014 Police were prepared for problems at Kokopellis
FILE PHOTO OF COMMAND CENTER On Friday night, hours before the riot broke out at Kokopellis, police had its Mobile Command Center set up on Fourth Street and had four extra patrolmen on duty, according to two sources whose information was confirmed by Capt. John Cooney.
The precautions, in place at 10 p.m. Friday, were on the count of police expecting a "large gathering" at the bar," said Cooney, the department spokesman. The question then becomes, if police were expecting problems, how did the situation deteriorate to the point where six officers ended up in Samaritan Hospital? FACEBOOK PHOTO OF DONLEY Cooney said the command center and additional officers were outside when the call came in at approximately 2:45 a.m. Saturday about one of the bar’s employees being assaulted - but not inside the establishment. More than 200 people, and some say upwards towards 350, were attending a memorial service for Darzee Reid, a Troy man who was shot to death in Albany on April 18, 2013 by Leonard Spencer. According to police, some officers went inside where they were punched, jumped on, had bottles thrown at them, sprayed with pepper spray and at one point a patron sprayed a fire extinguisher. Outside, someone threw a garbage can through the window of a police cruiser and other police agencies were called in to assist. According to Channel 13, the bar’s owner, Dr. Barry Glick, claims the crowd was civil until police entered and tried to arrest 25-year-old Roshawon Donley for assaulting the employee. A video taken from surveillance cameras inside the bar, and televised by Channel 13, seems to back up Glick’s claim that all hell broke loose after the officers entered and the fire extinguisher was sprayed into the crowd. It’s shortly after that, according to Channel 13’s account of what transpired, the explosive video shot by someone using a cell phone picks up the action. That 44-second clip can be seen below.
In all, five other people were placed under arrest but at the time of this writing none of them were charged with assault – which is why the police were initially called - or any drug related offense. The alleged assault on the employee reportedly occurred when he tried to stop patrons from smoking pot.
Other questions that no one seems to have an answer to: -Again, how did police allow the situation get so far out of control if they were expecting problems? Was it the commanding officer at the time or the guys in the field who screwed up? I don’t say that lightly, but when six officers end up in the hospital, someone screwed something up. -Cooney is quoted as saying police used appropriate force while arresting Donley, but how do they explain the 44-second video clip? Also, how did Donely get the black eyes if appropriate force allows officers to hit a suspect in the body’s larger muscles but not the head? I’m told the injuries seen in the video came during the alleged fight with the employee but who knows? -Why isn’t the fact everyone carries a cell phone, and every cell phone can take a video taught at the police academy? -Will the administration and/or Council, stand by the cops involved or throw them to the wolves? At this point in time I would be surprised, and disappointed, if they didn’t back up the officers pending a thorough investigation. -I did reach out to Donley’s cousin in the hopes of talking to him and the cousin, who goes by the Facebook name of Quanto Quanloo, told me Donley isn’t talking until he confers with an attorney. The next logical question is how much is the civil suit going to be worth? -How bad will race relations get in Troy? There are already a number of inflammatory comments on Facebook, some of which have been taken down? I don’t think race had anything to do with it but anyone want in on a pool guessing when Rev. Willie Bacote will hold a “march for peace?” There is a rally slated for 6 p.m. Monday in front of the Missing Link Zion Church at 101st Street and Fifth Avenue.
Suit up for what? To legally beat people down at a club? Watch the video, cops have the legal right to put their hands all over a woman that wants her coat, and when you defend yourself from the assault, the cop threatens to give you a beating.
stupid??? its not stupid its insanity...no fear of consequences for actions...and it gets worse everyday...in its most simple form,who in their right mind would fight with a person that has legal government life&death power over them???
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