Was an innocent man beaten by police? Or were cops fighting for their lives? One police dash cam video shows both sides of the incident. INSIDE EDITION explains.
Does a police dash cam video show cops pummeling an innocent man? Or are the cops fighting for their lives? It all depends on who you talk to.
It's just before midnight and a man who was getting punched by police is 30-year old disc jockey Marcus Jeter from Bloomfield, New Jersey.
Cops chased Jeter from his house after responding to a call about a fight he had with his girlfriend. Cops say he fled the scene. He says he was allowed to go. Minutes later, they pulled him over by the side of the highway.
One officer pointed his gun at Jeter ordering him out of the car. But Jeter refused. Then, another cop crashed into Jeter's car after racing to the scene.
The cops screamed, “Get out the car! Get out the car!
But Jeter didn’t budge. A second dashboard camera clearly showed that his hands are up but he still would not get out.
INSIDE EDITION’s Paul Boyd told Jeter, “Multiple police officers are telling you to get out of the car. You're supposed to get out of the car.”
Jeter explained, “I said 'You guys have your guns drawn. I am calling my lawyer. I am not getting out of the car.’”
That's when one of the cops smashes in the window with his police baton. At that point, the cops have hold of Jeter and they were struggling to get him out of the car.
Officer Orlando Trinidad of Bloomfield Police Dept said, “It's an emergency situation. It's out of control. The suspect wasn't complying. He wasn't listening.”
Jeter was finally pulled from his car and thrown to the ground.
A police officer asked, “Why you trying to get my [expletive] gun? Get off my gun!”
Jeter said, “Out of nowhere, he starts yelling, 'Stop grabbing for my gun, stop grabbing for my gun. Stop resisting arrest.’ And the whole time my hands were up.”
Trinidad said, “I didn't know if he had my partner's gun. I was scared. I'm in complete fear.”
Jeter is repeatedly punched on the ground. Then, as he's led to the police car, he was hit again.
INSIDE EDITION’s Les Trent watched the video with officer Trinidad. Trent said, “You give him this smack here. It almost looks gratuitous. It looks like you were pissed off about what happened and you were giving him one last shot.”
Trinidad said, “I wasn't pissed off. I wasn't pissed off, sir. I learned this in the Police Academy that he is still tense. You can see he's still kicking me when I have him leaned against the car. I took it one step higher to let him know, 'Hey calm down. The fight's over.'”
After screening the video, prosecutors dropped all charges against Marcus Jeter. Instead, they've charged two of the cops. Both of the cops charged have pleaded not guilty.
