Violent, White Prosecutor Still Seeks Justice/Revenge on Black Man Despite the Fact that IN Cops Allowed K-9 to Maul Him for Over 20 secs Puncturing Trachea, Cutting Carotid Artery and Neck Tissue
/From [HERE] Richard Bailey Jr. faces battery charges for the events that preceded him being mauled by a Lafayette police K9 on May 9, 2020.
Bailey's attorney, Swaray Conteh, told the Journal & Courier that Bailey turned himself in on Wednesday and had an initial hearing Thursday where his bail was set at $10,000 surety bond and $1,000 cash bond. They are working to post Bailey's bond, Conteh said.
Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings was appointed special prosecutor to review the criminal allegations against Bailey, 46, 2825-B Dorssett Drive, Lafayette.
On June 3, Cummings filed 11 charges against Bailey. They are: criminal confinement, battery with a deadly weapon, battery with moderate injury, strangulation, intimidation, resisting law enforcement, interfering with reporting a crime, criminal mischief, public intoxication and two counts of battery.
A special prosecutor investigated the allegations of excessive force against Bailey by Lafayette police Officer Joshua Saxton, whose dog mauled Bailey by the neck for 30 seconds.
During that mauling, Saxton's dog punctured Bailey's trachea, cut his carotid artery, damaged Bailey's tissue in his neck, injured Bailey's shoulder and broke his finger, according to medical records provided last year to the Journal & Courier.
The special prosecutor's report into Saxton's actions was filed June 1 with the court, Conteh said. That report does not recommend charges against Saxton or the other two Lafayette police officers who apprehended Bailey, Conteh said.
“I was loud and everything because I was scared a little bit,” Bailey said of his initial encounter with two police officers.
“… I was trying to plea my case to the police."
The officers' body camera video shows officers responding to a battery report in the 3600 block of Brampton Drive caught up with Bailey on Windemere Drive. The videos show Bailey refusing to get off his moped as the officers requested of him. It also shows Bailey threatening to fight.
With three officers on scene to detain Bailey, Saxton releases the lock to his police vehicle, and his police dog runs to him and begins to maul Bailey on the neck. Saxton does not remove the dog from Bailey's neck for 30 seconds, according to the body camera.
“I wasn’t fighting the dog,” Bailey insisted last year during an interview. “All I did was reach up and grabbed the dog’s mouth ‘cause he’s on my throat. That was the natural reaction. I’m not fighting the dog or trying to hurt the dog. The dog’s hurting me.”
A hearing in Tippecanoe Circuit Court is scheduled next week to discuss the special prosecutor's report on police excessive force, Conteh said.
Conteh indicated last year that the use of force against Bailey was excessive and racially motivated. The officers who responded to the call were white. Bailey is black.
Conteh and Bailey's team of attorneys said last year that they might file a civil suit against Lafayette police and Saxton. That lawsuit has not been filed as of Thursday, Conteh said, but it is still being discussed.