Feds Indict 2 White Patterson Cops for Unprovoked Attack on Arab Teen, Repeatedly Punched in the Face while His Hands Were in His Pockets. Cops Claimed They were Assaulted but Video Shows Otherwise
/From [HERE] Two white Paterson Police Officers are facing civil rights and obstruction of justice charges for allegedly assaulting a victim in Paterson and then lying about it, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced, 2 of 11 city cops convicted or charged with crimes since 2018.
Paterson Police Officers Kevin Patino, 29, of Paterson New Jersey, and Kendry Tineo-Restituyo, 28, also of Paterson, New Jersey are both charged by complaint with depriving a victim of his Constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by law enforcement officers and with filing a false police report.
According to the US Attorney’s Office:
At approximately 12:30 a.m. on December 14, 2020, in Paterson, Patino and Tineo-Restituyo approached the victim, who was walking with his hands in his pockets. Patino grabbed hold of the victim. When the victim attempted to separate himself, Patino struck the victim in the face and body numerous times. While Patino was striking the victim, Tineo-Restituyo picked the victim up and threw him to the ground. Patino and Tineo-Restituyo then repeatedly struck the victim while he was on the ground.
Patino and Tineo-Restituyo then filed a police report regarding the arrest of the victim, which contained numerous false statements and omissions. For instance, the police report falsely stated that the victim had walked towards the officers “screaming profanities” and “acting belligerent” and that the victim had struck Patino with a closed fist in the chest. None of this was true. The report also omitted the fact that Patino and Tineo-Restituyo continued to strike the victim after the victim was on the ground.
The violation of civil rights count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The false records count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The maximum fine for each of the charges is $250,000.
Those arrests prompted the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office to take oversight of the Paterson Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division, the group that’s supposed to investigate alleged wrongdoing by city cops.
But the leader of Paterson’s Black Lives Matter group, Zellie Thomas, said Tuesday that the county oversight was not a strong enough measure, considering the number of police corruption cases in the city. Thomas said the Paterson Police Department needs intervention by the federal government.
“We’re not talking about one cop or two cops,” Thomas said. “We’re talking about 11 police officers.”
When asked if he thought intervention was needed, Mayor Andre Sayegh said the Police Department "has made strides in the areas of police accountability and installing tools to build trust."
"My administration will continue to hold officers who violate the law accountable," he added.
Patino was charged with a civil rights crime for alleged use of “unreasonable force” against the man he beat and trying to cover up the crime with a false police report.
“Officer Patino's actions were appropriate under the circumstances and a response to the actions of the person he sought to arrest,” said his lawyer, Anthony J. Iacullo. “We are confident that Officer Patino will be exonerated of all charges.”
The man beaten, then-19-year-old Osamah Alsaidi, has said he tried to report the assault to Paterson police officers but was ignored. Alsaidi then posted the video of the attack on social media, and federal authorities filed charges against the two cops several months after that.
City records have shown that Patino filed 15 reports documenting his use of force during interactions with the public during the three years before the Alsaidi incident, including 12 cases in which he struck people with his hands or fist.
In the decade before this incident, the Paterson’s Internal Affairs Division found wrongdoing by city police officers in nine out of 283 complaints over alleged excessive force.
