Trial for 2 Trenton Cops Underway: Although Black Man Surrendered w/Both Hands in the Air, Cops Excessively Punched Him in the Face, Then Lied by Claiming He was an Aggressor and Ongoing Threat
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From [HERE] Testimony started Monday in the trial of two Trenton police officers charged with violating a Black man’s federal civil rights during an April 2017 arrest.
Anthony Villanueva and Drew Inman are accused of punching Chanzie Washington several times following a police pursuit, and then submitting falsified reportis on the incident. A federal grand jury indicted them in April 2019. Villanueva faces additional charges for pepper-spraying a man locked in a holding cell.
According to the indictment:
On or about April 9, 2017, at approximately 2:00 a.m., defendant VILLANUEVA responded to a radio call for assistance, alerting him that other officers were in pursuit of a suspect, later identified as Victim 1, who had fled in his vehicle, attempting to avoid a routine traffic stop near an intersection in Trenton.
3. VILLANUEVA and other officers soon spotted Victim 1 abandoning his vehicle and fleeing on foot. VILLANUEVA and other officers therefore exited their vehicles and pursued Victim 1 on foot.
4. After leading the officers on a foot chase for approximately one to two minutes, Victim 1 reached the banks of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, got into the water, and swam across to the opposite bank. Victim 1 then exited the canal by climbing up a steep embankment and into a brush-strewn area near a parking lot.
5. A chain link fence separated the brush-strewn area adjacent to the canal from the parking lot. As Victim 1 exited the canal and walked towards the chain link fence, Police Officer 1 stood on the opposite side of the fence, in the parking lot. Additional Trenton police officers who had arrived on the scene ordered Victim 1 to put his hands in the air. Victim 1 complied, raising both hands in the air above his head. Police Officer 1 ordered Victim 1 to climb over the fence toward Police Officer 1. Again, Victim 1 complied. Victim 1 placed both hands on top of the chain link fence.
Defendant VILLANUEVA was standing on the same side of the chain link fence as Victim 1, and nearby Victim 1, as Victim 1 complied with Police Officer l's commands.
7. Nonetheless, and without issuing any warning or command, defendant VILLANUEVA moved swiftly towards Victim 1 and punched Victim 1 in the face.
8. Simultaneously, defendant INMAN, who had been approaching Victim 1 from behind, tackled Victim 1 to the ground. Defendant INMAN did not issue any warning or command prior to tackling Victim 1.
9. During the next approximately thirty seconds, defendant INMAN and defendant VILLANUEVA punched Victim 1 numerous times. Victim 1 cried out in pain, and told officers, "stop hitting me in my face," and "you've got my hands."
10. Victim 1 was subsequently handcuffed by other officers on the scene, and driven to Trenton Police Headquarters for processing. Defendant VILLANUEVA assisted in processing Victim 1, and was present when Victim 1's booking photograph was taken within a few hours of Victim 1's arrest. The booking photograph depicts various injuries to Victim l's face; namely, a bloody lip and nose, and swelling and bruising around his left eye.
11. Following the assault against Victim 1, defendants VILLANUEVA and INMAN each completed law enforcement reports that memorialized the incident. In the reports, the defendants knowingly made numerous misrepresentations, false statements and omissions in an effort to portray Victim 1 as the aggressor and an ongoing threat.
Victim 1 as the aggressor and an ongoing threat. [MORE]
