CITIZEN COMPLAINT
FACT FINDING INVESTIGATION
COMPLAINT DATE/TIME:
07/21/2014 @ 1130
INCIDENT DATE/TIME: 07/12/2014 @ 0303
COMPLAINANT:
Lima Police Department
NATURE OF COMPLAINT: Confirming Use of Force Policy Was Adhered to
OFFICER/S INVOLVED:
Sgt.
Curt Hile, Sgt. Rob Hillard, Ptl. Nate Garlock,
Ptl. Aaron Mongomery and Ptl. Scott Luedeke
INVESTIGATING SUPERVISOR:
Lieutenant Brian Leary
RECOMMENDATION: Exonerated
ADDENDA:
·
LPD Offense Reports 14-22826
·
LPD Use of Force Report
·
Action Response Use Of Force Continuum
·
Tyler Paxson’s Booking Form
·
Call as entered by LPD Dispatchers
·
Tyler Paxson’s Lab Reports
·
Detective Tim Clark’s Reports
·
Medical Reports of Tyler Paxson’s Examination
after arrest
·
DVD Copy of interviews with Brittany Bermudez
& Devon Johnson
·
CD Copy of audio of police calls
·
CD Copy of photos taken by patrol of Tyler’s
injuries and of Officer’s injuries
·
DVD Copy of cruiser videos and audio
·
Lima News Article
NATURE OF COMPLAINT:
On July 12, 2014 at approximately 0303 hours, Officers were
dispatched to the 100 block of Haller Street in reference to a large party with
subjects in the street. The incident
time listed on the report is 0321 hours; however, the actual dispatch time was
0303 hours with most of the officers arriving on scene at approximately 0306
hours. Upon arrival the officers
observed numerous people in the area and began instructing people to leave as
they were causing a disturbance.
Ptl. Garlock observed a subject walking from the north side
of the apartments in between the buildings as he started to walk to the north
side of the apartments. Ptl. Garlock
said when the subject saw him, he immediately turned around and began walking
back north between the buildings. The
subject’s immediate turn around concerned Ptl. Garlock because it was not
normal behavior and was indicative of potential criminal activity taking place.
Ptl. Garlock walked north between the buildings and encountered
two subjects near the apartment just to the west of the opening between the
buildings. The subject he initially saw
had two beers in his hands. He did not
notice the beers when he first saw him between the buildings. He asked the subjects what they were doing as
there were multiple open beer cans around.
A subject later identified as Tyler Paxson said I’m at my
brother’s house. He was asked how old he
was and he said 21; however, Ptl. Garlock believed him to be under the age of
21. He said he did not have ID and when
asked what his birthday was, he became upset and turned to walk away. Ptl. Garlock told him to stop and he ignored
the instruction and tried to walk inside the apartment.
Ptl. Garlock grabbed his arm and told him he was under
arrest at which time he pulled away and resisted arrest. During the struggle Tyler struck Ptl. Garlock
in the right eye. Patrolmen Montgomery
and Luedeke along with Sgt. Hile came to assist Ptl. Garlock in taking Tyler
into custody.
Tyler received injuries during the altercation and he and
his family have accused officers of using excessive force via social media.
REVIEW OF IN CAR
VIDEO / AUDIO:
The officers responded to the 100 Block of Haller where
numerous people could be seen walking in the area. The officers advised everyone to leave the area
and not to drive if they had been drinking.
Based on the displayed clock on the video systems, Ptl.
Garlock encounters Tyler Paxson at approximately 03:08:45. Sgt. Hile can be heard at 03:09:50 via Ptl. Luedeke’s
body mic say ok we got him put the cuffs on him; therefore, the altercation was
approximately 65 seconds long.
The conversation is not clear but some of it can be
heard. Upon initial contact Ptl. Garlock
can be heard asking if he is the one throwing the party. It is unsure what is said but sounds like he
says, “This is my brother’s house”. Ptl.
Garlock asks if he is drinking and he said, “No, I’m on the porch”. Ptl. Garlock asks “Are you kidding me?’
Initially, Tyler advised he was not drinking but then said he had earlier. Ptl. Garlock asks how old he is and he said
21. Ptl. Garlock asks for an ID and he
said he did not have one and it sounds like his response was ”I’m tired of
being harassed”. It then sounds like
Ptl. Garlock said, “Your under arrest”.
The audio from his body mic then starts breaking up and is not clear.
A review of the In-Car Videos shows the officers responding
to the area and parking on Haller Street.
The arrest of Mr. Paxson occurs behind the apartment buildings on the
north side of Haller Street; therefore, there is no video footage of the
arrest.
There is video footage of officers walking Mr. Paxon to a
cruiser after he is in custody. The
officers walk Mr. Paxon southbound between the buildings to the cruiser which
is parked facing westbound on Haller.
The officers place him against the right rear quarter panel of a LPD
Cruiser while they open the rear door to place him in the backseat. Mr. Paxson refuses to get in the cruiser and
has to be forced into the backseat. The
video footage was captured by Sgt. Hile’s in car video system. He was driving car # 21.
INTERVIEW OF SERGEANT
CURT HILE:
Sgt. Hile advised they were sent to a large party in the 100
Block of Haller Street. He said upon
arrival there were people everywhere and he exited his vehicle and started
telling people to move on.
He said after a short time he heard an officer yelling and
saw other officers run north between the buildings and he followed. He said when he got to the rear of the building
he observed the officers struggling with a male subject. He said Officers Garlock, Montgomery and
Luedeke had ahold of a male subject and they were pulling him in different
directions. He engaged and grabbed the
subject by the arm and told the officers to put him on the ground. He said they were able to get him down onto
the sidewalk and Tyler was still struggling and refusing to place his arms
behind his back. He was able to force
his arm back and told the officers to handcuff him. They were able to get him handcuffed and
stood him up.
He said he observed Tyler to be conscious the entire
time. I asked him if he saw anyone
strike or kick Tyler in the face during the altercation and he said no. I asked him why a Taser was not used to help
subdue Mr. Paxson and he said it would not have been practical due to the tight
quarters they were in.
He said they walked Tyler back between the buildings and
placed him in the rear of a cruiser. He
said that is when he noticed the injury on Tyler’s face. He said he asked for a squad to meet the
officers on station so they could evaluate his injuries. He said the paramedics transported Tyler to
St. Ritas Hospital for treatment.
INTERVIEW OF
PATROLMAN SCOTT LUEDEKE:
Ptl. Luedeke advised he was dispatched to the 100 Block of
Haller Street in reference to a large party with people in the street. He said when he arrived he began telling
people to get out of the street and to leave the area. He said he stopped one subject and was
speaking to him and ran his information with dispatch. He then heard Ptl. Garlock yelling stop
resisting and ran to assist him. He said
Ptl. Garlock was to the north of the apartments and he ran between the opening
between the buildings to get to him.
Upon arriving at the rear of the apartments he observed Ptl. Garlock
holding a subject against the wall and the suspect was pushing him back.
He and Ptl. Montgomery began assisting Ptl. Garlock in
taking the suspect into custody. He said
the suspect was throwing punches, trying to hit officers and thrashing about
trying to escape. He said they were
trying to take him to the ground and he was attempting knee strikes to the
suspect’s thighs and at one point struck him on the lower back with his
flashlight.
I asked him why he did not tase the suspect or use mace and
he said it was a small area and there was no room to move or disengage. He said the suspect was resisting so much it
would not have been tactical to disengage.
I asked if he punched the suspect in the face or kicked him while he was
down and he said no. I asked if anyone
else did and he said Ptl. Garlock and Ptl. Montgomery
were striking him on the upper arms and shoulder area once
he was on the ground. He said they were
trying to get him to place his arms behind his back because they could not pull
them out. He had his arms tucked up
under him and had his fists clenched.
He said once Sgt. Hile pulled his arm out they were able to
get him cuffed. They stood him up and
placed him against the retaining wall at the base of the apartment steps to
search him incident to arrest. They
walked him back through the opening between the buildings and placed him in a
cruiser. He said he was conscious and
resisting the entire time and continued yelling at them after he was cuffed and
in the car saying he had a brain injury.
INTERVIEW OF SERGEANT
ROB HILLARD
Sgt. Hillard advised he was in his cruiser at Main and
Haller Streets looking west down the street when he heard yelling and saw
officers running north between the buildings.
He drove to the rear of the apartments and exited his cruiser. He observed Ptl. Garlock struggling with a
suspect at the rear of the apartments.
He said they were near the first apartment to the west of the
opening. He saw the other officers run
to assist Ptl. Garlock and he exited his cruiser and ran to their location.
He said they were in a small confined area at the base of
the steps to the apartment. He said the
parking lot to the rear of the apartments is higher than the back doors to the
building and there is a retaining wall that runs parallel to the back of the
apartments. The officers were down on
the concrete walkway between the rear of the apartments and the retaining wall.
Sgt. Hillard stood above where the parking lot meets the retaining
wall and observed the altercation with the suspect from an elevated
position. He said the confined area
prevented him from engaging and he monitored the surrounding area to prevent
others from engaging the officers as their attention was focused on Mr. Paxson.
Sgt. Hillard said he did not see anyone strike Mr. Paxson in
the face once he arrived at the retaining wall and did not see anyone kick him
at any time. He said the officers
continued to give commands to Mr. Paxson during the altercation and at no point
did he see any misconduct by the officers.
He said Mr. Paxson was conscious the entire time and the Lima Police
Department’s General Directives were followed by the officers.
Sgt. Hillard saw a subject standing a couple doors down and
asked him if he lived there and the subject said no, he lived in
Spencerville. Sgt. Hillard said he did
not appear to be underage and he was asked to leave the area.
Sgt. Hillard advised Mr. Paxson was observed to have an
injury on his face that he believed was from being scraped on the
concrete. He was escorted between the
buildings to a cruiser and as they got close to the car he refused to walk and
stated “ You guys beat my ass, and knocked me out”. He said he would not get in the car and had
to be forced inside. Mr. Paxson was
transported to the LPD and paramedics from the fire department were requested
to the LPD to examine him. He was then
transported by them to St. Ritas Hospital.
INTERVIEW OF
PATROLMAN AARON MONTGOMERY
Ptl. Montgomery advised he was in the 100 Block of Haller
with other officers for a large party when he heard Ptl. Garlock yelling “Stop
resisting”. He said Ptl. Garlock was at
the rear of the building on the north side of the street. Ptl. Montgomery advised he ran to his location
to assist him and was the first officer to reach Ptl. Garlock. He said as he got to the rear of the building
he saw Ptl. Garlock to his left holding a subject up against the wall. The subject was Tyler Paxson. He said Tyler was holding Ptl. Garlock’s shirt
up at the shoulders. He said Ptl.
Garlock was holding onto Tyler’s shirt near the chest area. Tyler was using his body and pushing off the
building and appeared to have an advantage over Ptl. Garlock. He said Tyler was ignoring Ptl. Garlock’s commands
and was actively fighting him.
Ptl. Montgomery said he grabbed Tyler and tried to move him
from the wall but Tyler was still resisting.
He struck Tyler several times in the abdomen and chest area to get him
to comply and let go of Ptl. Garlock. He
refused to comply and began throwing wild punches at both Ptl. Montgomery and
Ptl. Garlock. He said they were in a
confined area. He was eventually able to
move to Tyler’s right side and move him off of the wall and they fell against
another wall. He said Tyler continued
fighting them and grabbed his shirt and was trying to punch him in the
face. He delivered two closed fists
strikes to Tyler’s chest and left cheek.
Ptl. Montgomery said they were able to finally take him down
to the ground and they all fell onto the concrete. He said he had his right arm around Tyler’s
chest and when they fell, he was on top of Tyler’s back. He said Tyler continued to fight them and
attempted to push himself up. Ptl.
Montgomery was concerned for their safety as well as Tyler’s if he continued
fighting and he moved his arm up and used his right bicep to apply pressure to
his Brachial Plexus Nerve (side of his neck).
Ptl. Montgomery is a defensive tactics instructor and learned this
technique during his training. He said
he was going to attempt to put Tyler asleep but did not have to as Sgt. Hile
and Ptl. Garlock were able to force his hands behind his back and they were
able to get him handcuffed.
He said Tyler was conscious the entire time and refused to
stand up. He said he had to be forced to
stand and was then escorted to a cruiser and placed in the backseat. He said Tyler was cussing and yelling at them
while walking to the cruiser. He said he
had arrested him previously for “Huffing” ( Inhaling harmful intoxicants) and
said his behavior was irrational during that occasion also.
Ptl. Montgomery advised no one struck Tyler in the face or
kicked him while they were on the ground.
He said that would not have been possible because he was on top of him
and his upper body was covering Tyler’s head as he was trying to control him
until they were able to get his arms back.
INTERVIEW OF
PATROLMAN NATE GARLOCK
Ptl. Garlock advised he was in the 100 Block of Haller
Street for a call of large party. He
said he started to walk between the buildings to check the area when he
encountered a subject walking toward him.
He said the subject turned and walked the other way causing him to
believe something was going on.
He continued to the rear of the apartments and saw the
subject holding two beers and observed numerous empty beer cans lying around. He asked what was going on and his attention
was drawn to another subject that appeared to be under the age of 21. Ptl. Garlock said the subject later
identified as Tyler Paxson, said it was his brother’s house. He had extremely bloodshot eyes and obvious
signs of intoxication. He asked him how
old he was and he said 21. He asked if
he had been drinking and he said no, and Ptl. Garlock asked, are you kidding me. The subject said he had one beer and when
asked what his name was and for his ID, he said he was being harassed and started
to go in the apartment. Ptl. Garlock
said he grabbed his arm and told him he was under arrest.
Ptl. Garlock said Tyler then pulled his arm back and began
to resist. He said he pulled him off the
steps and placed him against the wall to gain control of him. He said Tyler began thrashing about and
aggressively trying to get away even though he was giving him loud verbal
commands to stop resisting and to place his hands behind his back. He then picked Tyler up and took him to the
ground. He said Tyler went down on his
left side and his face hit first. He
said Tyler continued struggling and punched him on the right side of the
face. He said he was unable to get his
radio and call for help and continued yelling for Tyler to stop resisting. He said Tyler was trying to get up and he punched
him twice with a closed fist on the right side of his head. He said Tyler began getting up and he then
put him in a headlock to maintain control of him until other officers arrived
to help him.
He said a short time later Sgt. Hile, Ptl. Montgomery and
Ptl Luedeke arrived to assist him. He
said Tyler continued to ignore their commands as they tried to take him back
down to the ground to get control of him and handcuff him. He said he believed Ptl. Montgomery placed a
choke hold on him and they were able to get him to the ground and handcuffed.
He said during a search incident to arrest they located
Tyler’s ID showing he was 19 years old.
He then spoke to the residents at the apartment Tyler tried to say was
his brother’s residence and they denied knowing Tyler. He said Tyler was then transported to the LPD
where he was checked out by paramedics and then transported to St. Ritas
Hospital for treatment.
CONCLUSION:
My conclusion is based on all the evidence presented to me
along with the interviews of the officers involved. A review of the in car video / audio systems
revealed some of the audio was inaudible but what was heard was consistent with
officers statements as to what occurred at the scene. The audio was in an out during the
altercation and some audio was not recorded due to the officer’s distance from
their patrol cars.
There was no video recording of the altercation due to it
occurring behind the apartment buildings and all of the officers being parked
on Haller Street. Sgt. Hillard drove
behind the apartments; however, his camera was not facing the arrest of Mr.
Paxson.
Ptl. Garlock’s initial encounter with Mr. Paxson was lawful
as he had reason to believe a crime had been committed. His decision to investigate further when an
individual immediately turned and went the other way upon seeing him, was good
police work. That type of behavior is
often indicative of criminal behavior.
He then saw a subject holding two beers and numerous empty beer cans
lying around when he got to the rear of the apartment building. He saw Mr. Paxson and believed he was under
the age of twenty one. Ptl. Garlock’s
experience and training caused him to believe Mr. Paxson was under the
influence of alcohol.
Ptl. Garlock then continued to investigate further and upon
confirming there was probable cause to believe Mr. Paxson was heavily
intoxicated, he attempted to take him into custody. Mr. Paxson’s actions then forced Ptl.
Garlock’s response in order to take him into custody. He believes the injury occurring to the left
side of Mr. Paxson’s face and eye was caused by the concrete walkway when he
initially took him to the ground.
Sgt. Hile and Sgt. Hillard were present for the majority of
the altercation during the arrest of Mr. Paxson and believed the officers
followed the Lima Police Department’s General Directive concerning the use of
force. Sgt. Hillard observed the arrest
from an elevated position and did not participate due to the confined area.
Mr. Paxson’s blood work confirmed he was under the influence
of marijuana, cocaine and excessive alcohol which more than likely contributed
to his irrational behavior. Mr. Paxson
continued his irrational behavior and was combative with hospital personnel
during his examination. He had to be
restrained at the hospital.
Based on the evidence provided to me, Ptl. Garlock and the
assisting officers followed the use of force continuum and the Lima Police
Department’s General Directive 4.01.
