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Video: Did Long Beach Police Use Excessive Force During Pot Shop Raid?
Surveillance camera footage shows Long Beach police raiding a local pot shop last month. Now the images that the cameras captured are at the center of a lawsuit being brought by a volunteer at the collective who was arrested during the raid.
The video shows police stepping on Dorian Brooks' back and neck as he was being arrested. The soundless 2-minute video then shows police destroy two surveillance cameras in the shop and then the messy aftermath of the raid.
Brooks told NBC Los Angeles that the amount of force used to arrest him was excessive and out-of-proportion considering the crime. He said police raided the shop because it did not have a city permit, although it was operating legally under state law. Brooks and four others were arrested during the raid.
“We got beat up and arrested for a citation that’s equivalent to somebody jay walking," Brooks told NBC.
His attorney Matthew Pappas added, "Those kinds of charges and a $100 bail do not warrant officers coming in with a battering ram and weapons and weapons drawn."
The Long Beach Police Department said that it would be investigating allegations of excessive force. Spokeswoman Lisa Massacani offered up this statement to NBC:
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"A thorough review into what occurred during that operation will be conducted once all of the facts have been collected. This is a personnel matter and we are unable to discuss any further details."
The dispensary employees are also claiming that the police raid caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage and that by disabling the collective's cameras, they destroyed evidence.
Brooks is asking for $1 million in damages from the city, because he said officers violated his civil rights and the state's disabled person act, according to NBC.
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