August 5, 2005

By KOMO Staff & News Services



SEATTLE - A man apparently woken from a drunken stupor by Pierce County sheriff's deputies, repeatedly zapped with a stun gun and finally chewed by a police dog - all in front of a production crew from the TV show "Cops" - has sued the county and the officers, alleging brutality.

The deputies, accompanied by a K-9 officer from the Tacoma Police Department, were looking for an armed suspect in a car break-in when they came upon Aaron Otto Hansen, 34, of Roy, early on July 10, 2004.

Hansen, who did not commit the crime, was passed out drunk in a sleeping bag outside a relative's home in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood, one of his lawyers said. The "Cops" video footage of his arrest, obtained by The Associated Press, seems to support that claim:

"Wake up! Show me your hands!" one officer, identified in the lawsuit as Deputy Joseph Kolp, screams at Hansen on the video.

No response.

"You're gonna get tased, dude," Kolp says.

Kolp pulls on the sleeping bag. Hansen - clearly disoriented - tries to pull it back over his head, apparently to shield his eyes from Deputy Russell Martin's flashlight. Kolp grabs Hansen's arm and Martin moves in to help with an arrest.

Hansen, still on the ground, starts to revive. He pushes Kolp, and the officers repeatedly use their Tasers as they kneel on him, pressing the instruments into his chest and his buttocks.

"What the (expletive) are you doing?!" he moans as he struggles against them. "What the hell's going on?!"

With Martin and Kolp holding him down, Hansen continued to swing his legs, and Kolp called for help from Tacoma police K-9 officer Christopher Karl. Karl's dog bit repeatedly at Hansen's leg, leaving his pants shredded and his ankle bloodied.

The confrontation ended after two minutes, with Hansen in handcuffs moaning, "Please, please ... What did I do wrong?"

"When we tell you to show us your hands, that's what you need to do," Kolp tells him. "You want to fight us, this is what happens."

"I'm not fighting nobody here," Hansen says, doubled over in pain.

Later that night, the officers arrested another man, John Joyal, in the car break-in. Joyal wound up pleading guilty to a lesser crime.

Hansen was never charged in the break-in, but he was charged with two counts of third-degree assault for resisting the officers. Those charges were dropped on Aug. 25, the day Hansen was to be tried - the same day his lawyer first viewed the videotape.

His lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, names Pierce County, Kolp, Martin, Karl, the city of Lakewood and the city of Tacoma.

At the time of the arrest, Kolp and Martin patrolled Lakewood for the sheriff's office. Since then, Lakewood has formed its own police department, which is where Kolp and Martin now work. The sheriff's office, the Lakewood Police Department and the Tacoma Police Department all declined to comment on the lawsuit Thursday.

On the video, Kolp explains the officers' actions:

"He was hiding in what looked like a sleeping bag, and he wouldn't comply with our commands," Kolp says. "I went through the fence, tried to pull the blanket back, and the fight was on. He resisted from the get-go ... ended up kicking us, the whole nine yards.

"The dog was sent in to help us out because we had two officers struggling to get this guy into custody and he wasn't complying, so we had to take it up a notch. ... It was a full-on battle there for a couple minutes."

One of Hansen's lawyers, Philip Bolland, didn't buy that explanation.

"The guy was asleep. They could have handcuffed him while he was asleep," Bolland said. "I can't think of any context where this treatment could be considered appropriate. Anybody who sits down and watches that tape would want an explanation."

A producer at Santa Monica, Calif.-based Langley Productions Inc., which created "Cops," said he could not confirm whether the episode ever aired, but Lakewood Police Lt. Bret Farrar said he had seen it on television. He declined to comment on the arrest.

The lawsuit seeks damages as well as an injunction prohibiting the police agencies from associating with "Cops" or similar TV programs again.

Quoted: August 5, 2005 By KOMO Staff & News Services SEATTLE - A man apparently woken from a drunken stupor by Pierce County sheriff's deputies, repeatedly zapped with a stun gun and finally chewed by a police dog - all in front of a production crew from the TV show "Cops" - has sued the county and the officers, alleging brutality. The deputies, accompanied by a K-9 officer from the Tacoma Police Department, were looking for an armed suspect in a car break-in when they came upon Aaron Otto Hansen, 34, of Roy, early on July 10, 2004. Hansen, who did not commit the crime, was passed out drunk in a sleeping bag outside a relative's home in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood, one of his lawyers said. The "Cops" video footage of his arrest, obtained by The Associated Press, seems to support that claim: "Wake up! Show me your hands!" one officer, identified in the lawsuit as Deputy Joseph Kolp, screams at Hansen on the video. No response. "You're gonna get tased, dude," Kolp says. Kolp pulls on the sleeping bag. Hansen - clearly disoriented - tries to pull it back over his head, apparently to shield his eyes from Deputy Russell Martin's flashlight. Kolp grabs Hansen's arm and Martin moves in to help with an arrest. Hansen, still on the ground, starts to revive. He pushes Kolp, and the officers repeatedly use their Tasers as they kneel on him, pressing the instruments into his chest and his buttocks. "What the (expletive) are you doing?!" he moans as he struggles against them. "What the hell's going on?!" With Martin and Kolp holding him down, Hansen continued to swing his legs, and Kolp called for help from Tacoma police K-9 officer Christopher Karl. Karl's dog bit repeatedly at Hansen's leg, leaving his pants shredded and his ankle bloodied. The confrontation ended after two minutes, with Hansen in handcuffs moaning, "Please, please ... What did I do wrong?" "When we tell you to show us your hands, that's what you need to do," Kolp tells him. "You want to fight us, this is what happens." "I'm not fighting nobody here," Hansen says, doubled over in pain. Later that night, the officers arrested another man, John Joyal, in the car break-in. Joyal wound up pleading guilty to a lesser crime. Hansen was never charged in the break-in, but he was charged with two counts of third-degree assault for resisting the officers. Those charges were dropped on Aug. 25, the day Hansen was to be tried - the same day his lawyer first viewed the videotape. His lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, names Pierce County, Kolp, Martin, Karl, the city of Lakewood and the city of Tacoma. At the time of the arrest, Kolp and Martin patrolled Lakewood for the sheriff's office. Since then, Lakewood has formed its own police department, which is where Kolp and Martin now work. The sheriff's office, the Lakewood Police Department and the Tacoma Police Department all declined to comment on the lawsuit Thursday. On the video, Kolp explains the officers' actions: "He was hiding in what looked like a sleeping bag, and he wouldn't comply with our commands," Kolp says. "I went through the fence, tried to pull the blanket back, and the fight was on. He resisted from the get-go ... ended up kicking us, the whole nine yards. "The dog was sent in to help us out because we had two officers struggling to get this guy into custody and he wasn't complying, so we had to take it up a notch. ... It was a full-on battle there for a couple minutes." One of Hansen's lawyers, Philip Bolland, didn't buy that explanation. "The guy was asleep. They could have handcuffed him while he was asleep," Bolland said. "I can't think of any context where this treatment could be considered appropriate. Anybody who sits down and watches that tape would want an explanation." A producer at Santa Monica, Calif.-based Langley Productions Inc., which created "Cops," said he could not confirm whether the episode ever aired, but Lakewood Police Lt. Bret Farrar said he had seen it on television. He declined to comment on the arrest. The lawsuit seeks damages as well as an injunction prohibiting the police agencies from associating with "Cops" or similar TV programs again.

I did see that episode.

That's messed up, but I think the cops are gonna win though.  

I say they just do the same to the cops and call it even.

+ =  ?

Cops don't have the luxury of handcuffing someone who might or might not be asleep, whose hands are not visible, and who is uncooperative.

Quoted: + =  ?

The lawsuit seeks damages as well as an injunction prohibiting the police agencies from associating with "Cops" or similar TV programs again.

Why wouldhe want that?  Without the tape he wouldn't have a case . . . COPS being there has just made this huy a bundle of money . . . enough to turn his life around or to keep him stoned until someone swindles him and he is back on the street.

But . . . when you react to everything as though it was imminent danger, WRT the rights of those whmo you are assaulting . . . the officers should have used better judgement.

Quoted: I did see that episode. That's messed up, but I think the cops are gonna win though.

Thanks for qouting the whole article too!  Otherwise we wouldn't know what you were talking about!

Standard result from any leo and civilian interaction.

I'm curious to know what led them to believe that that particular (innocent) individual committed the crime?

I'm also surprised that the tape wasn't "accidentally lost".

Quoted: + =  ?

I love smilie algebra!!!

tag

Drunk and combative...Very nice.

Yep, the police officers certainly should've just asked him nicely to, please sir, when you have the time to wake up from being publicly soused, if you would be so kind to stir from your sleeping bag, if it's not too much trouble?

See what you get for coming home a bit drunk and deciding that it's a nice night out so you might as well enjoy sleeping under the stars?

I used to do this often during the summer.  Thank goodness I've neve been tased and set upon by dogs by some bandits in blue.

Kolp says. "I went through the fence, tried to pull the blanket back, and the fight was on.

Hell, the officer even tresspassed to do this.

Quoted: Drunk and combative...Very nice. Yep, the police officers certainly should've just asked him nicely to, please sir, when you have the time to wake up from being publicly soused, if you would be so kind to stir from your sleeping bag, if it's not too much trouble?

He was on private property. So were the cops.

Lakewood.  I'm not surprised.  

Quoted: Drunk and combative...Very nice. Yep, the police officers certainly should've just asked him nicely to, please sir, when you have the time to wake up from being publicly soused, if you would be so kind to stir from your sleeping bag, if it's not too much trouble?

He was on a relatives property. Apparently it makes no diffrence to a Leo. Hey at least the leo's all went home safe that night and no dogs were shot.



Roy

Quoted: Quoted: Drunk and combative...Very nice. Yep, the police officers certainly should've just asked him nicely to, please sir, when you have the time to wake up from being publicly soused, if you would be so kind to stir from your sleeping bag, if it's not too much trouble? He was on private property. So were the cops.

So somone could expose themselves to children next to the sidewalk on private property and now be consdered "In public?"

Ok.  Whatever.

Yep.  The cops did come on private property.  What they can't arrest somone on public property?

Lesson to idiot:  If you are going to get drunk, sleep inside.

my neighbor had to have a new face and jaw made because he went into a diabetic coma and collapsed at a club and because he wouldnt get up two hpd officers kicked and beat him with asps so bad it crushed his jaw, his cheek bones, crushed eachs eye's orbital bone and blew out the plates of both eyes, all because he wouldn't get up, his medical alert bracelet didn't help

Quoted: tag

WTF ??

Didn't you JUST post a prior response?

Quoted: Quoted: Drunk and combative...Very nice. Yep, the police officers certainly should've just asked him nicely to, please sir, when you have the time to wake up from being publicly soused, if you would be so kind to stir from your sleeping bag, if it's not too much trouble? He was on a relatives property. Apparently it makes no diffrence to a Leo. Hey at least the leo's all went home safe that night and no dogs were shot. Roy

The dog remark just keeps getting funnier every single time somone says it

Just remeber when somone kills someone close to you, or, steals your car, or some such, that the cops can't arrest them if they are on private property

Im not even close to a cop basher, but Lakewood PD is the biggest dept of officers that could not pass Mall Ninja class on the face of the earth.

Quoted: So somone could expose themselves to children next to the sidewalk on private property and now be consdered "In public?" Ok.  Whatever. Yep.  The cops did come on private property.  What they can't arrest somone on public property? Lesson to idiot:  If you are going to get drunk, sleep inside.

Exposing oneself to children = crime.

Sleeping outside = not a crime.

Except, of course, in the universal view that all citizens must be guilty of something. This guy didn't become a criminal until some guy who wanted to look real tough on a Tee-Vee show started fucking with him.

Quoted: August 5, 2005 By KOMO Staff & News Services SEATTLE - A man apparently woken from a drunken stupor by Pierce County sheriff's deputies, repeatedly zapped with a stun gun and finally chewed by a police dog - all in front of a production crew from the TV show "Cops" - has sued the county and the officers, alleging brutality. The deputies, accompanied by a K-9 officer from the Tacoma Police Department, were looking for an armed suspect in a car break-in when they came upon Aaron Otto Hansen, 34, of Roy, early on July 10, 2004. Hansen, who did not commit the crime, was passed out drunk in a sleeping bag outside a relative's home in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood, one of his lawyers said. The "Cops" video footage of his arrest, obtained by The Associated Press, seems to support that claim: "Wake up! Show me your hands!" one officer, identified in the lawsuit as Deputy Joseph Kolp, screams at Hansen on the video. No response. "You're gonna get tased, dude," Kolp says. Kolp pulls on the sleeping bag. Hansen - clearly disoriented - tries to pull it back over his head, apparently to shield his eyes from Deputy Russell Martin's flashlight. Kolp grabs Hansen's arm and Martin moves in to help with an arrest. Hansen, still on the ground, starts to revive. He pushes Kolp, and the officers repeatedly use their Tasers as they kneel on him, pressing the instruments into his chest and his buttocks. "What the (expletive) are you doing?!" he moans as he struggles against them. "What the hell's going on?!" With Martin and Kolp holding him down, Hansen continued to swing his legs, and Kolp called for help from Tacoma police K-9 officer Christopher Karl. Karl's dog bit repeatedly at Hansen's leg, leaving his pants shredded and his ankle bloodied. The confrontation ended after two minutes, with Hansen in handcuffs moaning, "Please, please ... What did I do wrong?" "When we tell you to show us your hands, that's what you need to do," Kolp tells him. "You want to fight us, this is what happens." "I'm not fighting nobody here," Hansen says, doubled over in pain. Later that night, the officers arrested another man, John Joyal, in the car break-in. Joyal wound up pleading guilty to a lesser crime. Hansen was never charged in the break-in, but he was charged with two counts of third-degree assault for resisting the officers. Those charges were dropped on Aug. 25, the day Hansen was to be tried - the same day his lawyer first viewed the videotape. His lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, names Pierce County, Kolp, Martin, Karl, the city of Lakewood and the city of Tacoma. At the time of the arrest, Kolp and Martin patrolled Lakewood for the sheriff's office. Since then, Lakewood has formed its own police department, which is where Kolp and Martin now work. The sheriff's office, the Lakewood Police Department and the Tacoma Police Department all declined to comment on the lawsuit Thursday. On the video, Kolp explains the officers' actions: "He was hiding in what looked like a sleeping bag, and he wouldn't comply with our commands," Kolp says. "I went through the fence, tried to pull the blanket back, and the fight was on. He resisted from the get-go ... ended up kicking us, the whole nine yards. "The dog was sent in to help us out because we had two officers struggling to get this guy into custody and he wasn't complying, so we had to take it up a notch. ... It was a full-on battle there for a couple minutes." One of Hansen's lawyers, Philip Bolland, didn't buy that explanation. "The guy was asleep. They could have handcuffed him while he was asleep," Bolland said. "I can't think of any context where this treatment could be considered appropriate. Anybody who sits down and watches that tape would want an explanation." A producer at Santa Monica, Calif.-based Langley Productions Inc., which created "Cops," said he could not confirm whether the episode ever aired, but Lakewood Police Lt. Bret Farrar said he had seen it on television. He declined to comment on the arrest. The lawsuit seeks damages as well as an injunction prohibiting the police agencies from associating with "Cops" or similar TV programs again.

Interesting

Quoted: Quoted: So somone could expose themselves to children next to the sidewalk on private property and now be consdered "In public?" Ok.  Whatever. Yep.  The cops did come on private property.  What they can't arrest somone on public property? Lesson to idiot:  If you are going to get drunk, sleep inside. Exposing oneself to children = crime. Sleeping outside = not a crime. Except, of course, in the universal view that all citizens must be guilty of something. This guy didn't become a criminal until some guy who wanted to look real tough on a Tee-Vee show started fucking with him.

Whatever.  I should know better than to even comment on what's obviously supposed to be a cop bashing thread.  Carry on.

Quoted: <Asshat quotes the whole fucking article.>

And then does this shit:

Quoted: tag

How's that working out for you, non-Team Member?

Quoted: I say they just do the same to the cops and call it even.

Sounds reasonable to me.

Quoted: Whatever.  I should know better than to even comment on what's obviously supposed to be a cop bashing thread.  Carry on.

Brilliant retort.

<------- pwn3d by Goonboos.

Quoted: "The guy was asleep. They could have handcuffed him while he was asleep," Bolland said.

I'll wait for the video.

Anyone who lives with an unfenced yard is asking for it. A good six foot fence topped with razorwire would have prevented this. Your home is not your castle if it's not secure.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Drunk and combative...Very nice. Yep, the police officers certainly should've just asked him nicely to, please sir, when you have the time to wake up from being publicly soused, if you would be so kind to stir from your sleeping bag, if it's not too much trouble? He was on private property. So were the cops. So somone could expose themselves to children next to the sidewalk on private property and now be consdered "In public?" Ok.  Whatever. Yep.  The cops did come on private property.  What they can't arrest somone on public property? Lesson to idiot:  If you are going to get drunk, sleep inside.

We're not talking about someone exposing themselves, duh!  We're talking about someone SLEEPING, the cops finding out he was drunk was after the fact. Flush out your headgear...

And where do YOU get off calling him an idiot? At least he had the decency to go sleep at a relative's place, even if it was in the yard, as opposed to walking the streets, carrying on and getting into trouble or even worse, driving.

Lessons to JBT appologist, read and THINK before you post..

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: So somone could expose themselves to children next to the sidewalk on private property and now be consdered "In public?" Ok.  Whatever. Yep.  The cops did come on private property.  What they can't arrest somone on public property? Lesson to idiot:  If you are going to get drunk, sleep inside. Exposing oneself to children = crime. Sleeping outside = not a crime. Except, of course, in the universal view that all citizens must be guilty of something. This guy didn't become a criminal until some guy who wanted to look real tough on a Tee-Vee show started fucking with him. Whatever.  I should know better than to even comment on what's obviously supposed to be a cop bashing thread.  Carry on.

Oh gawd, so, you're ONE OF THOSE....

Woop! Woop! Woop! Cop Bashing Thread!!! Woop! Woop! Woop!

Quoted: Quoted: Whatever.  I should know better than to even comment on what's obviously supposed to be a cop bashing thread.  Carry on. Brilliant retort. <------- pwn3d by Goonboos.

I did see this on tv a few weeks ago, I remembered it right away cause the cops beat the shit out of the guy.   Some one is going to get some cash out of this is what oneone the other guys at the fire station commented.  

"He was hiding in what looked like a sleeping bag, and he wouldn't comply with our commands," Kolp says. "I went through the fence, tried to pull the blanket back, and the fight was on. He resisted from the get-go ... ended up kicking us, the whole nine yards.


So the cops see you sleeping in a yard and suddenly your hiding from them? I haven't seen the video but this doesn't seem like very good probable cause to me.

Quoted: Quoted: Drunk and combative...Very nice. Yep, the police officers certainly should've just asked him nicely to, please sir, when you have the time to wake up from being publicly soused, if you would be so kind to stir from your sleeping bag, if it's not too much trouble? He was on private property. So were the cops.

 +1

Uh,  if someone starts screaming at me and jumps on me while I'm asleep I'm going to fight them.

Cop or not, punches will be thrown.


I honestly don't understand why any other cop would defend what these guys did...

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Drunk and combative...Very nice. Yep, the police officers certainly should've just asked him nicely to, please sir, when you have the time to wake up from being publicly soused, if you would be so kind to stir from your sleeping bag, if it's not too much trouble? He was on a relatives property. Apparently it makes no diffrence to a Leo. Hey at least the leo's all went home safe that night and no dogs were shot. Roy The dog remark just keeps getting funnier every single time somone says it Just remeber when somone kills someone close to you, or, steals your car, or some such, that the cops can't arrest them , beat, and tase the crap out of a sleeping person who has absolutely connection to the murder or any other crime if they are on private property

Yeah, I'm gonne be really burned up if I report a crime and the cops don't automatically beat the living shit out of the first person they see.

Quoted: Uh,  if someone starts screaming at me and jumps on me while I'm asleep I'm going to fight them. Cop or not, punches will be thrown. I honestly don't understand why any other cop would defend what these guys did...

Thy can't help themselves, it's the brain implant they receive after taking the oath. Now why John Wayne 777  (who claims not to be a cop)  defends these idiotic actions is beyond me, must be a wannabe cop, or in love with a cop, or have many cops in his family.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Drunk and combative...Very nice. Yep, the police officers certainly should've just asked him nicely to, please sir, when you have the time to wake up from being publicly soused, if you would be so kind to stir from your sleeping bag, if it's not too much trouble? He was on a relatives property. Apparently it makes no diffrence to a Leo. Hey at least the leo's all went home safe that night and no dogs were shot. Roy The dog remark just keeps getting funnier every single time somone says it Just remeber when somone kills someone close to you, or, steals your car, or some such, that the cops can't arrest them , beat, and tase the crap out of a sleeping person who has absolutely connection to the murder or any other crime if they are on private property Yeah, I'm gonne be really burned up if I report a crime and the cops don't automatically beat the living shit out of the first person they see.

1. Obviously the cops didn't have good evidence that this was the guy they were looking for (because he was NOT)

2. The entered private property without a warrant or probable cause (see #1)

3. They shine a light in a sleeping guy's face and yell a command at him.  Astoundingly he responded incoherently and did not immediately comply...

4. So they beat him up.

5. He says things like, "What's going on?", "What'd I do", "I'm not fighting!"

6. JBT:  That's what you get!

Now what exactly would YOU (Mr. Cop Bashing Thread Suspecter) have done if you were sleeping outside (in a SLEEPING BAG of all things - imagine that!) and someone woke you up by shining a light in your face and yelling at you?  Maybe you'd try to block the light from your eyes as you came into consciousness?  Sorry, wrong answer!  That gets you TAZED, BEATEN, AND EATEN BY POLICE DOGS.  

So what would you do?  I guess you'd magically instantly become 100% alert and know right away that these were some of Pierce County's Finest and they just broke into the yard and violently woke you up because they thought you were someone else.

"The deputies, accompanied by a K-9 officer from the Tacoma Police Department, were looking for an armed suspect in a car break-in when they came upon Aaron Otto Hansen, 34, of Roy, early on July 10, 2004. "

That was taken from the article.  I did not see the video but if I was only allowed to read this I would have responded with this:

Cops are looking while on foot for suspect that I assume they are after.  While in the process of doing this they see someone who is in/under/partially hid by a sleeping bag or blanket.  They give repeated load verbal orders for the now suspected ARMED car jacker to show them hands so that the officers could see that this person was not holding a gun or knife that he could use on them.  

The officer then crosses the fence to close with the now suspected ARMED car jacker.  He attempts to pull the sleeping bag/blanket away so that the officers can make a determination on whether he is armed or not and he jerks the bag back up.  Cops end up with a fight on there hands.  

Guy may be drunk but that is no excuse to escalate matters by continuing to fight 3 persons in uniforms screaming sheriffs office let me see your hands.  Had he done so it would have gone without incident.  Even after the fact that the cops were on him and he knew they were Deputy’s, if he would have not continued to kick and carry on it would have ended better.

Now, as I said, I have not seen the video, they could have been completely in the wrong and just saw and guy on the other side of a fence and decided to beat the shit out of him and taser him for fun. I doubt it but hey anything is possible.

Not sure.  But if this all the facts we had to go on most LE would have reacted the same way to keep from getting hurt.  

Quoted: Whatever.  I should know better than to even comment on what's obviously supposed to be a cop bashing thread.  Carry on.

It wouldnt happen if certain Officers didnt make it so easy.

Quoted: my neighbor had to have a new face and jaw made because he went into a diabetic coma and collapsed at a club and because he wouldnt get up two hpd officers kicked and beat him with asps so bad it crushed his jaw, his cheek bones, crushed eachs eye's orbital bone and blew out the plates of both eyes, all because he wouldn't get up, his medical alert bracelet didn't help

sounds reasonable to me

Quoted: "He was hiding in what looked like a sleeping bag, and he wouldn't comply with our commands," Kolp says. "I went through the fence, tried to pull the blanket back, and the fight was on. He resisted from the get-go ... ended up kicking us, the whole nine yards. So the cops see you sleeping in a yard and suddenly your hiding from them? I haven't seen the video but this doesn't seem like very good probable cause to me.

I saw the video. He was sleeping in a sleeping bag (or what looked like it). Between getting woken up, being still drunk, and being tangled up in the sleeping bag, it looked like he was getting tased and bitten before he could react lucidly.

It looked like the officers made some big and incorrect assumptions, and it went straight into the crapper from there. They were chasing down a thief and it looked like the badguy ran down the alley past this guy, so this guy was encountered as the cops followed the police dog down the alley.

His "assault" of the officers, would be a big stretch based on what I saw.  There was a brief struggle has he tried to pull the blanket over his eyes and go back to sleep.

Sounds like Murphy's law ruled here..

Quoted: Guy may be drunk but that is no excuse to escalate (WTF?)matters by continuing to fight 3 persons in uniforms (It's dark, he was asleep, they have a light in his eyes)screaming sheriffs office let me see your hands.  Had he done so it would have gone without incident.  Even after the fact that the cops were on him and he knew they were Deputy’s, if he would have not continued to kick and carry on (defend himself against an assault)it would have ended better.

Quoted: Quoted: my neighbor had to have a new face and jaw made because he went into a diabetic coma and collapsed at a club and because he wouldnt get up two hpd officers kicked and beat him with asps so bad it crushed his jaw, his cheek bones, crushed eachs eye's orbital bone and blew out the plates of both eyes, all because he wouldn't get up, his medical alert bracelet didn't help sounds reasonable to me

Jesus Christ. -- off topic here but just damn.

Quoted: Quoted: "He was hiding in what looked like a sleeping bag, and he wouldn't comply with our commands," Kolp says. "I went through the fence, tried to pull the blanket back, and the fight was on. He resisted from the get-go ... ended up kicking us, the whole nine yards. So the cops see you sleeping in a yard and suddenly your hiding from them? I haven't seen the video but this doesn't seem like very good probable cause to me. I saw the video. He was sleeping in a sleeping bag (or what looked like it). Between getting woken up, being still drunk, and being tangled up in the sleeping bag, it looked like he was getting tased and bitten before he could react lucidly. It looked like the officers made some big and incorrect assumptions, and it went straight into the crapper from there. They were chasing down a thief and it looked like the badguy ran down the alley past this guy, so this guy was encountered as the cops followed the police dog down the alley. His "assault" of the officers, would be a big stretch based on what I saw.  There was a brief struggle has he tried to pull the blanket over his eyes and go back to sleep. Sounds like Murphy's law ruled here..

I'd be with them right up until you can see he's not the guy and letting the police dog gnaw on him while he's being tasered.  Why they figured the car jacker they were persuing snuggled into a sleeping bag I don't know.... but I can see wanting to get control before you know who this is and if he is your armed suspect.  

How quickly did they assertain this was not thier suspect?