Local Man Claims Excessive Police Force
A Springfield Township man who recently had back surgery said he's a victim of police brutality.
Police said Chris Parmer of Springfield Township drove too close to an officer during a traffic stop, so the police pulled him over. Parmer was on his way home around 11 p.m. Saturday night.
What happened next was caught on a police officer's cruiser videotape, with the exception of the first two minutes of the traffic stop, which were not caught on tape because the officers had not yet turned the recorder on.
Parmer said an officer from Greenhills stopped him, asked him to get out of the car and told him to lean over and put his hands on the car's hood.
"I told them 'This is as far as I can lean over, I've had back surgery,'" Parmer said.
Then, some Springfield Township police cars arrived and one of the officers told Parmer to put his hands behind his back. The videotape of the arrest shows Parmer trying to put his hands behind his back.
Then, according to Parmer, "So I did it and all of the sudden, hell broke loose. They're kneeing me in my back and they're punching the hell out of me on my left side. Right there on the right you see that punch."
Parmer was then maced. The videotape shows that even after he was handcuffed, the officer threw another punch. Then, the videotape shows the officers picking Parmer up by his arms and putting him in the back of the police cruiser.
Parmer said he was maced one more time right after police put him in the cruiser. Although the back of the cruiser isn't able to be seen on the videotape of the fixed-position camera, Parmer's screams from the back of the cruiser are heard on the tape.
"We watched the video. We interviewed the officers. You know, our feeling is that they acted properly and within our guidelines.," said Chief David Heimpold of the Springfield Twp. Police Dept.
Heimpold said Parmer from watching the tape, he believes that Parmer was resisting arrest, pushing back from the car.
"From watching the tape, it appears that some physical force is being exerted not to be arrested," Heimpold said.
Parmer said he plans to sue the Springfield Township and Greenhills police. For that reason, the Greenhills police chief could only say that his officers "followed proper procedures."
"I did not struggle at all. I tried the best to comply with everything he asked of me. We want people to protect us, not offend us. I want justice," Parmer said.
Parmer was charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest. He was treated and released from Jewish Hospital the night of his arrest.