Cops Caught Beating Man, Not in LA (finally)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Three police officers in New Orleans were charged with battery late Sunday after an incident in which two repeatedly struck a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication as another officer confronted an Associated Press Television News producer as a cameraman taped the confrontations. The three patrolmen were also suspended without pay, then released and ordered to appear in court at a later date, Capt. Marlon Defillo said. "We have great concern with what we saw this morning," Defillo said after he and about a dozen other high-ranking police department officials watched the APTN footage Sunday. "It's a troubling tape, no doubt about it. ... This department will take immediate action." The charges come as the department, long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption, struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resignation last month of Police Superintendent Eddie Compass. The APTN tape shows an officer hitting the man at least four times in the head Saturday night as he stood outside a bar near Bourbon Street. The suspect, Robert Davis, appeared to resist, twisting and flailing as he was dragged to the ground by four officers. Another of the four officers then kneed Davis and punched him twice. Davis was face-down on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm and into the gutter. Meanwhile, a fifth officer ordered APTN producer Rich Matthews and the cameraman to stop recording. When Matthews held up his credentials and explained he was working, the officer grabbed the producer, leaned him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade. "I've been here for six weeks trying to keep ... alive. ... Go home!" shouted the officer, who later identified himself as S.M. Smith. Defillo identified the patrolmen as Stuart Smith, Lance Schilling and Robert Evangelist. Smith is an eight-year veteran of the department, and the other officers have each been on the force for three years, he said. Police said Davis, 64, of New Orleans, was booked on public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. He was treated at a hospital and released into police custody. A mug shot of Davis, provided by a jailer, showed him with his right eye swollen shut, an apparent abrasion on the left side of his neck and a cut on his right temple. "The incidents taped by our cameraman are extremely troubling," said Mike Silverman, AP's managing editor. "We are heartened that the police department is taking them seriously and promising a thorough investigation." Davis, who is black, was subdued at the intersection of Conti and Bourbon streets. Three of the officers appeared to be white, and the other is light skinned. The officer who hit Matthews is white. Defillo said race was not an issue. Three of the five officers -- including Smith -- are New Orleans officers, and two others appeared to be federal officers. Numerous agencies have sent police to help with patrols in the aftermath of Katrina. Under normal circumstances, it takes unusually offensive behavior to trigger an arrest on Bourbon Street. But New Orleans police have been working under stressful conditions since the hurricane. Officers slept in their cars and worked 24-hour shifts after the storm. Three-quarters lost their homes and their families are scattered across the country. "Our police officers are working under some very trying times," Defillo said. "So it's a difficult time, but it doesn't excuse what our jobs are supposed to be." Many officers deserted their posts in the days after Katrina, and some were accused of joining in the looting that broke out. At least two committed suicide. Conditions have improved -- officers now have beds on a cruise ship -- but they don't have private rooms and are still working five, 12-hour days a week. Compass, the police superintendent, resigned September 27. Despite more than 10 years of reform efforts dating to before he took office, police were dogged by allegations of brutality and corruption. On Friday, state authorities said they were investigating allegations that New Orleans police broke into a dealership and made off with nearly 200 cars -- including 41 new Cadillacs -- as the storm closed in. Watch video of the arrest (1:26) Thanks to CNN.com