Unsuck DC Metro: Disturbing Video (NSFW: Language)

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Disturbing Video (NSFW: Language)

Via @punditintrigued

Update: NBC4 has more on the story.

The patches appear to be those of Metro cops.

It's hard to imagine why they'd need to take someone in a wheelchair down like that.

Comments (46)

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+12 Vote up Vote down

@jeaneanw · 722 weeks ago

People on other sites have commented that the man in the chair has been seen harassing people in the area on occasion. We don't have the context for this video. He does not appear to be incapable of walking, his legs were moving and he stood for a moment until all three men appear to fall. I know it is popular to come down on cops, but I wouldn't want their thankless job.

5 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

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unsuckdcmetro 92p · 722 weeks ago

It is hard to tell what happened. Hopefully, others can provide context.

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guest · 722 weeks ago

Check out officer on left - he put his leg in front of the perp and forced him down

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Nunya Beezwax · 722 weeks ago

Just for clarification, those are DC PD patches, not Metro.

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anon · 722 weeks ago

no way. those are mtpd. all the way. three circles, brown trim with va, dc, md...nothing like dc

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KeepAn OpenMind · 722 weeks ago

thank you

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elizabeth · 722 weeks ago

OMG! Thanks for posting this- hopefully it ends up on the news like the Parking thing did- that is CRAZY, there was blood all over the ground and the guy wasn't even moving- very curious to know what their "probable cause" was to abuse him in such a way when all they needed to do was hold his wheelchair still to detain him!

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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PCB · 722 weeks ago

Could have something to do with the left hook he attempted.

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Scared · 722 weeks ago

This can only end badly (for all of us). WMATA Police, searching your bags and inciting riots. #notwinning

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HurricaneDC 76p · 722 weeks ago

I can't imagine what the guy did to warrant that. They should be fired.

1 reply · active 722 weeks ago

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Richard · 722 weeks ago

They should be fired because YOU can't IMAGINE?

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cop · 722 weeks ago

I don't care if he could walk or not. There's no reason for a takedown like that. Truly wondering what's going on in that department.

Yes, we don't know what transpired before, but the brutality is totally uncalled for unless he was brandishing a gun, which I don't think he was.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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GDopplerXT · 722 weeks ago

If he was brandishing a gun, I suspect the "brutality" would have been much more brutal than this. Cops tend to shoot suspects who are brandishing a gun, don't they?

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KeepAn OpenMind · 722 weeks ago

The last thing an Officer wants to do is arrest someone in a wheel chair. So it leads me to believe they damn sure had a reason and an obligation to arrest this subject. Furthermore, its evident that the subject began to resist. I offer you this: the subject knows every square inch of that wheelchair like the back of his hand. He knows what he has stashed where, where the knife, where the gun is. An Officer is not going to stand there and let this subject resist and offer himself-up on a silver platter to be knifed or worse off shot. People of this blog. Trying looking at things with a human point of view. These Officers go to work everyday to protect you and to make arrests when necessary... when necessary. This subject had to go and then resisted arrest. It would be great to get the back story as to why this subject had to be placed under arrest. But then again, i'm sure if you knew the back-story, you would just as soon dismiss it and once again, attack these Officers. Thank You MTPD for being on the front-lines and protecting the citizenry of D.C, MD and VA everyday, while enduring verbal and physical attacks by those very people you are at once protecting.

3 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

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@kara_h · 722 weeks ago

Voted down when it was going to be a vote up.

Yes, I greatly agree that this can only be judged in context. As you point out there can be situations where a cop would need to separate someone from their chair. The question is was this one of those times or not?

The vote-down though came when you decided to attack the readers of the blog and just assume we were not intelligent. We are being asked to judge based on no context, so the only context we can use is past experience .... which is rarely overwhelmingly good with anything metro.

Look back in this blog and you will see people praising good actions by metro when they happen. The reason they are few and far between is that those good actions by metro are also few and far between.

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GDopplerXT · 722 weeks ago

"you decided to attack the readers of the blog and just assume we were not intelligent"

He/she assumed you (we?) weren't being open-minded, not that you weren't being intelligent. He/she strongly suggested that you weren't being fair in judgement, but that's not the same as not being intelligent either.

"We are being asked to judge..."

This, I think, is the heart of the matter that you and many readers of the blog don't get. You are not being asked to judge anything. If you want to then go ahead, and say "in my opinion" and then judge away. But you are not being asked to judge anything. This blog would benefit from a lot less judgment and a lot more discussion and asking and answering of questions. You know, more information, less judgment.

"The reason they are few and far between is that..."

The reason they are few and far between is that people are far more likely to raise their voice when things go badly for them than when they do not. How many thousands of people have uneventful commutes on metro every day? If they all posted on this blog it would be the most popular blog in town.

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Melissa · 722 weeks ago

Ummmm, sorry. I am all for law enforcement being there to protect us, but it's a little bit of a stretch when you have a disabled man in a wheel chair with a drink in his hands. The amount of force they used to slam him down on the ground requiring several stiches is way above using reasonable force.

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Deb1115 · 722 weeks ago

We have young adults attacking and robbing people at Metro stations. Also, we have people being attacked outside of stations and recently someone tried to abduct a woman in the afternoon outside of the Brookland Metro Station. WMATA Police have been MIA when these things have occurred...now we all know were they have been deployed. Thanks for keeping the community safe from an elderly man in a wheelchair who was supposedly inebriated. Thanks for protecting us from the real criminals...

4 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

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ANON · 722 weeks ago

you're an idiot if you want a cop at every station it will cost more to ride the train.
your choice

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Deb1115 · 722 weeks ago

I've been riding Metro trains for 12 years. The only time I see WMATA officers are during emergency preparedness week. I've never seen them on trains other than during that time, that was the whole purpose for my comment I NEVER SEE THEM! Never stated that I wanted a cop at every station, those are your words...*sigh*.

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ANON · 722 weeks ago

open your eyes, I see officers all over.

all you maggots should stop crying or stop riding your choice.

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Annoyed · 722 weeks ago

You really don't have much of a clue. As if a disable person can't be a dangerous criminal? Now, I don't know if that amount of force was necessary- I wasn't there and I can only armchair quarterback it, but they encountered this on patrol doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing. They saw a criminal violation, attempted to issue a citation and the gentleman refused to sign it and became disorderly (which means he had to be arrested).

So often, cops are called out for using ANY kind of force when it is someone who is disabled, or elderly, or a child. ALL can hurt or kill... you just don't realize it because I am sure you never have to deal with such unsavory people. Did you not see that a DC officer was shot three times by a 15yr old Saturday?

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Ted Williams · 722 weeks ago

No question about it -- this will be on Fox 5, at a minimum, before too long. If the DCPD has any sense, they'll try to get ahead of this and start releasing details about the arrest immediately.

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BSS · 722 weeks ago

you know what? you bitch and complain when there arent enough cops around, and when they do something like take down a guy in the wheelchair you bitch about that too. who knows why they did it but i sure as hell bet they had a reason and dont just go around taking down dudes in wheelchairs for sport.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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Ted Williams · 722 weeks ago

We will see. Too often in the US these days, cops are nothing more than "ego in a uniform" who dispense arbitrary violence without thought about what's "legal." The case of the local mayor in MD and his wife who were locked up and their dogs killed (all illegally) is a case in point. The guy in the wheelchair could have been hurled to the ground and bloodied for nothing more than offering the cops some lip. Cellphone video is the best thing that ever happened to keep cops in line.

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Hhh · 722 weeks ago

MTPD w/0 a doubt

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@chrisatyoursix · 722 weeks ago

@nbcwashington says WMATA PD claims "the patron resisted arrest which resulted in him falling out of his wheelchair." Yeah, he "fell". Nice try at spinning that one! #fail

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Joe · 722 weeks ago

Here are the issues with the situation... Two white Transit Police cops, one black man under arrest. Person being arrested is in a wheelchair. Cops use a lot of force to bring the man down face first on a concrete sidewalk (note how the officer on the left places his leg to trip the guy to make sure he falls). Lots of blood. Transit Police cops probably don't get a lot of action down in the system and are anxious to put their training to use. The person at Metro who said that the main "fell" out of his wheelchair is clearly spinning the situation, and now that the video has come out, the explanation looks totally bogus.

Ultimately this will cost Metro millions of dollars. I predict the two cops will get fired (because of their stupidity, if not because they abused their power), and the chief may have to go, too.

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Dontbefooled · 722 weeks ago

Sorry, but in my book this qualifies as an excessive use of force. I commend the bystander(s) for trying to stand up for the guy. There are good cops out there, but they're in the minority. In the past I would have asked for context too, but now I know better. And don't think you're immune from crap like this because you're a law-abidding citizen or come from a good family.

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Corresponding Toads · 722 weeks ago

Sure sure, cops need to protect themselves from those who resist arrest - but that doesn't give the cops an excuse to FACE SLAM the dude into the ground. Once they had the guy's body IN THE AIR, they could've set him down easy and handcuffed him with no incident.

But yeah, why use constraint when you feel threatened by a guy in a wheelchair? Might as well knock a few of his teeth out, amirite?

+3 Vote up Vote down

hrh king friday 13 · 722 weeks ago

They saw him rollin', so naturally, they be hatin'.

+3 Vote up Vote down

Anon · 722 weeks ago

I have seen people in wheelchairs dealing drugs and you have some in jail too I heard. You have to know or get the entire story.

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www.accessthedmv.com · 722 weeks ago

There's alot to be figured with this video surfacing. All things considered, a intoxicated man in a wheelchair is NOT the biggest threat on U St. More than likely, he was just attempting to make a pass at a few women, with beer on his breath. Several points made, previously are that he MAY have had a weapon stashed on the chair somewhere, though I totally disagree with the manner that the takedown transpired. The man videotaping and another woman, apparently know this man by name AND where he lives, the Transit Police aren't privy to this information, but again, the takedown was a bit excessive for a man in a motorized wheelchair.

Also....the point made that he was intoxicated could be fabricated as well. Let that sink in.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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RGG · 722 weeks ago

Yep. That .30 Blood Alcohol Content was surely fabricated.

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Guest · 722 weeks ago

"It's hard to imagine why they'd need to take someone in a wheelchair down like that."

Maybe he was eating french fries.

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Guest McGuest · 722 weeks ago

Excessive. That looks more like "teaching the guy a lesson" and not "unintended byproduct of an arrest."

And by now I assume the cops know that there is likely to be a camera on them on a street like that in the daytime; imagine what they would have done to the guy in the dark and/or away from a crowd.

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jkuchen · 722 weeks ago

WTOP has a source that claims that the guy had a blood alcohol content of 0.30:
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2393579

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zahzu · 722 weeks ago

I believe the proper way to arrest someone in a wheelchair is to lean them forward and then handcuff them. Not try to take them out of the wheelchair, for obvious reasons. This is bad and will inevitably poorly affect us all in some way. But as you all probably know or expect these officers are not trained to properly deal with just about all the situations they come across, including this one.

If metro can't afford to keep the trains, elevators and escalators in working order, do you think they can afford to give ongoing training? I wonder if they are even trained in evacuation/emergency responses.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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Anon · 722 weeks ago

Hey man- They didn't have to he stood up on his own. I know a guy gets on the bus and folds his own wheelchair up and walks up the stairs. WOW! This looks like him!

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PRLOWKEE · 722 weeks ago

IS THIS THE SAME GUY WHO STABBED SOMEONE ON THE W6 BUS A FEW DAYS AGO. THAT GUY WAS ALSO IN A WHEELCHAIR. MTPD DONT PLAY GOOD JOB GUYS OFFICER SAFETY ALL THE WAY

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Jeebus · 722 weeks ago

O, the poor drunkard! He's just misunderstood!

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tradertimm 89p · 722 weeks ago

Brutal takedown, but there are a few things to consider - if you've waited at the U & 14th Bus stop ever, you'll know what I mean. People idle there and near the subway entrance while drinking their rotgut liquor or beer, in plain sight, at all hours of the day.

Also, most 'wheelchair' owners who ride in electric scooters like this can walk, I've seen them do so. I don't know how they get the subsidy to afford them in the first place, but any cursory glance on 14th street north of Columbia Heights station will show you a few characters that routinely use these to go up and down the sidewalks, bumming for change, smokes, etc.. We're not talking paraplegics here, or even people who can't walk unassisted.

My only issue is with the escalation during the takedown, but it seems to be one of those situations where they were going to do some kind of controlled cuffing procedure, but he started to struggle and it went the path of least resistance down to the sidewalk. Its a hard call when you don't know if the guy has something stashed on his person or conveyance that could be used against you while restraining the subject.

While I hope the dude is okay, I'd also bet there are a few relieved pedestrians and restaurant owners who don't mind a public drunkard harassing people taken off the street, even if it is just for a little while.

I fully expect him to be back very soon, regaling passersby with his alcohol-fueled rants and leers.

+2 Vote up Vote down

SLAM · 722 weeks ago

Textbook DUI!

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Xela Kebert · 722 weeks ago

It is interesting how no news agency has done a report on the man in a wheel chair, who had only one working arm and one working leg, who stabbed another man in the head with a knife early Saturday afternoon.
Also it was reported that this man in the slam video was arrested for Possession of an open container and Assault. Obviously he assaulted the officers in some way; which most officers do not take politely. Just because you don't see the assault in the video doesn't mean it didn't happen.
If anything can be taken from this it's that, just because you're old, young, white, black, asian, in a wheel chair etc. and you become physically aggressive to a police officer, then you're most likely going to get slammed.

"Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see."
Benjamin Franklin

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devaldragon 59p · 722 weeks ago

Abuse a homeless man, get a desk job. Maybe that's what they wanted to begin with?

1 reply · active 722 weeks ago

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tradertimm 89p · 722 weeks ago

More accurately, "Attempt to restore order when a drunk person in a scooter (BAC of .30 - http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2393579) with everyone around you telling you to go 'eff yourself"

But most of these people wouldn't hesitate to call the cops if their neighbors stereo is playing too loudly. Oh irony, you run in great winding rivers throughout D.C. and beyond.

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