Cops seen hitting carjacking suspect will not be charged, prosecutor says
Ross Jones
3:44 PM, Apr 20, 2015
5:21 PM, Apr 20, 2015
WXYZ News - Detroit
http://www.wxyz.com/homepage-showcase/cops-seen-hitting-carjacking-suspect-will-not-be-charged-prosecutor-says
DETROIT (WXYZ) - Two police officers captured on cell phone video hitting and kicking a carjacking suspect will not face charges.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy today said that her office found there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against Highland Park Police Sgt. Ronald Dupuis and Grosse Pointe Park Sgt. James Volger.
This cell phone video, captured back in January, shows a scuffle between both officers and Andrew Jackson, an alleged carjacker who’s accused of pointing a gun at a grandmother and her two young grandsons. The video shows Jackson is kicked and beaten, both before and after his hands are cuffed. Worthy, who viewed the video, says it shows Jackson was resisting arrest.
"It is clear that he was a felon attempting to flee, and when apprehended, was armed with a weapon while he actively resisted attempts to arrest," Worthy said. "He refused to surrender his right hand for cuffing."
A lawyer representing Sgt. Volger today said he supported the prosecutor's decision. A message left with Sgt. Dupuis' was not returned.
While not criminal, Worthy did not defend some of the officers’ conduct. She said some of Sgt. Dupuis’s behavior was improper and warrants possible punishment from his superiors. She said the same about Sgt. Volger when he was seen on video slapping Jackson in the head after he was cuffed. Still, Worthy said, charges aren’t warranted.
Highland Park Police Chief Kevin Coney said today that Sgt. Dupuis is not currently facing potential discipline. Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief Dave Hiller said a decision has not yet been made with regard to Sgt. Volger.
Attorney Herb Sanders represents Jackson, who is currently locked up on carjacking charges. Sanders says he was surprised by Worthy's decision.
"It’s an unfortunate day for justice," he said.
Right now, Jackson is suing both officers and the cities that employ them for more than $1 million.
"Let’s assume that the assessment was made that the striking to the back of his head, the knee to his back, the pushing of his face to the ground is not worthy of a criminal charge," Sanders said. "Surely it’s worthy of a misdemeanor charge."
Worthy said today that Jackson refused to cooperate with her office's investigation into the officers' conduct. Sanders defended his client's decision.
"It wouldn’t make sense for him to have a conversation while those charges are pending concerning what transpired on that day," Sanders said.
"But in this case," said Channel 7's Ross Jones, "they were asking about possible charges against someone else that he’s accusing of a crime. Wouldn’t it be in his best interest to speak about that?"
"I think you’re assuming what they were asking him about," Sanders responded. "You weren’t there, nor did they contact his attorney, myself, and ask me to be there when they attempted to question him."
Inkster police officer charged with two felonies connected to violent arrest; Highland Park officer cleared
By Gus Burns
MLIVE
on April 20, 2015 at 11:06 AM, updated April 20, 2015 at 1:04 PM
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/04/wayne_county_prosecutor_issuin.html#incart_story_package
DETROIT, MI -- Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy on Monday charged ex-Inkster Police Officer William Melendez with two felonies for his involvement in the violent Jan. 28 arrest of 57-year-old Floyd Dent.
Worthy also dismissed an open felony cocaine possession charge against Dent, stating, It was "in the best interest of justice." She declined to elaborate on whether she believes Melendez planted the drugs, as Dent and his attorney, Gregory Rohl, insist.
The Inkster Police Department fired Melendez last week.
A separate police brutality investigation of Highland Park Police Sgt. Ronald Dupuis and Grosse Pointe Park Sgt. James Volger yielded no charges.
"We cannot turn our heads when a law enforcer becomes the law breaker," Worthy said. "At the same time, this office will not press a charge against and officer -- or anyone else for that matter -- if it can't be proven in the court of law under the appropriate evidence and no matter what is being said in the court of public opinion."
Worthy said both investigations have concluded and did not provide arrest or arraignment information on Melendez. He's charged with misconduct in office/mistreatment of a prisoner, punishable by up to five years in prison; and assault with intent to do great bodily harm, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Both investigations were prompted by videotaped arrests and involve officers with checkered pasts.
Jackson, 51, was beaten by Dupuis, who's worked for three other departments and faced prior allegations that he shot his partner with a Taser, arrested a man without cause and choked a woman in jail.
Melendez, who worked for the Inkster Police Department until being fired Thursday, earned a reputation as an aggressive cop and the nickname "Robocop" while previously working for the Detroit Police Department.
Melendez has been named in a numerous civil lawsuits filed by plaintiffs claiming he violated their civil rights.
Jackson, a parolee with at least 16 aliases and a tattoo of a machine gun on his left bicep, has a criminal history that traces back more than two decades. He has since been charged with 11 felonies, including armed robbery and carjacking, in connection with his Jan. 12 arrest.
Police say Jackson carjacked a woman and her two grandchildren at gunpoint. He was arrested by a multi-agency auto theft task force based in Grosse Pointe Park and is set to go on trial June 15.
A resident caught Jackson's arrest on video with her cell phone. It's since garnered over 1.3 million views.
The video shows Dupuis straddling the back of Jackson, who is face-down. Dupuis punches the man several times in the head while his partner adds a couple kicks before Jackson is handcuffed.
Jackson can be heard muttering something.
"What'd you say?," the officer who kicked him says while kneeling in the center of Jackson's back. "Jesus? You're calling Jesus?
"You (expletive)! Don't you dare; don't you (expletive) dare."
Worthy says Jackson "refused to cooperate through his lawyer with this investigation."
"It is clear he was a felon attempting to flee, and when apprehended was armed with a weapon while he ... resisted the attempts to arrest and refused to surrender his right hand for cuffing," Worthy said.
"Sgt. Dupuis does appear to have minor contact with Mr. Jackson once this arrest is complete.
And although the contact is improper ... it does not support a criminal charge."
Worthy suggests the department punish Dupuis internally.
She says Volger struck Jackson in the thigh "with a recognized and accepted technique."
In the case of Dent, he and and his attorneys claim, after being punched in the head 16 times by Melendez, and kicked and shot with a Taser three times by another officer, police planted cocaine.
Dent was originally charged with possessing crack cocaine, driving on a suspended license and resisting and assaulting a police officer.
Melendez remains employed as a part-time police officer with the Highland Park Police Department.
State police investigated both arrests and forwarded their findings to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
VIDEO: What Does It Take To Fire A Bad Cop? Just Ask Ronald Dupuis
By MintPress News Desk
Minneapolis, MN
April 17, 2015
http://www.mintpressnews.com/what-does-take-to-fire-a-bad-cop-just-ask-ronald-dupuis/204481/
Ronald Dupuis, a police officer from Highland Park, Michigan, has a record of questionable -- and even outright bad -- behavior dating back to the 1980s. These decades of missteps don’t seem to be hampering his career, though.
With almost daily reports of brutality and fatal shootings of unarmed black people by police, activists in America are asking why officers so rarely face lasting consequences for their actions.
With almost daily reports of brutality and fatal shootings of unarmed black people by police, activists in America are asking why officers so rarely face lasting consequences for their actions.
When Darren Wilson left his post with the Ferguson Police Department, crowdfunding efforts raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the man who killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Investigations into Wilson’s past revealed that he’d first been employed by a Missouri police force that was disbanded for corruption.
“Back in 2013, Mario Givens, an African American North Charleston man, had been ‘roughed up’ when Slager came to his door, demanding to be let in ‘as part of an investigation.’”
North Charleston Police have faced 46 federal lawsuits since 2000.
But few cops can match the checkered past of Sgt. Ronald Dupuis, the officer from Highland Park, Michigan, who remains employed despite a string of incidents that have followed him through multiple departments. Highland Park is the seventh police force to employ Dupuis.
A new lawsuit alleges that Dupuis held two women in jail without charges for four days. Shockingly, the incident didn’t even begin in Highland Park, where Dupuis is employed as a cop and where he allegedly imprisoned the two women, “Rhianna Turner and her domestic partner Kera Hill.” Instead, Dupuis is accused of intervening in an incident in Detroit.
In September 2013, a sheriff’s deputy witnessed the pair “playfully wrestling over a set of keys,” and intervened because he feared an assault had occurred. Although both women denied a crime had occurred, Dupuis arrived on the scene, arrested the two women, and took them to jail in nearby Highland Park. Though no charges were filed, Turner lost her job as a Detroit Parking Enforcement Officer.
“The video of the arrest, which was recorded by Detroit resident Emma Craig on Monday on the city’s northwest side and posted on Facebook, shows Dupuis striking the suspect several times while apparently trying to handcuff him and administering a final blow after Jackson’s hands were secured behind his back,” reported George Hunter in The Detroit News.
He was previously fired from the Hamtramck, Michigan, Police Department for using a taser on his own partner. Although a jury declined to convict him for it, courts refused to force the city to reinstate Dupuis, which is how he ended up employed by Highland Park.
Reneé Harrington, creator of the Michigan Officer Involved Domestic Violence Project, compiled a lengthy timeline of Dupuis-related incidents dating back to 1997. According to the timeline, the Southgate, Michigan, Police Department fired him in 1999 for stalking a woman and repeatedly pulling her over.
Wayne County prosecutor to reveal results of two police brutality investigations Monday
By Gus Burns
MLive
April 17, 2015 at 2:13 PM
Updated April 17, 2015 at 2:27 PM
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/04/wayne_county_prosecutor_to_rev.html#incart_story_package
DETROIT, MI -- Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy plans to reveal the results of two recent police brutality investigations at 11 a.m. Monday.
She plans "to announce charging decisions on assault allegations regarding Floyd Dent and Andrew Jackson (Jr.)," a statement issued by Worthy's office on Friday says. "No further information will be given until the press conference."
Both investigations were prompted by videotaped arrests and involve officers with checkered pasts.
Jackson, 51, was beaten by Highland Park Police Officer Ronald Dupuis, who's worked for three other departments and faced prior allegations that he shot his partner with a Taser, arrested a man without cause and choked a woman in jail.
William Melendez, who worked for the Inkster Police Department until being fired Thursday, earned a reputation as an aggressive cop and the nickname "Robocop" while previously working for the Detroit Police Department.
Melendez has been named in a numerous civil lawsuits filed by plaintiffs claiming he violated their civil rights.
Jackson, a parolee with at least 16 aliases and a tattoo of a machine gun on his left bicep, has a criminal history that traces back more than two decades. He has since been charged with 11 felonies, including armed robbery and carjacking, in connection with his Jan. 12 arrest.
Police say Jackson carjacked a woman and her two grandchildren at gunpoint. He was arrested by a multi-agency auto theft task force based in Grosse Pointe Park and is set to go on trial June 15.
A resident caught Jackson's arrest on video with her cell phone. It's since garnered over 1.3 million views.
The video shows Dupuis straddling the back of Jackson, who is face-down. Dupuis punches the man several times in the head while his partner adds a couple kicks before Jackson is handcuffed.
Jackson can be heard muttering something.
"What'd you say?," the officer who kicked him says while kneeling in the center of Jackson's back. "Jesus? You're calling Jesus?
"You (expletive)! Don't you dare; don't you (expletive) dare."
"The officers in this case arrested an extremely dangerous wanted felon who was armed with a hand gun," Grosse Pointe Police Chief David A. Hiller said in a statement following the arrest. "They were required to utilize various techniques to affect the arrest.
"Due to the totality of the circumstances we believe the actions of the officers in affecting the arrest proper."
Dent's case, if proven true, would be more egregious.
Dent and his attorneys claim, after being punched in the head 16 times by Melendez, and kicked and shot with a Taser three times by another officer, police planted cocaine.
Dent was charged with possessing crack cocaine, driving on a suspended license and resisting and assaulting a police officer. The last charge was dismissed for lack of evidence in the District Court. Dent is expected back in court April 29 for a docket conference on the remaining felony charge.
State police investigated both arrests and forwarded their findings to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
Check back with MLive Monday for more news from the press conference.
"I hope it's good news," Nick Bennett, an attorney working on Dent's case, said Friday. "They haven't contacted us or anything."
Records paint carjacking suspect as escape artist
By Gina Damron,
Detroit Free Press
9:20 a.m. EDT March 9, 2015
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/03/08/alleged-carjacker-absconded-video-beating/24627261/
A carjacking suspect — on parole at the time police arrested him in a violent takedown caught on video — has a history of fleeing officers, and records paint him as an escape artist.
Andrew Jackson Jr., accused of robbing a Detroit woman at gunpoint in January in front of her grandchildren, is headed to trial on carjacking, armed robbery and other charges. He is to be arraigned Tuesday in Wayne County Circuit Court.
Jackson filed a $1-million lawsuit in federal court against the cities of Grosse Pointe Park and Highland Park and some of their officers, accusing police of using excessive force during his arrest. An attorney for Highland Park previously said the city's position is that "no wrongdoing was committed."
Hundreds of pages of Michigan Department of Corrections records, reviewed by the Free Press, detail Jackson's criminal history, which includes convictions on charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, assault with intent to rob while armed, fleeing police and stolen property offenses.
History of fleeing
Corrections Department records show Jackson was in and out of prison, and they detail his history of walking away from programs and violating parole.
Rebekah Coleman, Jackson's attorney in the criminal case, said she is familiar with her client's history, "but I cannot give too much input on that at this point."
Records indicate Jackson went AWOL from the Army in the 1980s, left a drug treatment center in 1994 and failed to return to a facility after doing community service one day in 1995.
He left a residential program in 1997, failing to return from a doctor's appointment and later was arrested in Southfield after police saw him start a vehicle, which had been reported stolen, with a screwdriver in the parking lot of a motel, records show.
According to a police report, Jackson told police he had a crack cocaine and heroin addiction, and "that the vehicle was rented from a crack house."
He was sentenced to prison time and paroled June 30, 1999. About a week later, police caught him with a stolen truck. Jackson ran when officers attempted a traffic stop and, after he was arrested, he admitted to knowing the truck was stolen when he got it from a friend.
He was sentenced to jail and probation. His parole was suspended and, eventually, he was returned to a correctional facility, records indicate.
Jackson was paroled on March 28, 2002, and failed to attend a program in April. Records indicate Jackson was put into a Parole Violator Diversion Program.
He was paroled March 5, 2003, given a $185 parole loan and was supposed to check in at a hotel in Detroit — but he didn't. He was told by his field agent the next day to bring back the loan. According to records, Jackson showed up March 7, was seen by another agent and was told to come back March 10, but he never did. A friend said she would bring Jackson in on March 11, but that didn't happen.
Jackson was arrested in Dearborn in April 2003. When he was released in July, he again failed to check into the same hotel.
Police caught up with him in October following a robbery attempt at an eyeglass store in Southfield. According to records, two men went into the store, announced a robbery, ordered everyone to the floor and "shots were exchanged." One of the men "fled to a waiting vehicle driven by parolee Jackson" and they led police on a brief pursuit, according to records.
Jackson, convicted on charges of fleeing police, assault with intent to rob while armed and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, was sentenced in 2004 to serve 91/2 to 30 years in prison.
While incarcerated, he racked up misconducts, including those for insolence, testing positive for marijuana, being out of place, disobeying orders and smuggling drugs.
A worthy goal
Jackson, in a 2012 letter to the parole board, said he had been seeking programming to become a better citizen, and his goal was to complete parole.
"Board members, I have never ever completed probation or parole because I didn't put anything into it," he wrote. "I am a different thinker today than 9 years ago. … I am really a good man who wants another chance at doing what is right."
In 2013, in a document titled "Relapse Prevention Plan," Jackson indicated he would maintain a job, avoid drugs and report to his parole agent as required.
"I will remain crime-free and will not catch any new offenses," it said.
Jackson was paroled in September 2013. In April 2014, he walked away from parole, a corrections department spokesman previously said.
Knox testified last week that it was Jackson, whom she had seen walking around the neighborhood before, who robbed her at gunpoint in January and ordered her grandsons out of her vehicle.
"He pulled the car door open and pointed the gun at them and said, 'Get out,' " then sped off, Knox said in court.
Jackson was arrested that day by members of a task force made up of officers from Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park, Highland Park and Harper Woods.
One of those officers was Highland Park Sgt. Ron Dupuis, who has a career that includes brutality accusations, including using a Taser on a former partner. He has never been charged with any crimes.
Jackson's lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court in Detroit, alleges that police used excessive force.
"Mr. Jackson did not resist the arrest and followed all commands of the police officers," according to the lawsuit. "During the arrest and after being handcuffed while facedown on the ground, Mr. Jackson was severely kicked and beaten."
The attorney representing Jackson in the brutality case did not return a call Friday seeking comment.
Nikkiya Branch, an attorney for Highland Park, previously said she feels "confident that the officer acted within the guidelines of the law."
Knox previously told the Free Press that she and her grandchildren were terrorized and that her family is backing the police. She noted that Jackson called out for Jesus as he was being arrested, but asked: "Where was Jesus when he pulled his gun on us?"
Fieger: I'd pass on alleged carjacker's cop abuse case
By Tresa Baldas
Detroit Free Press
6:52 p.m. EST February 25, 2015
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/02/25/suspect-gunpoint-carjacking-grandmother-sues-police-arrest/23986523/
Andrew Jackson Jr. says police violated his civil rights during his arrest as a suspect in the gunpoint carjacking of a grandmother and her two grandkids.
Bulldog attorney Geoffrey Fieger considers himself a man of the underdog — but not this one: a Detroit carjacking suspect who has filed a $1-million lawsuit over his arrest that was caught on video.
The amateur video shows police punching and kicking the suspect, who was chased down after allegedly carjacking and robbing a grandmother and her two grandsons at gunpoint in the middle of the day.
Fieger says police crossed the line, but he still wouldn't touch the case.
"I would never take that case because you have a quote-unquote victim who is accused of a pretty horrific crime," Fieger said of the plaintiff, who has a lengthy criminal past and has been charged in the carjacking incident. "I don't' think a jury in the world will give (him) a dime. I just don't think anyone will be sympathetic. It would be like O.J. Simpson suing for mistreatment by (detective) Mark Fuhrman."
Fieger, however, believes the police officers involved in the case should face some type of discipline for what he called "gratuitous kicks" to the suspect "after he was handcuffed."
"I think they should be held accountable," Fieger said. "From what I observed, they should in some way be disciplined."
The case involves Andrew Jackson Jr., 51, who on Monday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Detroit, alleging police used excessive force when they arrested him on a Detroit sidewalk on Jan. 12, in violation of his civil rights.
"Mr. Jackson did not resist the arrest, and followed all commands of the police officers. During the arrest and after being handcuffed while face down on the ground, Mr. Jackson was severely kicked and beaten by the defendants," the lawsuit states.
Jackson is suing the city of Highland Park, Highland Park Police Sgt. Ronald DuPuis -- who has a checkered past involving three brutality accusations -- the city of Grosse Pointe Park and two of its officers, identified only as John Doe 1 and 2.
Highland Park City Attorney Nikkiya Branch defended DuPuis' actions, saying the officer acted appropriately.
"Our position is that no wrongdoing was committed," Branch said. "I feel confident that the officer acted within the guidelines of the law."
According to court documents, over the last decade, DuPuis has been named in three police brutality lawsuits, including one that accused him of assaulting a mentally disabled man; another said he Tasered a former partner. He has never been charged with any crimes.
According to Branch, DuPuis is working on restricted duty due to an on-the-job injury. She said the police department is awaiting the results of a Michigan State Police investigation into the arrest to determine whether to discipline DuPuis.
As for the filing of Jackson's lawsuit, Branch said she was not surprised, noting a lawyer was on the case right away.
"I knew that he would try to file something," Branch said.
The Grosse Pointe police department declined comment.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for physical injuries, as well as emotional distress and mental anguish, stemming from the arrest. The accused officers were part of a stolen vehicle task force.
A nearby resident captured the arrest on amateur video and posted it on Facebook. It went viral and triggered controversy, including protests from demonstrators who criticized police and demanded they be charged.
"Mr. Jackson does not have to be a lovable person. All he has to be is an American citizen who feels his rights were violated," " said Ronald Scott, spokesman for the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, who believes Jackson's lawsuit has merit.
"The law protects us all from unreasonable search and seizures, from brutality and from excessive force," said Scott, adding: "That's what this is about ... No matter who Mr. Jackson is, that could have been anyone of us on the street. And we don't deserve to have anyone treat us as judge, jury and executioner on the streets."
The grandmother who was carjacked that day while cleaning snow off her car has a different view. In an interview with the Free Press, she said that no one should feel sorry for him given what he put her family through.
"Why didn't he treat me and my grandkids like human beings?" said the woman, a 55-year-old medical assistant who requested her name be withheld. "He terrorized three people. And I want (protesters) to humanize me. When you say, 'Oh that poor man — are you OK with the fact that he pulled a gun on my face?"
The victim believes the officers acted appropriately.
"My family? We're backing the cops," said the grandmother, who was especially irked when she heard the suspect asking for Jesus when he was getting arrested.
""He's calling on Jesus?" she said. "Where was Jesus when he pulled his gun on us."
The police chased Jackson for about a quarter mile before catching him.
Jackson, who is back in state prison on a parole violation for an earlier conviction, faces a multitude of charges including carjacking, armed robbery, assault with intent to rob while armed, felonious assault, carrying a concealed weapon, felon in possession of a firearm, unlawful driving away of an automobile, resisting and obstructing, and felony firearm, the prosecutor's office said.
His arrest is under investigation by the Michigan State Police.
Accused Detroit carjacker claims he was severely beaten during videotaped arrest, files $1 million lawsuit
By Gus Burns
MLive
February 25, 2015 at 9:45 AM
Updated February 25, 2015 at 11:09 AM
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/02/accused_detroit_carjacker_clai.html
DETROIT, MI -- Andrew Jackson Jr., 51, of Detroit, an absconding parolee with a lengthy criminal history who police suspected of carjacking at gunpoint a woman and her two grandchildren, is suing police officers and the Grosse Pointe Park and Highland Park police departments.
A $1 million-plus lawsuit filed in federal court Monday claims Jackson was "severely kicked and beaten" during his Jan. 12 arrest that was recorded by a resident.
The complaint filed by Detroit-based attorney Herbert A. Sanders says Jackson suffered injuries to his head, right eye, ribs and legs.
The Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy spokeswoman Maria Miller said the office is conducting its own investigations and reviewing an independent investigation conducted by state police to determine if the officers involved in the arrest acted criminally.
She didn't know when the investigation would be completed but said it is currently underway.
Jackson, a habitual offender, is facing 11 felony counts, including resisting police, assault with intent to rob and carjacking.
Jackson was arrested by Highland Park Officer Ronald Dupuis and an officer from the Grosse Pointe Park Police Department who were operating under a multi-agency auto-theft task force.
The arrest video shows Dupuis straddling a face-down Jackson, while punching him repeatedly in the head, at least once, it appears, after securing handcuffs. A second officer kicks Jackson multiple times.
"Give me your arm," Dupuis can be heard saying angrily before handcuffing Jackson in the video.
The suspect is heard moaning on the ground.
The second officer kneels on the man's back, grabs the collar of his jacket and says, "What did you say, Jesus, you're calling Jesus? You (expletive). Don't you dare. Don't you (expletive) dare."
The state inmate tracking system shows Jackson received a sentence of 9 1/2 years after being convicted of an assault, robbery and attempted escape from police in 2003.
Between 1990 and 1998, Jackson was prosecuted 10 times in Wayne County, accused of crimes including driving away a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property and fleeing a police officer.
Most of the cases resulted in short jail terms -- less than two years -- or probation.
At the time of his arrest, Jackson hadn't report to his parole officer since April, Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz said.
The video was posted to the Facebook page of Emma Craig and had been seen 1.3 million times as of Wednesday.
"The officers in this case arrested an extremely dangerous wanted felon who was armed with a hand gun," Grosse Pointe Police Chief David A. Hiller said in a statement after the arrest drew scrutiny. "They were required to utilize various techniques to affect the arrest.
"Due to the totality of the circumstances we believe the actions of the officers in affecting the arrest proper."
Dupuis, one of the officers named in Jackson's lawsuit, was shot in the leg during the service of a search warrant in Highland Park on Jan. 9.
The Detroit Free Press examined Dupuis' law enforcement career and revealed a checkered past. Among the allegations, he's been accused of shooting his partner with a Taser device, arresting a man without without cause and choking a woman in jail.
February 23, 2015 - Lawsuit filed by Andrew Jackson against Officer Ronald Dupuis for January 2015 beating:
Gus Burns
MLive
February 25, 2015 at 9:45 AM
Updated February 25, 2015 at 11:09 AM
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/02/accused_detroit_carjacker_clai.html
Violent Detroit arrest on video draws criminal probe
By Gina Damron
Detroit Free Press
5:06 p.m. EST February 13, 2015
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/02/13/prosecutors-investigate-arrest/23349699/
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office will conduct an independent investigation into the arrest of a carjacking suspect caught on video, which showed police officers kicking and punching the man.
According to the office, it received a warrant request from the Michigan State Police, which investigated the arrest of Andrew Jackson Jr. on Jan. 12 by officers.
"In all police involved incidents, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office conducts an independent investigation regarding the allegations prior to reviewing the warrant" to determine whether charges will be issued, according to the prosecutor's office on Thursday "That procedure will be followed in this case."
Jackson is accused of carjacking and robbing a 55-year-old grandmother at gunpoint in Detroit as she cleared show from her vehicle, which he allegedly stole. The woman's two grandsons were in her vehicle at the time.
Jackson, who absconded from parole last year, faces multiple charges, including carjacking and armed robbery.
According to the prosecutor's office, Jackson's preliminary examination is scheduled to be held March 3.
Jackson's arrest, which was caught on video and widely circulated, shows police officers with ACTION — a stolen vehicle task force — kicking, punching and handcuffing Jackson. The task force is composed of officers from Detroit, Harper Woods, Grosse Pointe Park and Highland Park. A Detroit police spokesman previously said the officers involved were from Grosse Pointe Park and Highland Park.
One of the officers shown in the video making the arrest is Highland Park Sgt. Ron Dupuis, Highland Park City Attorney Todd Perkins previously confirmed to the Free Press.
Dupuis has never been convicted of any crimes, but he has faced other controversies, including accusations of using a Taser on a former partner and assaulting a mentally disabled man.
Dupuis was the Highland Park officer shot during a raid on a house Monday,Perkins confirmed today. He said someone shot from inside the house, striking Dupuis in the leg. Perkins said Dupuis is recuperating.
Wayne County Prosecutor reviewing police brutality investigation stemming from videotaped arrest of suspected carjacker
By Gus Burns
MLive
February 13, 2015 at 11:56 AM
Updated February 13, 2015 at 12:01 PM
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/02/wayne_county_prosecutor_review.html#incart_story_package
DETROIT, MI -- When two officers from an auto-theft task force roughly arrested longtime criminal and parole absconder Andrew Jackson on suspicion that he carjacked a woman and her grandchildren at gunpoint, many felt police went too far.
It probably wouldn't have rose to public consciousness had a resident not recorded the arrest with her cellphone that showed police taking Jackson down, hitting him in the head several times, including at least once after it appears he was handcuffed.
The outcry that followed led Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to contact Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office. Worthy asked state police to review the case for any wrongdoing and that investigation completed Thursday.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office will not review the state police findings to make a final determination of possible criminal charges. A timeline for those results has not been stated.
Meanwhile, Jackson is facing 10 felonies:
Carjacking
Police Officer - Assaulting/resisting/obstructing
Weapons Felony Firearm
Robbery - Armed
Assault With Intent to Rob While Armed
Assault With a Dangerous Weapon(Felonious Assault)
Assault With Intent to Rob While Armed
Assault With a Dangerous Weapon(Felonious Assault)
Weapons - Carrying Concealed
Weapons - Firearms - Possession By Felon
Motor Vehicle - Unlawful Driving Away
Jackson can be heard muttering something.
"What'd you say?," the officer who kicked him says while kneeling in the center of Jackson's back. "Jesus? You're calling Jesus?
"You (expletive)! Don't you dare; don't you (expletive) dare."
The police involved were part of a multi-jurisdictional auto theft task force based out of Grosse Pointe Park. It employs police from Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park, Harper Woods and Highland Park.
Grosse Pointe Park Safety Director David A. Hiller called the officers' actions "proper."
In a separate police action this week, Dupuis suffered a nonfatal gunshot to his leg during a raid in Highland Park. He is recovering.
Highland Park police withheld fire after officer shot in leg during raid
By Gus Burns
MLive
February 11, 2015 at 2:10 PM
Updated February 11, 2015 at 2:17 PM
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/02/highland_park_police_withheld.html
HIGHLAND PARK, MI -- Police didn't return fire during a raid that resulted in Highland Park Police Officer being shot in the leg Monday evening, department officials say.
Two suspects, including the believed shooter, are jailed in Highland Park while the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office reviews possible charges, Highland Park Police Officer Kamin Bode said Wednesday afternoon.
The officers were not equipped with body cameras or microphones, but even if they had been, the recordings would be withheld due to the investigation, Bode said.
The shot officer, identified as Ronald Dupuis, suffered the gunshot while serving a no-knock search warrant alongside SWAT members and is home recovering.
He'll return to active duty upon receiving doctor approval, Bode said.
Dupuis made the arrest as part of an auto theft task force named Arresting Car Thieves in Our Neighborhood (ACTION), which includes officers from Harper Woods, Highland Park, Grosse Pointe Park and Detroit.
The Detroit Free Press examined Dupuis' law enforcement career and revealed a checkered past. Among the allegations, he's been accused of shooting his partner with a Taser device, arresting a man without without cause and choking a woman in jail.
Charges filed against carjacking suspect arrested on video
By Gina Damron and By Elisha Anderson
Detroit Free Press
1:54 p.m. EST January 29, 2015
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2015/01/29/andrew-jackson-jr-man-charged-detroit-carjacking/22528421/
Charges have been filed against a man whose arrest was captured on video and has been viewed more than 1.3 million times online.
Andrew Jackson Jr., who absconded from parole in 2014, is accused of carjacking and robbing a grandmother at gunpoint in the middle of the day on Detroit's west side.
The 55-year-old Detroit woman was cleaning snow from her car on Jan. 12 in the 18200 block of Evergreen while her two grandchildren were in the car.
"It is alleged that she was approached by Jackson and robbed at gunpoint of her personal property and her car," said a release from the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office announcing the charging decision.
Prosecutors said Jackson, 51, also pointed the gun at the woman's grandsons "threatening to shoot them if they did not exit the car."
Jackson faces a slew of charges, including carjacking, armed robbery, assault with intent to rob while armed, felonious assault, carrying a concealed weapon, felon in possession of a firearm, unlawful driving away of an automobile, resisting and obstructing and felony firearm, a news release from the prosecutor's office said.
The time and date of Jackson's arraignment on the charges has not been released yet.
His arrest, which was captured on video and posted on Facebook, is under investigation by the Michigan State Police.
The task force is made up of officers from Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park, Highland Park and Harper Woods, but the officers involved in Jackson's arrest were from Highland Park and Grosse Pointe Park, a Detroit police spokesman previously said.
State Police Lt. Michael Shaw said the agency is waiting on documents from police departments that participate in the task force so it can conclude its part of the investigation.
Then, Shaw said, the investigation will be handed over to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. He said that will probably happen next week.
Officer seen in video has troubled past
By Gina Damron and Tresa Baldas
Detroit Free Press
11:18 a.m. EST January 15, 2015
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/01/14/officer-arrest-video/21771801/
One of the police officers involved in an arrest caught on video has had a career embroiled in controversy, with accusations of using a Taser on a former partner and assaulting a mentally disabled man.
One of the officers in the video is Highland Park Sgt. Ron Dupuis, Highland Park city attorney Todd Perkins confirmed to the Free Press today.
According to U.S. District Court records, Dupuis — listed as Ronald Dupuis II — is no stranger to the courts, though he has never been convicted of any crimes.
Over the last decade, his tumultuous law enforcement career has triggered a half-dozen civil suits in U.S. District Court — half of them he filed himself over employment disputes; the others involve police brutality accusations.
An attorney who has previously represented Dupuis in civil lawsuits, could not be immediately reached for comment today.
His legal troubles include:
■ In 2012, a woman sued Dupuis, alleging he refused to let her use the restroom while she was in a jail cell — thus forcing her to urinate in her cell — and later "began to choke her" and began to call her vulgar names. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2013 because the plaintiff did not provide sufficient documents to the defense.
■ In 2004, while working as a Hamtramck police officer, Dupuis was sued by a man who alleged Dupuis wrongfully arrested him and had him jailed for no reason. The man was released without being charged. His lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount.
■ In 2006, Dupuis sued the city of Hamtramck after a female officer accused him of assaulting her with a Taser. He was fired as a result of the accusation, but was later acquitted on the assault charge. He ended up suing the city over his firing and its handling of the assault accusation. The case was settled.
■ In 2008, Dupuis sued the city of Hamtramck a second time over the Taser complaint, alleging the city had a duty to defend him in that lawsuit. That case was dismissed.
■ In 2012, Dupuis filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the city of Highland Park, alleging he was treated unfairly compared to his African American counterparts and that he was unfairly demoted in the police department. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2013.
Also, the Free Press reported in 2006 that, in 1998, Dupuis was reprimanded by the Southgate Police Department after being accused of assaulting a mentally disabled man. Also while in Southgate, Dupuis was accused of stalking a woman and repeatedly pulling her over. He resigned from the department after being told he would be fired.
On Monday, officers with ACTION, a stolen vehicle task force, arrested a man suspected in a carjacking that occurred earlier that day.
Police have not named the man, but the Michigan Department of Corrections identified him as Andrew Jackson, Jr., who, according to the state's online offender system, was sentenced to prison in 2004 on charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, assault with intent to rob while armed and fleeting police. According to the corrections department he absconded from parole in April 2014.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said today it received a warrant request for a 51-year-old man, whose name was not provided, in connection with a carjacking that occurred on Evergreen on Monday. According to the office, the warrant is being reviewed and a charging decision has not yet been made.
Attorney Ben Gonek, who said he is representing Jackson, said his client has a "serious eye injury."
Gonek declined to discuss the carjacking accusations. Of the arrest, he said "it's pretty outrageous."
"There's no doubt in my mind that it was excessive force," said Gonek, who previously sued Dupuis, his partner and the city of Hamtramck on behalf of a man who said he was beaten during a traffic stop in 2002. The lawsuit was settled for $20,000.
The task force that made the arrest in Monday is made up of officers from Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park, Highland Park and Harper Woods. Detroit police have said none of their officers were involved in the incident. Detroit police spokesman Sgt. Michael Woody said Tuesday that the officers involved were from Highland Park and Grosse Pointe Park.
On Tuesday, Chief David Hiller, with the Grosse Pointe Park Department of Public Safety, told the Free Press that the actions of the officers in the arrest were "proper."
Hiller declined to comment when reached today. Highland Park Police Chief Kevin Coney could not be immediately reached for comment.
Highland Park city attorney Todd Perkins said that, in addition to cooperating with the state police investigation, Highland Park is also looking at the arrest, which has drawn scrutiny since a citizen posted a video on Facebook.
In the video, one officer yells at the man after he calls for "Jesus," telling him "Don't you dare," and another officer can be heard saying "that's a justified ass whooping."
Perkins said the city will look into the incident.
"I represent the people of the city of Highland Park and, in representing the people, you have to give them transparency," he said.
The incident drew out about a dozen protesters earlier today, who gathered outside of the Grosse Pointe Park police headquarters.
"This is the kind of thing that can ignite something," said Ron Scott, with the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality. "We're here on a peace mission. We're saying, 'If you don't deal with us, then there are a lot of people out here who are not gonna take the time to demonstrate.'"
"We also call for criminal and civil penalties for officers who have engaged in these actions," Scott said in the statement, adding, "We are calling for suspension of these officers until this matter is resolved."
Suburban Robocops like those involved in Jackson beating on the loose in Detroit for years
Posted on 01/15/2015
Diane Bukowski
Voice of Detroit
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/15/suburban-robocops-like-those-involved-in-jackson-beating-on-the-loose-in-detroit-for-years/
Protest Jan. 14 at GPP headquarters: “No Justice, No Peace, Stop Racist Police;” end federal, state tax funding of multi-jurisdictional police forces
Highland Park cop involved in Andrew Jackson, Jr. beating has long record of assaults
DETROIT – Detroit Police Chief James Craig has washed his hands of involvement in the brutal beating of Black Detroiter Andrew Jackson, Jr., 51, by white Highland Park, Harper Woods, and Grosse Pointe Park cops Jan. 12, saying no Detroit officer was involved. The police claim Jackson carjacked a woman and her two grandchildren at gunpoint.
But the question arises: why have Craig and previous chiefs allowed suburban cops free rein in Detroit for years?
The earliest news accounts of Jackson’s beating, caught on cellphone videotape by Detroiter Emma Craig, implied the carjacking took place in Grosse Pointe Park. However, the carjacking he is alleged to have committed took place far from that 99 percent east side white suburb, in west-side Detroit near Fenkell and Evergreen.
“You don’t become a criminal to catch a criminal,” said Ron Scott of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, Inc. during a protest outside the Grosse Pointe Park police headquarters Jan. 14.
“Those cops violated their own standards of safety when they beat Mr. Jackson before searching him. That beating had no place in a civil society; people are innocent until they are proven guilty. It’s sickening the Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief said it was justified, and that Chief Craig cares so little about Detroiters that he said he isn’t concerned about Detroit cops not being residents, and allows suburban cops into Detroit.”
Jackson’s attorney, Ben Gonek, told the Detroit Free Press that Jackson has a “serious eye injury,” and that the police were guilty of excessive force. The videotape shows Jackson being punched and kicked on the ground by two cops, as he calls out imploringly, “Jesus.” An officer kneels on his back and says, “What did you say? Jesus? Are you calling Jesus? Don’t you dare! Don’t you f—king dare!”
Scott expressed doubt about Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief David Hiller’s statement that the cops found a gun in Jackson;s waistband. The full version of the nine-minute videotape, cut short by most news outlets, contradicts that. It shows a white female and a white male cop stand Jackson up to search him, beginning from his feet on up. The white male declares as he is halfway up Jackson’s leg, “Oh, HERE’s the gun.” There is a slight note of sarcasm in his voice.
Jackson is being held by Grosse Pointe Park police on parole violation matters. His record includes four very long sentences imposed for one incident in 2003 involving armed robbery and fleeing police in Oakland County, two cases of receiving stolen property in 1995 and 1997, and two other “inactive” 1999 sentences of fleeing police and receiving stolen property. The Michigan Department of Corrections website says he absconded from parole April 3, 2014.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s office has not yet approved a warrant for his arrest on the carjacking incident. The victim of that incident said in two interviews that she supports police actions in beating Jackson, although she does not say whether she identified him in a line-up as the man who carjacked her.
Since the protest, the Detroit Free Press has named Highland Park Sgt. Ronald Dupuis as one of the cops. Their article says he has a long history of assaults in various suburban departments, including tasering a female partner, beating a disabled man, refusing to allow a woman in a jail cell access to a bathroom, forcing her to urinate in the cell, and stalking another woman, repeatedly pulling her over. He was fired from the Hamtramck Police Department for the taser incident, and resigned rather than being fired from the Southgate Police Department for the incidents involving the women.
The protest was attended by Dawud Walid, Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), and over a dozen others.
They included Eric Taylor, who told VOD he was the victim of a carjacking in Grosse Pointe Park on June 12 last year. “I had my wife call the police for help,” Taylor said.
“My friend and I were at a gas station getting a sandwich when my car was taken as I walked back to it. When the GPP police got there, they cut me off when I was explaining, and told me I matched the description of a carjacking suspect. Then they threated to “blow my f—king head off,” told me I was nothing but an animal, called me a n—-r, and told me if I sued they would come and kill my family.”
He showed VOD a cellphone photo taken by his daughter of his head a few days after the beating. He said he still suffers from headaches and other effects of the beating.
Grosse Pointe Park police were involved earlier in a racist incident where they forced a developmentally disabled Black Detroiter, who used to go into the Pointes to collect bottles, to sing and perform for them, then circulated several cellphone videos of the actions.
Grosse Pointe Park founded A.C.T.I.O.N. (Arresting Car Thieves in Our Neighborhoods) about ten years ago, using an initial $350,000 grant from the state of Michigan and funds from state car insurance companies. It originally included only the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, and police departments from Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe City, and Harper Woods. Since that time, other departments including Warren and Detroit have been added according to news reports.
Hiller included names of the Chiefs from all those departments on his press release on the incident, although Craig said he had not seen it.
Detroit has its own task force, however. The Detroit One Partnership announced the formation of a carjacking task force in April 2014, including the Detroit Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshal’s Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Michigan State Police, Michigan Department of Corrections, Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Emma Craig, who videotaped Jackson’s beating, said she also saw officers at the scene with I.C.E. (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) jackets.
In addition to the Detroit One and ACTION Task Forces, the State of Michigan has run an anti-carjacking task force called H.E.A.T. (Help Eliminate Auto Thefts) for the past 23 years.
Numerous protesters of the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, MO. Aug. 9 have condemned federal provision of military equipment including tanks, assault weapons, flash-bang grenades, flak vests, and other equipment to city police to carry out raids like the one that resulted in the death of seven-year-old Detroiter Aiyana Jones on May 16, 2010, and assaults on anti-police brutality marches.
“We resent that our public tax dollars are being used to fund such programs,” Scott said. Others noted the money would be far better spent on programs to provide jobs, end homelessness, build decent schools, and repair the infrastructures of the nations’ cities.
Cop in arrest caught on video has checkered past
George Hunter
The Detroit News
10:38 a.m. EST January 15, 2015
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2015/01/14/cop-video-attack-suspect-checkered-past/21769211/
Highland Park Sgt. Ronald Dupuis, 42, had been fired from the Hamtramck Police Department for Tasering his partner after arguing over a pop, and he was reprimanded for assaulting a mentally disabled man at a gas station while working for Southgate Police.
Dupuis was one of the officers shown hitting 51-year-old carjacking suspect Andrew Jackson Jr., who had absconded from parole.
The video of the arrest, which was recorded by Detroit resident Emma Craig on Monday on the city's northwest side and posted on Facebook, shows Dupuis striking the suspect several times while apparently trying to handcuff him and administering a final blow after Jackson's hands were secured behind his back.
A second officer, a sergeant from Grosse Pointe Park, is also seen on the video becoming angry after Jackson calls out for Jesus.
The incident is being investigated by Michigan State Police, and Wayne County prosecutors are considering whether to charge Jackson with carjacking, after receiving a warrant request Wednesday.
Highland Park city attorney Todd Perkins said Wednesday city and police officials are weighing whether to suspend Dupuis, adding action most likely won't be taken until the State Police investigation is completed.
"We've made no decision at this point," Perkins said. "My inclination is to let the process be conducted, and have faith in the process that it will work, and they'll make a decision at that point.
"I'm going to have a meeting with the mayor and the police chief to determine what immediate course of action we'll take."
Detroit Coaliton Against Police Brutality director Ron Scott called Dupuis "an accident waiting to happen."
"This sends a bad message to the public, that Highland Park wouldn't do a background check on him the way you would with any other job," Scott said.
Dupuis has worked at several police agencies over his career: Inkster, Ecorse, Hudson, Southgate, two stints at Highland Park, Hamtramck, and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.
He was fired from the Hamtramck Police Department after a November 2005 incident in which he shot his partner, Prema Graham, in the leg with his department-issued Taser.
According to court records, the partners began arguing after Dupuis demanded she stop their squad car at a store so he could buy a soft drink. The two struggled over control of the steering wheel and Dupuis hit her leg with his department-issued Taser. She was not seriously hurt.
Dupuis was charged with assault and battery, and although he was acquitted of the charge by a jury, an arbitrator upheld his firing by the Hamtramck Police Department, saying "there is clear and convincing evidence that Officer Dupuis Tasered Officer Graham."
Maxim magazine poked fun at the incident and Dupuis sued the publication, although the suit was dismissed.
In 1998, while working for the Southgate Police Department, Dupuis was given a written reprimand after he allegedly assaulted a mentally disabled man in a gas station.
There also have been several federal lawsuits filed against Dupuis alleging assault and various other infractions, although most of the cases were dismissed.
But in 2005, Dupuis settled a lawsuit for $20,000 after he and another Hamtramck police officer were accused of assaulting a man during an April 2002 traffic stop.
Attorney Ben Gonek, who represented the man who sued Dupuis in that case, said the officer was "the worst I've ever deposed in my career, and I've deposed dozens of police officers.
"Usually, when you go over an officer's history, there might be one or two instances where citizens accuse him of wrongdoing, but with him, it was one thing after the other, going back to when he was in Southgate."
Gonek said he settled the case, in which Dupuis was accused of beating a man suspected of stealing a car, because he was afraid Hamtramck would indemnify the officer after he was fired for the Tasering incident.
Gonek said he was appointed to represent Jackson in the beating case, and when he heard Dupuis' name mentioned, he thought, "I know that sounds familiar."
"Then I realized who it was," Gonek said. "I was shocked. It's mind-boggling that he's still a police officer. He had the incident in Southgate where he was reprimanded for beating up the handicapped man, and several other incidents. I can't understand why he's still got a job."
Most recently, Dupuis made news after he shot himself in the leg in 2012 while inside the Highland Park police station.
Perkins said he's aware of Dupuis' checkered past, although he said he will "draw no conclusions" from it.
"A lot of those are what I would call allegations," he said.
When asked why the city would hire a police officer who'd been fired from another department for shooting his Taser at his partner's leg, Perkins said: "That was prior to me coming on as city attorney, so I can't answer that."
Cop in videotaped attack on suspect has checkered past
George Hunter, The Detroit News 5:14 p.m. EST January 14, 2015
Highland Park — One of the officers shown on video hitting a carjacking suspect during his arrest has a history of violence in several area police departments.
Highland Park Sgt. Ronald Dupuis, 42, had been fired from the Hamtramck Police Department for Tasering his partner after arguing over a pop, and he was reprimanded for assaulting a mentally disabled man at a gas station while working for Southgate Police.
Dupuis was one of the officers shown hitting 51-year-old carjacking suspect Andrew Jackson Jr., who had absconded from parole.
The video of the arrest, which was recorded by Detroit resident Emma Craig on Monday on the city's northwest side and posted on Facebook, shows Dupuis striking the suspect several times while apparently trying to handcuff him and administering a final blow after Jackson's hands were secured behind his back.
A second officer, a sergeant from Grosse Pointe Park, is also seen on the video becoming angry after Jackson calls out for Jesus.
The incident is being investigated by Michigan State Police, and Wayne County prosecutors are considering whether to charge Jackson with carjacking, after receiving a warrant request Wednesday.
Highland Park city attorney Todd Perkins said Wednesday city and police officials are weighing whether to suspend Dupuis, adding action most likely won't be taken until the State Police investigation is completed.
"We've made no decision at this point," Perkins said. "My inclination is to let the process be conducted, and have faith in the process that it will work, and they'll make a decision at that point.
"I'm going to have a meeting with the mayor and the police chief to determine what immediate course of action we'll take."
Detroit Coaliton Against Police Brutality director Ron Scott called Dupuis "an accident waiting to happen."
"This sends a bad message to the public, that Highland Park wouldn't do a background check on him the way you would with any other job," Scott said.
Dupuis has worked at several police agencies over his career: Inkster, Ecorse, Hudson, Southgate, two stints at Highland Park, Hamtramck, and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.
He was fired from the Hamtramck Police Department after a November 2005 incident in which he shot his partner, Prema Graham, in the leg with his department-issued Taser.
According to court records, the partners began arguing after Dupuis demanded she stop their squad car at a store so he could buy a soft drink. The two struggled over control of the steering wheel and Dupuis hit her leg with his department-issued Taser. She was not seriously hurt.
Dupuis was charged with assault and battery, and although he was acquitted of the charge by a jury, an arbitrator upheld his firing by the Hamtramck Police Department, saying "there is clear and convincing evidence that Officer Dupuis Tasered Officer Graham."
Maxim magazine poked fun at the incident and Dupuis sued the publication, although the suit was dismissed.
In 1998, while working for the Southgate Police Department, Dupuis was given a written reprimand after he allegedly assaulted a mentally disabled man in a gas station.
There also have been several federal lawsuits filed against Dupuis alleging assault and various other infractions, although most of the cases were dismissed.
But in 2005, Dupuis settled a lawsuit for $20,000 after he and another Hamtramck police officer were accused of assaulting a man during an April 2002 traffic stop.
Attorney Ben Gonek, who represented the man who sued Dupuis in that case, said the officer was "the worst I've ever deposed in my career, and I've deposed dozens of police officers.
"Usually, when you go over an officer's history, there might be one or two instances where citizens accuse him of wrongdoing, but with him, it was one thing after the other, going back to when he was in Southgate."
Gonek said he settled the case, in which Dupuis was accused of beating a man suspected of stealing a car, because he was afraid Hamtramck would indemnify the officer after he was fired for the Tasering incident.
Gonek said he was appointed to represent Jackson in the beating case, and when he heard Dupuis' name mentioned, he thought, "I know that sounds familiar."
"Then I realized who it was," Gonek said. "I was shocked. It's mind-boggling that he's still a police officer. He had the incident in Southgate where he was reprimanded for beating up the handicapped man, and several other incidents. I can't understand why he's still got a job."
Most recently, Dupuis made news after he shot himself in the leg in 2012 while inside the Highland Park police station.
Perkins said he's aware of Dupuis' checkered past, although he said he will "draw no conclusions" from it.
"A lot of those are what I would call allegations," he said.
When asked why the city would hire a police officer who'd been fired from another department for shooting his Taser at his partner's leg, Perkins said: "That was prior to me coming on as city attorney, so I can't answer that."
Protesters want cops charged for hitting carjack suspect
Robert Allen
Detroit Free Press
5:05 p.m. EST January 14, 2015
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2015/01/14/police-brutality-protest/21744921/
Protesters outside the Grosse Pointe Park police headquarters today said officers abused their power when they hit and kicked a man whose arrest on Monday was caught on amateur video.
"This is the kind of thing that can ignite something," said Ron Scott with the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality. "We're here on a peace mission. We're saying, 'If you don't deal with us, then there are a lot of people out here who are not gonna take the time to demonstrate.'"
"We also call for criminal and civil penalties for officers who have engaged in these actions," Scott said in the statement, adding, "We are calling for suspension of these officers until this matter is resolved."
About a dozen people stood on Jefferson on Wednesday, as Scott and others expressed outrage over the treatment of the carjacking suspect arrested in Detroit by officers with a multi-agency task force. The arrest on a east-side neighborhood sidewalk was filmed by a woman inside a house.
The video, posted on Facebook, shows one officer punching the man being arrested while someone yells, "Give me your (expletive) arm! Give me your arm!"
One officer kicks the man, and another can later be heard saying "that's a justified ass whooping." At one point, police appear to find a pistol on the man.
Grosse Pointe Park police previously issued a statement saying that the man, shown lying on the ground in the video, had allegedly pointed a gun at a mother and her two children during an earlier carjacking, ordering them out of the vehicle and taking it. Police said they found a gun on the man during the arrest.
Grosse Pointe Police Sgt. Jeff Longo briefly addressed the protesters Wednesday to say that Chief David Hiller had no comment for them and that an investigation is under way. Hiller previously said officers' actions were "proper."
Michigan State Police are investigating the incident after being contacted by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan Chapter, offered a prayer during Monday's demonstration, thanking God for cell phones that record video so people can be made aware of incidents like this one. Walid said at least one officer "showed glee at the gentleman whose back had a knee in it, who had been hit and kicked by police officers."
Scott called for the multi-agency task force involved in Monday's incident to lose its federal funding.
"These are our federal dollars that we pay to stop carjackings, not to kick people with jack boots," he said.
At one point, Grosse Pointe Park resident Andrew Morlan questioned the protesters' certainty of how the incident unfolded. He later told the Free Press that he doesn't condone the officers' action, but he's concerned that people are jumping to conclusions before knowing the facts.
"I think all of the events that transpired before the video was taken is relevant to the story," he said.
Scott said during the protest that his coalition is making formal requests for public information on Monday's incident as they conduct an independent investigation.
Police have not released the name of the man who was arrested, but the Michigan Department of Corrections identified him as Andrew Jackson Jr., 51, who absconded from parole in April 2014. Jackson was sentenced to prison in 2004 on charges out of Oakland County of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, assault with intent to rob while armed, and fleeing police, according to state records.
Other previous convictions include fleeing police, stolen property offenses and attempted unlawful driving away of a vehicle.
Rough arrest video: Who these men are
Protestors ask for dialogue with Grosse Pointe Park police chief
Author: Shawn Ley, Local 4 Reporter
Click On Detroit
Published On: Jan 14 2015 04:49:31 PM EST
Updated On: Jan 16 2015 10:42:08 AM EST
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/rough-arrest-video-who-these-men-are/30703182
Transcript:
Karen: IT'S THE VIDEO THAT HAS A LOT OF PEOPLE TALKING, TWO POLICE OFFICERS SEEN PUNCHING AND KICKING A CARJACKING SUSPECT IN FRONT OF A DETROIT HOME JUST BEFORE PUTTING HIM IN HANDCUFFS. WE'RE LEARNING MORE ABOUT WHO THE THREE MEN ARE. SHAWN LEY LIVE IN GROSSE POINTE PARK TONIGHT WITH THAT PART OF THE STORY. SHAWN?
Shawn: JUST GOT AN UPDATE FROM THE ATTORNEY OF THE CARJACKING SUSPECT WHO IS STILL BEING HELD HERE AT THE GROSSE POINTE POLICE DEPARTMENT. HE SAW HIM EARLIER TODAY AND SAID HIS EYE WAS SWOLLEN SHUT FROM THE ALLEGED BEATING BY THE OFFICERS AND HOPES HE'LL GET MEDICAL ATTENTION SOON. THIS BEATING AND ARREST WEPT DOWN MIDDAY ON MONDAY. AT THE SAME TIME, WE KNOW MORE ABOUT THE OFFICERS INVOLVED, AND WE KNOW MORE ABOUT THE SUSPECT BEING HELD RIGHT HERE. [BLEEP].
Shawn: THE ARMED MAN TAKING THE PUNCHES AND KICKS IS 51-YEAR-OLD ANDREW JACKSON. HE JUMPED PAROLE AND ADMITS TO CARJACKING A WOMAN AND CHILD AT GUNPOINT. THE VIDEO PICKS UP AFTER HE RAN FROM TWO OFFICERS WORKING FOR A CAR THEFT TASK FORCE CHASING HIM. YOU CAN HEAR THE CUFFS GO ON AND THEN THIS. [INAUDIBLE] NEXT, THE GROSSE POINTE PARK POLICE OFFICER KNEELS ON THE WHOLE BERATING HIM. WHEN THE THIRD OFFICER ARRIVES, SHE DESCRIBES THE OFFICERS' ACTIONS LIKE THIS. [BLEEP]. SHE SAID IT WAS [BLEEP].
Shawn: JACKSON'S ATTORNEY SAID THE OFFICERS WENT TOO FAR. A DEPARTMENT IN THIS SUBURB SHOULD KNOW THAT.
Shawn: PROTESTERS RALLIED OUTSIDE THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, FIRST ASKING FOR A MEETING WITH THE CHIEF. THE CHIEF SENDING OUT A SERGEANT. WE THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT AT LEAST WE HAVE SOME KIND OF DIALOGUE. I'LL RELAY THAT.
Shawn: THE CHIEF CALLING THE ARREST PROPER. THERE ARE THOSE WHO CALL IT PROPER. WE DON'T BELIEVE IT'S PROPER.
Shawn: ONE MAN SAYING HE IS GLAD THEY GOT THE SUSPECTED CARJACKER OFF THE STREETS. THE SAME GUY WAS WAVING A GUN IN THE WIFE OF A MOTHER AND HER CHILD, TAKING THEIR CAR TRAUMATIZING THEM BADLY.
Shawn: THE OFFICER IS A SERGEANT WITH THE HIGHLAND PARK POLICE DEPARTMENT AND HE HAS A VIOLENT HISTORY. WE ASKED HIGHLIGHT PARK'S CITY ATTORNEY IF THEY'RE CONCERNED ABOUT THE ACTIONS OF THEIR OFFICER. WE'LL DO A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION AND LOOK AT THIS VERY SERIOUSLY.
Shawn: LET'S DIG DEEPER INTO THE PAST OF THE HIGHLAND PARK OFFICER DELIVERING THE BLOWS. FIRED FROM MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS, USED A TASER ON A PARTNER IN HAMTRAMCK, SHOT HIMSELF IN THE LEG WHILE AN OFFICER IN HIGHLAND PARK AND SUED TEN YEARS AGO FOR ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING A SUSPECT, A LAWSUIT THAT WAS SETTLED. GROSSE POINTE PARK POLICE OFFICER THERE IN THE VIDEO KICKING AND THEN CALLING FOR BACK-UP. TALKING TO A LOT OF POLICE SOURCES, AND GENERALLY GOOD WE VIEWS FROM HIS PEERS, STILL NO CHARGES AGAINST THE MAN THEY WERE CHASING.
GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. -The armed man shown in the video getting punched and kicked is 51-year-old Andrew Jackson.
He jumped parole, and police say he ran from two officers working for a car theft task force who had been chasing him. Police say he admitted to carjacking a woman and child at gunpoint.
The Grosse Pointe Park officer kneeled on Jackson while berating him. Police sources call this a dangerous breech in training.
When the third officer arrived, she described the officer's actions like this:
"That was a justified a** whoopin'."
Jackson's attorney said the officers went too far.
"And especially a department in this suburb should know that," said attorney Ben Gonek.
On Wednesday, protestors rallied outside the Grosse Pointe Park Police Department, which is the department in charge of the task force. Protestors asked for a meeting with the chief, who sent out a sergeant.
"We think that it's important that at least we have some kind of dialogue," said a protestor representing the group.
The sergeant said he would relay that message to the chief.
The Grosse Pointe Park police chief called the arrest "proper." Protestors have taken issue with his statement.
"There are those that call it proper. We don't believe it's proper," said Donnell White, with the Detroit NAACP.
One man went to the department Wednesday to say he was glad the police got the suspected carjacker off the streets.
"Before all of this happened, the same guy was waiving a gun in the face of a woman and her child and stole their car, traumatized them rather badly," he said.
Local 4 asked Highland Park's city attorney if the city is concerned with the actions by one of their officers.
"We'll do a thorough investigation and we'll look at this very seriously," said Todd Perkins, Highland Park city attorney.
Meanwhile, Jackson has not been charged with anything.
State Police to investigate violent arrest caught on tape
Gina Damron
Detroit Free Press
10:59 a.m. EST January 14, 2015
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/01/13/police-beating-suspect/21694077/
An incident in which police officers were caught on video punching, kicking and handcuffing a parole absconder, suspected in a carjacking, will be investigated by the Michigan State Police.
Chief David Hiller, with the Grosse Pointe Park Department of Public Safety, called the actions of the officers, who are part of a multi-jurisdictional task force, "proper" and said the man who was arrested in Detroit is a "serious felon."
After video of the arrest was posted on a woman's Facebook page, the incident drew scrutiny, including from Mayor Mike Duggan, who reached out to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. A spokeswoman for Worthy's office said the prosecutor contacted the state police. MSP spokesman Lt. Michael Shaw confirmed that the state police will investigate the incident.
Police have not released the name of the man who was arrested, but the Michigan Department of Corrections identified him as 51-year-old Andrew Jackson Jr., who absconded from parole in April 2014.
According to the state's online offender information system, Jackson was sentenced to prison in 2004 on charges out of Oakland County of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, assault with intent to rob while armed and fleeing police. His lengthy criminal history dates back decades and includes prior convictions for fleeing police, attempted unlawful driving away of a vehicle and for stolen property offenses, according to a review of online court records.
On Monday, police said the man taken into custody was armed with a handgun when he was arrested, after being seen getting into a vehicle that had been taken from a mother and her two children earlier that day at gunpoint.
According to a news release from Hiller, officers received information Monday "from a tracking service that a vehicle that had been carjacked earlier that day was on the move." The carjacker had allegedly pointed a gun at a mother and her two children, ordered them out of the vehicle, threatened to shoot them if they didn't comply and took off with the woman's purse, keys and car, the news release said.
Officers located the vehicle, "established surveillance" on it, and two hours later saw a lone man get into the vehicle. Police followed the vehicle to the area of McNichols and Evergreen, where the vehicle pulled into a driveway, according to the news release. When officers tried the arrest the man, he ran and officers followed, tackling him.
In the video, an officer can be seen straddling and punching the man during the arrest.
"Give me your arm!" someone yells.
Another officer kicked the man. After he was handcuffed, the man called out for "Jesus."
"What did you say?" an officer asks, as he kneels on the man. "Jesus? You're calling Jesus? ... Don't you dare. Don't you (expletive) dare."
The news release from Hiller says the man was arrested by officers assigned to ACTION, a stolen car task force made up of officers from Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park, Harper Woods and Highland Park.
Detroit police said none of their officers were involved in the incident, which happened on Detroit's west side. Detroit police spokesman Sgt. Michael Woody said the officers involved in the incident were from Grosse Pointe Park and Highland Park.
According to Hiller's news release, the man being arrested resisted and, in an attempt to restrain him, an officer deployed a Taser, but it didn't work because the man was wearing heavy clothing.
"The subject continue [sic] to reach for the area of his waist band and refused all orders to show his hands," the release said. "He curled up in a ball and his right hand again went under his clothing. Fearing for their safety and those in the immediate area, an officer delivered a kick to the thigh area of the subject thus allowing the other officers the ability to arrest the subject. Located in his waist band was a loaded semi-automatic handgun."
At one point during the video of the arrest, police appear to find a pistol on the man.
After the man was handcuffed, one of the officers congratulates another, saying "Good job, man." Later in the video, another officer can be heard saying "that's a justified ass whooping."
According to the news release, the man told police he stole the vehicle to get drugs.
"The officers in this case arrested an extremely dangerous wanted felon who was armed with a handgun," the release says. "They were required to utilize various techniques to affect the arrest. Due to the totality of the circumstances we believe the actions of the officers in affecting the arrest (were) proper."
The release says police "will continue to review the incident should additional information develop."
The news release lists Hiller and the names of police chiefs from Detroit, Highland Park and Harper Woods at the bottom. But Detroit Police Chief James Craig said in a statement that he did not see the statement prior to its release.
"There were no DPD officers at the scene at the time of the arrest and I did not intend to express any opinion on the actions of the officers involved," the statement says. It goes on to say that Worthy asked MSP to investigate the incident and that "DPD will cooperate fully with the investigation and we will withhold judgment until that investigation is concluded."
The incident comes almost one year after the City of Grosse Pointe Park signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Michigan to develop a racial profile training program for all police personnel.
The agreement — known as a memo of understanding — was in response to a video that captured Grosse Pointe Park police officers ridiculing a mentally challenged African-American man by making him sing and laughing at him.
The City of Grosse Pointe Park also issued a proclamation pledging to "respect and treat with dignity all persons, resident or visitor — regardless of race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion or disability — in all aspects of community life or service."
Ron Scott, with the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, issued a statement on the recent incident.
"It is our contention that the officers' actions, once the suspect was handcuffed, were not justified, and that the biased statements that were made reflect a pattern and practice which has gone on in Grosse Pointe Park for quite some time," the statement says. "These kinds of task forces should be investigated to consider suspension of federal funds until civil and human rights issues in these matters are resolved."
Detroit police chief never approved Grosse Pointe Park statement calling rough arrest 'proper'
Gus Burns
MLive
January 14, 2015 at 7:15 AM
Updated January 14, 2015 at 3:19 PM
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/01/detroit_police_chief_never_app.html
DETROIT, MI -- Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief David Hiller responded to claims of police brutality after the citizen-videotaped arrest of a suspected armed car-jacking suspect Monday, calling the officers' actions "proper" in an email statement.
The controversial video, captured by a Facebook user identified as Emma Craig, begins with the suspect face-down on the ground with one of the officers straddling his back. That officer appears to punch the suspect five times, including once after the he is handcuffed. The officer's partner kicks the suspect twice.
Hiller's email statement didn't confirm which departments the involved officers work for, but did say they were part of a multi-department auto-theft task force based in Grosse Pointe Park that includes Detroit, Highland Park, Grosse Pointe Park and Harper Woods officers.
The bottom of the document listed the names of the respective chiefs for the participating departments, including Detroit Police Chief James Craig.
The problem is, Craig never reviewed or approved Hiller's statement before it was issued to media Tuesday, he says.
"I did not see the statement prior to its release," Craig told WJBK, Fox 2 News. "There were no DPD officers at the scene at the time of the arrest and I did not intend to express any opinion on the actions of the offices involved."
After seeing the video, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan contacted Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's Office. According to a statement from Duggan representatives Tuesday, the prosecutor has asked state police to review the case.
Hiller's statement says the suspect held a mother and her children at gunpoint and stole their vehicle Monday, as well as the woman's purse. Police were notified by a tracking service that the vehicle was on the move and officers from the task force tracked it and set up surveillance.
Hiller's statement did not say where investigators found the vehicle parked, but says police tailed the suspect when he drove it to Evergreen and West McNichols in west Detroit several hours later.
Police tried to arrest the man when he exited the vehicle, but he fled on foot, leading on a 1/4-mile chase.
The suspect resisted and officers fired a Taser, but it didn't affect him due to his bulky clothing.
"The subject continue to reach for the area of his waist band and refused all orders to show his hands," Hiller's statement says. "He curled up in a ball and his right hand again went under his clothing.
"Fearing for their safety and those in the immediate area, an officer delivered a kick to the thigh area of the subject thus allowing the other officers the ability to arrest the subject."
The officer later located a handgun on the suspect.
"Give me your arm," one of the officers can be heard saying angrily before handcuffing the suspect in the video.
The suspect is head moaning on the ground.
The second officer kneels on the man's back, grabs the collar of his jacket and says, "What did you say, Jesus, you're calling Jesus?.
The officer says something else indiscernible and add, "Don't you dare. Don't you (expletive) dare."
The suspect is parole absconder with a previous conviction of armed robbery and admitted to stealing the woman's vehicle to get drugs.
"The officers in this case arrested an extremely dangerous wanted felon who was armed with a hand gun," the police statement said. "They were required to utilize various techniques to affect the arrest.
"Due to the totality of the circumstances we believe the actions of the officers in affecting the arrest proper."
Hiller's statement said police administrators "will continue to review the incident should additional information develop.
The Grosse Pointe Park Police Department previously faced criticism in November of 2013 when officers were accused of recording and sharing insensitive videos of a handicapped black man that were made the year prior..
After an investigation, Hiller said five officers were suspended but he refused to say for how long.
He only said the punishments ranged from between 24 hours to 60 days.
Hiller also agreed to create a racial profiling training program for officers.
