Cringed is what I did when I saw this on WMUR 9 this evening – especially when the kid’s head was SLAMMED into the concrete / cinder block wall. And the Seabrook, NH cops just laughed and smirked. Even looking directly into the camera, just smiling away. I guess they believed that the rumored “brotherhood omerta” was in play – they’d be covered:
Mike Bergeron was the guy in the video. Drunk? High? Sleep walking? I dunno but he didn’t look like he was all there. But then again, it doesn’t matter. What these three of the thin blue line did was wrong. Once in custody, they are responsible for his well-being. Slamming his head against the wall does not heighten that well-being. From the YouTube description:
“charged with a dwi and tried explaining that I wasn’t drunk and they could be out catching actual criminals. then after being in the cell for a while waiing for a bail bonds man I was taken out and brought in the booking room to call for a ride. after calling a ride I was told I could take my phone that I called from and my wallet. as soon as I greabbed my wallet from the table he officer with the glasses came at me saying he never told me I could take my stuff and choked me against the wall then tried to grab the wallet from my pocket. once he got the wallet and my phone this is what happened. there was no lawsuit made due to the fact I found a lawyer and the lawyer took the tapes and disappeared for 2 years until I finally tracked him down and go it back but now I think its to late to do anything with it even though I have a permanent lump on the back of my head chipped teeth and brain injuries but talking to a lawyer soon well see what happens.”
More info at the Union Leader (reformatted, emphasis mine):
SEABROOK — The state Attorney General’s Office has launched a criminal investigation into the conduct of three Seabrook police officers shown in a YouTube video, one of whom is seen slamming a young man against a wall inside the police department. The three officers were placed on paid administrative leave after the video was posted on YouTube Monday. Associate Attorney General Jane Young said Seabrook police notified her office Monday evening after it learned about the posting. Town Manager William Manzi III said the town is also investigating the incident. The officers were put on leave pending the results of that inquiry, he said.
…The video appears to have come from police security cameras inside the station. It is dated Nov. 11, 2009, at 11:45 p.m. — the night Bergeron was arrested by Seabrook police. In the video, three police officers are seen escorting a shirtless Bergeron down a cell hallway. At one point, one of the officers is seen throwing Bergeron against a wall.
He then falls to the floor. The officer leans over Bergeron and then pulls him up. Bergeron staggers down the hallway with the officer holding his arms. He falls onto the floor a second time, but is no longer visible. Another officer wearing gloves appears to use pepper spray on Bergeron and moments after is seen smiling toward the camera….He wrote that an officer “choked me against the wall” and added that he had not brought a lawsuit “due to the fact I found a lawyer and the lawyer took the tapes and disappeared for 2 years until I finally tracked him down and got it back…”
