Documents and Incidents Tagged "Excessive Force"
Documents
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- Department
- Richmond Police Department
- Description
- OpenOversightVA was the first to post this document outlining policy violations by several Richmond Police officers during the 2020 period of civil unrest, one of whom left while the investigation into his conduct was ongoing and took a job with the Virginia State Police, where he killed Xzavier Hill just a few months later.
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- Department
- Decertified, Dismissed, & Wandering Ex-Police
- Description
- The formerly-decertified, now-reinstated Polly F. Griffin currently works at the Petersburg Police Department. Griffin was fired from the VCU Police Department, indicted by the City of Richmond, and decertified by the DCJS after she attacked a civilian at a hospital. "You're lucky I don't kill you," Griffin reportedly said to the victim of her unprovoked attack, while a superior officer watching told her up to four times to "Let up," DCJS documents state. Upon her indictment for assault and following her termination from VCU Police citing "unnecessary/excessive force," a deal was made in court to allow for dismissal of Griffin's criminal charges upon completion of community service. While VCU Police Chief Venuti had promptly requested Griffin's certification be revoked, Griffin promptly requested an appeal before the DCJS Executive Board Committee, which, despite extensive documentation and testimony of the incident, voted to overturn her decertification and free her to work as a law enforcement officer in Virginia. Reinstated, free of charges, and authorized to patrol again, Griffin applied for and was granted a job with the Petersburg Police, according to rosters obtained by Open69Oversight VA in fall 2023. The attached document is the DCJS case file for Griffin's appeal for reinstatement. It contains correspondence, a letter of termination, emails, notices, and several reports of the events on the day of the assault. If you have information about Polly F. Griffin, contact info@openoversightva.org.
- Tags
- Wandering Cops | VCU Police | Terminations | Polly Griffin | Richmond | DCJS | Decertifications | Excessive Force | Petersburg Police | FOIA (2024) | Juicy | Police Brutality | Chief Travis C. Christian |
Incidents
Incident Gladney-v-Timberlake |
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| Date | Mar 08, 2021 |
| Report # | Gladney-v-Timberlake |
| Department | Fairfax County Police |
| Officers | Tyler Ryan Timberlake |
| Description | On March 8, 2021, Lamonta Gladney field a civil rights lawsuit against Tyler Timberlake and Kyle M. Schaefer. As Gladney's lawyer alleged, he "suffered serious physical injury caused by Timberlake’s unlawful taser attack. Additionally, Gladney suffered and continues to suffer mental anguish, humiliation, and psychological pain... The Defendant’s misconduct, done under the color of state law, as described below, was recklessly and deliberately indifferent to the life, safety, bodily integrity, well-being, liberty, and civil rights of Lamonta Gladney.” Gladney presented three claims for relief. The first claim alleged deprivation of civil rights and violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments; the second with police brutality and excessive force; and the third with false arrest. The case concluded in June 2022. Officer Timberlake and Fairfax County admitted no wrongdoing, but they agreed to pay Gladney a $150,000 settlement. |
| Address |
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Fairfax County, VA |
| Tags | Lawsuit | Settlement | Virginia Eastern District Court | Fairfax County Police | Tyler Timberlake | Kyle Schaefer | Lamonta Gladney | Excessive Force | |
Incident Gladden-v-Oberholzer |
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| Date | Feb 06, 2019 |
| Time | 09:00 AM |
| Report # | Gladden-v-Oberholzer |
| Department | Charlottesville Police |
| Officers | Robbie Oberholzer |
| Description | Jamar Gladden, appearing pro se and proceeding in forma pauperis, filed this civil action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Defendant R.A. Oberholzer, a police officer for the City of Charlottesville, used excessive force against Gladden during a traffic stop on July 29, 2015. On February 6, 2019, Gladden filed a one-count complaint alleging that Oberholzer violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Gladden claims that he suffered a broken tooth, at least one cut requiring stitches, and a dislocated shoulder. Gladden complied. Instead of restraining Gladden’s wrists, however, Oberholzer “grabbed [him] around the neck with his forearm in a ‘choke hold’ fashion” and “used his body weight to throw” Gladden to the ground. Oberholzer kept choking Gladden and holding him down while unknown “detectives kicked, punched[,] and struck” him. |
| Address | Charlottesville, VA |
| Tags | Lawsuit | Charlottesville | Charlottesville Police | Traffic Stop | Excessive Force | Robbie Oberholzer | Jamar Gladden | |
Incident Frenzley-v-Brothers |
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| Date | Jan 25, 2023 |
| Report # | Frenzley-v-Brothers |
| Department | Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office |
| Officers | Paul L. Brothers Iv |
| Description | A civil suit was filed against Paul L. Brothers IV for an assault he committed on April 3, 2021, for which Brothers was subsequently terminated from his position and briefly decertified by the Department of Criminal Justice Services. |
| Address |
US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Richmond, VA |
| Tags | Lawsuit | Virginia Eastern District Court | Excessive Force | Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office | Paul L. Brothers IV | |