Man who recorded deputy punching suspect explains what he saw, heard
http://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article185317038.html
The man who recorded a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department deputy repeatedly striking a suspect during an apprehension said he was surprised by what prompted the incident.
"I thought the guy did something way worse to get that kind of reaction,” said Porter Villar. "I thought he hurt a cop or did something to a cop ... I did not expect that type of (reaction) for something that minor."
Villar learned Thursday night when he read the Modesto Bee story about the incident that police were called to the area of Hatch Road and Crows Landing roads because the suspect was acting bizarrely and running into traffic.
The deputy, Taylor Knight, is now under criminal and administrative investigation for his actions.
Villar’s video was just one-minute long but he said it captured the brunt of what took place.
The Santa Cruz resident was in Modesto the night of the incident Nov. 10 because he was dropping off his girlfriend who was getting a ride from a friend up to Sacramento for a job, he said.
They all met at a shopping center in the northwest corner of the intersection. Villar’s girlfriend and her ride had just left and he was sitting in his car looking up directions back to Santa Cruz on his phone when he heard yelling and sirens and looked up to see the suspect on the left side of his vehicle.
"He was looking very agitated and disheveled,” Porter said.
He locked his door and ducked down, not knowing what the man’s intentions were.
"“It was me and him there for about 10 to 15 seconds.," he said. Then the first law enforcement officer showed up.
It’s unclear if it was a deputy or a Modesto Police officer. Three sheriff’s deputies, three Modesto police officers and a sergeant from each agency responded to the incident.
Villar said he saw the law enforcement officer point down and heard him tell the suspect to get on the ground.
"And then one after the other, two, three, four, five cops got there” and they tackled the suspect to the ground, he said.
From the time the suspect was taken to the ground, to the time Villar started recording, about 20 seconds had lapsed, he said.
"The worst happened in the video,” he said. "There was nothing that much outside of what I recorded."
In the video, Knight can be seen striking the suspect at least eight times in the head and back while other officers try to get the suspect's armed behind his back to handcuff him.
There is no audio in the video but Villar said he could hear law enforcement telling the suspect to stop resisting.
The suspect was in handcuffs shortly after the recording ended.
Villar said he asked an officer at the scene if everything was OK and the officer, in a dismissive tone, told him yes.
He said he would have given a statement but no one asked him for one and he has not been contacted by law enforcement since.
Sheriff Adam Christianson said his department, in partnership with Modesto Police Department, is conducting the criminal investigation and that detectives plan to interview both the law enforcement involved as well as civilian witnesses.