MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A Minneapolis man says he was brutalized by Roseville police, and now he’s taking them to court.
The incident happened last May near Lexington Avenue and Highway 36.
During a traffic stop for speeding, a squad camera shows the driver of the car running from Officer Justin Gunderson.
The passenger, 25-year-old Victor Hernandez stayed inside, but he began to get out minutes later.
Hernandez is then seen being thrown to the ground and tased by police.
As police yell at Hernandez to stop resisting, other officers show up.
The video shows Hernandez getting punched while he’s lying on the ground.
“It seems clear to me that the officers used a great deal of excessive force,” said Hernandez’s attorney, Paul Edlund.
He said his client was never aggressive with police.
“So, certainly, to throw him to the ground and tase him three times was far greater than necessary,” Edlund said.
The way officers put Hernandez in the squad car was even worse, the attorney said.
“[What] I think is even more troubling, on the video, is when the officer officer mocks him in Spanish and then throws him in the squad car, like a piece of meat basically,” Edlund said.
Roseville police released a statement saying: “We take allegations of this nature very seriously….and we’ve opened an investigation into the events surrounding the arrest of Mr. Hernandez-Rivera.”
“It doesn’t take very long to watch the video, and from watching the video, it seems very clear to me that this is not how police should behave,” Edlund said. “Not even close.”
Police said the investigation centers around four officers involved in the arrest of Hernandez.
They also added that an internal affairs investigation can take time to complete, so they are asking for patience.
