Joel Schwartz and Bevis Schock, lawyers who filed suit Jan. 22 on behalf of Cortez Bufford, said “red” is cop slang for a running camera. What is seen before the video stops, they claim, supports their accusations in St. Louis Circuit Court that police lacked probable cause and applied excessive force.
The video, which St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay’s office had asked a private lawyer to delay releasing last summer, shows city officers pull Bufford from a car, kick him repeatedly and shock him with a Taser. It played a role in the dropping of charges against Bufford.
But a lawyer for the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association insists that the video really reflects a proper escalation of force applied against a resisting suspect who was lucky he didn’t get shot when he reached for a gun.
Police Chief Sam Dotson declined to comment on the specifics of the case.
CALLS FOR SHOTS FIRED
The stop followed 911 reports of shots fired near Lafayette Square just after 10 p.m. April 10. One caller mentioned a silver car with big wheel rims.
Five minutes later, according to a police report, officers Nathaniel Burkemper and Michael Binz watched as a silver Ford Taurus made an “illegal” U-turn and “abruptly parked” in front of 1614 South 13th Street.
Five minutes later, according to a police report, officers Nathaniel Burkemper and Michael Binz watched as a silver Ford Taurus made an “illegal” U-turn and “abruptly parked” in front of 1614 South 13th Street.
The video, released by Bufford’s lawyer, shows them pull over the car. Conversations are hard to hear. Binz searches and handcuffs the passenger as Burkemper talks through the car window with Bufford, the driver.
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