Oct 30, 2009 11:10 pm US/Central
Controversial Traffic Stop Gets Another Look
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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A controversy began with this surveillance video of a traffic stop in Minneapolis, where the police reports didn't match up with what actually happened.
CBS
It's been a week since the story broke of a controversial and costly traffic stop captured on video. And now, the Minneapolis Police Internal Affairs unit has decided to take another look.
The incident happened Aug. 4, 2006.
Officers Lucas Peterson and Mark Kaspszak stopped a car in North Minneapolis. A struggle broke out with the officers and the driver. An arrest was made of the driver and his passenger.
In the police reports, the passenger is accused of jumping on the back of an officer. One of the officers said he had to use mace. But you don't see any of this on video. And as it turns out, Officer Kaspszak was already in trouble with the law.
A judge reviewed the case and decided the officers' stories were not credible and dismissed the charges. The city of Minneapolis recently paid $100,000 to settle the couple's lawsuits.
"I was very shocked on seeing all that stuff," said Nancy Johnson, the passenger in the car on that day back in 2006.
She also can't believe Officer Kaspszak was on probation for four months at the time of the arrest.
"I wish they would take his job from him," she said. "It would set a good example."
Officer Kaspszak was arrested for DWI on Jan. 5, 2006. Just seven months before he made that controversial stop in Minneapolis.
Court documents show he was later charged with a gross misdemeanor. Kaspszak "failed to cooperate with the testing process," according to the records. He also registered 0.249 -- more than triple the legal limit to drive.
The police department suspended him for three days. Although he was back on the job, he was still on probation when he and his partner made that stop.
"I feel really bad because this is where all our tax dollars go to," Johnson said. "We work very hard for their income and this is how they treat us."
Chief Tim Dolan said he saw the video last week.
He said he saw no excessive force and "the officers' reports were going on their memories of the incident at the time."
However, the chief said his new Internal Affairs supervisor wants to take another look at the case and question the officers about what happened.
Mayor RT Rybak told us he takes incidents like this very seriously. Rybak said he and Chief Dolan hold police officers to higher standards of conduct because it is essential that people know they can depend on the police to protect and serve them.
It is important that police officers and community members trust and respect each other, he said. He knows that Chief Dolan has a record of taking tough disciplinary action against officers when those high standards are not being met, Rybak said.
Sonya Goins, Producer
Contact Sonya
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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