Kyron Hinton, 29, who was hospitalized for his injuries during an arrest, now has video proof of the brutality inflicted by officers in a Raleigh, N.C., police department.
The Wake County Judge ordered the release of the dash cam footage, audio recordings and 911 calls from that night in April, which outs the officers’, Deputy
Cameron Broadwell and Officers Tabitha Davis and Michael Blake, criminal behavior. Three felony charges came down: assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, assault inflicting serious bodily injury and willfully failing to discharge duties.
The video shows Hinton appearing unarmed and drunk, the officers initially calmly approaching him, police sending the dog to attack and the officers tackling and beating him.
Hinton says, “I was drunk I had a crisis that night I was no threat.” He reportedly had just lost a lot of money gambling that night and was upset. He was also homeless at the time, according to the Atlanta Black Star.
The audio reveals the officer encouraging the dog to “Get him!”
Officers, who had previously backed away when the deputy arrived, then ran to tackle Hinton. You can hear an officer then shouting repeatedly, “Start hitting that f**king head! Start hitting that f**king noggin! …Hit that noggin with a f**king flashlight!”
You can hear Hinton screaming out for help. He suffered a broken nose and eye socket and memory loss due to the incident.
“Twenty-one bites and several cuts on his skull. We are staying awake nobody is sleeping on this,” said Portia Rochelle of the North Carolina NAACP.
One officer adds over the audio, after the assault arrest, that a 911 call said Hinton was armed, but the first officers on the scene who appeared calm saw Hinton was unarmed.
The executive director of the NC Policeman’s Benevolent Association, John Midgette, expressed disappointment in the attorney in response to the deputy not testifying. He told reporters two weeks ago after the grand jury heard testimonies, “The actions of officers are often made in a split second during rapidly evolving circumstances in matters where the officer’s sworn duties command their presence. Of course, the district attorney controls the grand jury and apparently sees no difference in this case and any other criminal suspect.”
The police had initially filed charges against Hinton, including disorderly conduct, resisting a public officer and assault on a law enforcement animal, but they were all dropped by the DA.
The Raleigh Police Department released a statement on Twitter saying in part, “This matter was proactively referred to the Wake County District Attorney’s Office for independent review. The Raleigh Police Department is confident that the judicial process will be thorough and will follow the facts of this case wherever they lead.”
