Two Aurora Police officers are facing charges after body camera footage showed one of them assaulting civilian Kyle Vinson during his arrest.
Last Friday, the incident occurred after the officers approached Vinson and two other men in response to a call about trespassers, CBS4 reported. The other men fled the scene, and Vinson was left sitting on the ground as the police approached.
Officer John Haubert pointed a handgun at Vinson and ordered him to lie on the ground.
“What did I do?” Vinson asked.
“Get down over on your face, over on your stomach,” Haubert responded.
Vinson complied, but Haubert began to rough him up. The officer pistol-whipped Vinson and was seen with his hands around the screaming man’s neck for at least 40 seconds. Blood was pouring from Vinson’s head, and he repeatedly told Haubert he couldn’t breathe.
“You’re killing me,” Vinson said during the assault.
Vinson’s father, Maurice, said his son was taken to a hospital for his injuries before he was transferred to jail on an outstanding warrant for probation violation. He found out about his son’s ordeal when he was watching the news.
“When I seen that video, and I seen what was happening, I thought he was going to die. He was saying, ‘you’re killing me.’ I dropped my phone. My wife, she was just … I had to pick her up off the ground,” he told CBS4.
Aurora police Chief Vanessa Wilson released the video on Tuesday. Colorado law requires law enforcement agencies to share body camera footage within 21 days of a complaint.
“We’re disgusted. We’re angry. This is not police work,” Wilson said at a news conference. “This is not the Aurora Police Department. This was criminal.”
Aurora Police has been under scrutiny since the 23-year-old Elijah McClain was killed after a police encounter in 2019. Since Wilson became police chief last year, 14 officers have been terminated for misconduct.
Haubert was placed on administrative leave without pay before he resigned on Thursday. He was arrested and charged with three felony charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, strangulation and menacing. He was also hit with two misdemeanors for official misconduct and official oppression.
Francine Martinez, another officer at the scene, was charged with failing to intervene and a failure to report the use of force. She is on administrative leave, but since her charges are misdemeanors, she will receive pay, per NBC News.
Both are out on bond.
