MERIDEN, Conn. (WTNH)
-- A new surveillance video is raising questions about whether or not Meriden
police used excessive force while arresting a man in a hospital parking lot.
In the video you can
see an elbow come up behind the police cruiser, someone is getting punched, and
the person whose fists were flying was a Meriden police officer.
Officer Evan Cossette
is now accused of brutality in the arrest of Joseph Bryans. Cossette is the son
of Police Chief Jeffry Cossette.
This all started at
MidState Medical Center back in January of 2011. News 8 is told Bryans was
apparently intoxicated and there was concern that he would hurt himself.
The surveillance video
shows Bryans walking out of the hospital. A nurse tries to stop him and then
calls in police.
The camera picks up
Bryans in the parking lot. One officer is chasing him on foot when Cossette
pulls up the cruiser and blocks him in. The video veers away, trying to get in
focus and when it returns Bryans is on the ground and you can see that he's
getting punched. News 8 is told, after that Cossette used his Taser on him,
twice.
Bryans says he filed a report with internal affairs, but the investigators dismissed his claim without ever looking at the surveillance video.
Bryans says he filed a report with internal affairs, but the investigators dismissed his claim without ever looking at the surveillance video.
Not only that, two
other men have filed complaints against Officer Cossette. They, too cite
excessive force being used and claim that the department has done little to
discipline him.
Two other police
officers have also called for an investigation into the department, citing what
they say is a pattern of favoritism, particularly in respect to Cossette.
The video is now in
the hands of attorneys for both sides in the dispute.
Bryans' attorney says
he was severely injured in the incident. They've now filed a federal lawsuit
against Cossette, as well as his father, the deputy chief, the internal affairs
investigators, the hospital and the city of Meriden.