PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia police officer has
been suspended with intent to dismiss following charges of simple assault and
official oppression stemming from an incident during the city's Puerto Rican
Day festival 1½ years ago.
The Philadelphia district attorney's office says Officer
Aquil Byrd got into a verbal confrontation with another man during the
September 2011 event.
Officials allege that he followed the other man into a
takeout restaurant and was recorded on
surveillance video striking him and grabbing him by the throat.
A representative of the Fraternal Order of Police said
Wednesday he was unaware of the action and declined immediate comment.
Another police officer videotaped striking a woman at a
street party in north Philadelphia after last fall's Puerto Rican Day parade
was acquitted of simple assault earlier this year