Attorneys claim East Chicago officer used excessive force in takedown seen on video
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (CBS) -- Video obtained exclusively by CBS 2 shows police in East Chicago, Indiana taking down a prisoner inside a police station.
One of the officers now is accused of using excessive force. And as CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported Friday night, that officer has faced controversy before.
Surveillance video shows a view inside the detention area of the East Chicago police station, during the booking process shortly after an arrest. It was not made public until now.
The video was provided by law enforcement sources, who say they feared the video would be suppressed by administrators and never be made public.
Jesus Lopez-Puentes was brought into the East Chicago police station for processing after he was arrested on charges of domestic battery and criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon.
The 2021 arrest report said Lopez-Puentes punched a woman several times while armed with a knife.
"(H)e grabbed a butcher knife stating this time he was going to kill her," the report said. "Jesus then began poking her with the butcher knife on her stomach area and back."
Once in custody and in the detention area, East Chicago police Officer Kayvionne Cook wrote in the report that Lopez-Puentes resisted and "began to lock up his muscles, making it difficult to finish the booking process."
Officer Cook can be seen grabbing the back of Lopez-Fuentes' shirt – pushing his face into the glass as he takes him down to the ground with two other officers standing by. One officer has his Taser drawn.
Cook justified the move, writing in the report, "The officer used this technique to control the defendant from making any sudden movements and attacking officers."
"At first blush, it appears to me as somewhat excessive - given the number of officers there," said Jerry Rodriguez, a police use of force expert.
Rodriguez is a retired police officer who was on his force more than 30 years
"I would have like to have seen the officer use a little more restraint, and possibly resort to a less injurious tactical option; force option," he said.
With his knee on his back, Officer Cook says he punched Lopez-Puentes in the neck to "stop the aggressive behavior."
"Not minimizing the potential threat - but I didn't see it," Rodriguez said.
"Excessive and unlawful" is how attorneys for Lopez-Puentes describe the incident in a federal lawsuit against Officer Cook, his supervisors, current police Chief Joseph Rivera, and Hector Rosario, who was police chief at the time of the incident.
"Officer Cook used the same blow to the neck in a 2020 arrest caught on camera," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said that evidence is proof of Officer Cook's pattern of excessive force.
"Blows to the neck to gain compliance is not something that is an industry-standard, best-practice type of technique," Rodriguez said.
Chief Rivera said he is looking into the complaint.
The attorney representing Rivera, Officer Cook, and former Chief Rosario declined to comment – citing the pending litigation.