Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
International

Slammed Indian Grandfather Sureshbhai Patel Testifies At US Cop's Trial

Darpan News Desk IANS, 03 Sep, 2015 11:43 AM
    An Indian grandfather who was slammed down to the ground by an Alabama police officer while walking in his son's neighbourhood in February recalled the horrific encounter that left him badly injured.
     
    Sureshbhai Patel, 57, was called to the stand as the trial of former police office Eric Parker, 26, began in a Huntsville, Alabama federal court Wednesday.
     
    Parker is accused of using excessive force against an unarmed Patel and charged with violating his civil rights.
     
    Patel, according to local whnt.com,told the jury he went for a walk around the neighbourhood every morning, but stayed on the same street as his son's house and never went farther than ten or 11 houses away.
     
    He walked on the footpath next to the road and did not go to anybody's house or into anyone's yard on his walk.
     
    Patel said on the morning of the incident, he stopped when he heard shouting from behind him. He recognized the uniforms the men wore as police uniforms.
     
    He said he stopped when they shouted, but he could not understand them.
     
    He says he was only able to respond, "No English, no English."
     
    Patel said when the officer put his hand on him, he did not attempt to jerk or pull away.
     
    Shortly after that, the officer "put him on the grass." He said officers tried to lift him, but his hands and legs were numb.
     
     
    As a result of his injuries, he now has trouble walking and cannot care for his grandson, he told the jury.
     
    When the defence asked Patel why he did not carry identification or a card with his son's contact information on it, he replied that he was simply going for a short-distance morning walk and that there was no need for identification.
     
    Earlier, officer Charles Spence who was called to respond after Parker arrested Sureshbhai Patel, said Parker used a standard takedown move, the "front leg sweep" taught in the police academy.
     
    Spence said it's used when a subject is being combative, but he didn't observe Patel being combative.
     
    He also said this type of takedown is "high risk" and he wouldn't have handcuffed him in this circumstance.
     
    Prosecutors asked Spence if he saw anything that would have caused him to lay hands on Patel. "No sir, I didn't," Officer Spence replied.
     
    Parker had responded on a report of a suspicious person. The jury heard a recording of the dispatcher's call to police about a "black male" looking into garages there.
     
    Police dash cam video captured Parker slamming Patel to the ground, and jurors watched those videos in court.
     
    Throughout questioning, even in opening statements, Parker's lawyer, Robert Tuten, argued his client was doing what was necessary to "control the situation," which is a duty of a police officer in an uncertain situation.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Indian-Origin Scientists Develop New Super-Thin Material

    Indian-Origin Scientists Develop New Super-Thin Material
    Indian-origin scientists Swastik Kar and Srinivas Sridhar have developed a new super-thin light-weight material with potential applications in a range of tools that we use everyday -- from cameras to computers, says a new study.

    Indian-Origin Scientists Develop New Super-Thin Material

    Amasia Patel, Indian-Origin Girl And Friend Missing In Britain

    Amasia Patel, Indian-Origin Girl And Friend Missing In Britain
    Two minor girls, including an Indian-origin teenager, were reported missing from their homes in Britain, police said on Tuesday.Amasia Patel, Indian-Origin Girl And Friend Missing In Britain

    Amasia Patel, Indian-Origin Girl And Friend Missing In Britain

    Indian-Origin Teen Nilay Mehta Creates Low-Cost Robotic Arm In US

    Indian-Origin Teen Nilay Mehta Creates Low-Cost Robotic Arm In US
    17-year-old Indian-origin teenager has won accolades for an inexpensive robotic arm he created for his school science fair project in California state of the US.

    Indian-Origin Teen Nilay Mehta Creates Low-Cost Robotic Arm In US

    Tariq Khosa Admits: 26/11 Mumbai Mayhem Was Planned, Launched From Pakistan

    Tariq Khosa Admits: 26/11 Mumbai Mayhem Was Planned, Launched From Pakistan
    Pakistan must admit its mistakes for allowing Pakistani terrorists to sail to Mumbai and carry out the horrific massacre in Mumbai in 2008, almost bringing Islamabad and Delhi to war, a former senior Pakistani official has said.

    Tariq Khosa Admits: 26/11 Mumbai Mayhem Was Planned, Launched From Pakistan

    Florida Man Chews Off Fingerprints To Escape Identification

    Florida Man Chews Off Fingerprints To Escape Identification
    When traffic policemen in Florida's Lee county stopped 20-year-old Kenzo Roberts, who was driving a Mercedes that had been reported stolen, he began to remove his own fingerprints by chewing them off

    Florida Man Chews Off Fingerprints To Escape Identification

    Israeli Girl Stabbed In Gay Parade Dies

    Israeli Girl Stabbed In Gay Parade Dies
    Shira Banki, a high school student from Jerusalem, suffered critical injuries when she was stabbed by an ultra-orthodox man 

    Israeli Girl Stabbed In Gay Parade Dies