Female Cop Escapes Punishment After Casually Beating & Bloodying Woman Who Called 911 For Help

Chris | InformationLiberation
Mar. 03, 2015

A female police officer seen casually beating and bloodying a woman who called 911 for help after a fight with her boyfriend faced no punishment for her use of excessive force, rather she was only reprimanded for failing to "maintain certification on the use of police nunchucks," which she used during her arrest to constrain the woman.

From 7 News Denver:
Denver City Council has approved another significant payout to settle a civil lawsuit over excessive force by Denver Police.

On Monday night, city council approved a $50,000 settlement for Patricia Lucero. She filed a civil lawsuit in 2014 for a December 2012 incident involving Denver Police Officers Marika Putnam and Kenneth Starbuck.

Lucero had called 911 and hung up during an argument with her boyfriend. Police responded to the hang up call and found Lucero locked out of her apartment. Eventually, he answers and both are questioned.

Surveillance video from the apartment showed Lucero and her boyfriend sitting in the hallway while two police officers stand near and in the doorway to the apartment. According to the internal affairs report, Lucero was shouting obscenities to Putnam, when the officer walked into the apartment, with both occupants in the hall.

The video showed Putnam walk out of the apartment, and with the help of Starbuck, lift Putnam off the ground to try to place her in handcuffs. Putnam uses a leg sweep to get Lucero on the ground. As she gets her in cuffs, Putnam lifts Lucero up and swings her into a wall twice. Putnam also uses nunchakus to maintain control of Lucero's arms.

The lawsuit states that Lucero was in pain as a result of the use of the nunchakus.

Video from the elevator hallway showed Putnam slam Lucero into the wall near the elevator door. When the elevator gets to the first floor, the surveillance video from the main area showed a bloodied Lucero being walked out in handcuffs, leaving behind a pool of blood in the elevator.

Putnam's conduct was reviewed by police and she was exonerated for her use of force.
Watch a video report on the incident courtesy of 7 News Denver:














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