Officer Says He Didn't Intend to Kick Suspect in Head [View all]
The officer told Latif Dickerson to get on the ground. Latif complied, but on his way to the ground, Officer Thomas Webster kicked him swiftly in the face, breaking his jaw
_______http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/06/delaware-cop-indicted-after-video-man-in-face/#
A white police officer charged with assault after breaking a black suspect's jaw with a kick said Thursday that he was aiming for the man's upper body, not his head.
Dover police officer Thomas Webster IV testified, as other witnesses have, that Lateef Dickerson was slow to comply with repeated police commands to get on the ground. He also said he was scared and feared for the safety of himself and others because officers were told that Dickerson was armed with a gun.
"I'm extremely, extremely concerned for my safety.... At no point did he give me the impression that he was complying," Webster said in his trial on a felony assault charge.
"I wasn't intending to kick him in the head," Webster explained under questioning from his defense attorney, James Liguori. "I was trying to connect with his upper body."
But prosecutor Danielle Brennan pointed out that Webster didn't mention in his use-of-force report or in a supplemental crime report that he did not intend to kick Dickerson in the head.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/officer-intend-kick-suspect-head-35560058