SPRINGFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT INTERNAL INVESTIGATION UNIT February 14, 2019 SPECIAL REPORT TO POLICE JOHN R. BARBIERI Sir: In compliance with Special Order #18-278 dated December 21, 2018 and being responsive to arrest report of this report is being submitted. SUMMARY (The summary is intended to be a synopsis of the full investigation. The investigation should be reviewed in its entirety.) On December 3, 2018, Mr. - - age. was arrested by Of?cer Angel Marrero at Commerce High School. Sergeant Michael Kervick, Student Support Unit Supervisor, was noti?ed by the school department that Commerce may have an issue with the arrest. Sergeant Kervick noti?ed Captain Philip Tarpev and obtained the video of the incident. Of?cer Marrero stated in the arrest report that Mr. - walked by him, called him a ?pussy? and further stated that he ?would slap the shit out of him.? Of?cer Marrero, who was new to the school, approached Mr. and asked why he would speak to him that way. Of?cer Marrero stated that Mr. then pushed him in the chest with two hands and a struggle ensued. Mr. was eventually handcuffed with assistance from his partner Of?cer Lawrence Mayo. The video shows that Mr. - does appear to say something to Of?cer Marrero and is confronted by the of?cer. Of?cer Marrero then grabs Mr. by the back of the neck and pushed him against the wall. Mr. then pushed Of?cer Marrero away with two hands and a struggle ensued. Mr. is then handcuffed and walked away. I interviewed Mr. - and he denies ever calling Of?cer Marrero a ?pussy,? threatening him or assaulting him. Of?cer Marrero stated after watching the video that the incident happened very fast and when he felt Mr. - elbow come up and make contact with him he assumed Mr. - had now assaulted him after he had just previously threatened him. Of?cer Marrero stated that he never intentionally tried to deceive anyone when he wrote that Mr. - pushed him ?rst. INVESTIGATION On January 29, 2019, I interviewed Sergeant Michael Kervick, Student Support Unit Supervisor, and he authored a report that is similar in nature and corroborative in so #18278 Pg. 2 of 7 content with that interview. The following is the text of that report, including any grammatical errors: On Monday, December 3, 2018 at approximately 1:31 m, O?icer An el Marrero arrested a Hispanic juvenile male identi?ed as dob 0 Terrace. The arrest took place at Commerce High School. At the time of the arrest O?icer Marrero was assigned to the Student Support Unit. Refer to arrest 18- 423 1 -AR for details. On December 4, 2018 while I was at the Dryden school conducting a school check, I ran into Adam enn ?om SPS Safety and Security. He told me he had just heard that "Commerce" may have an issue with the above arrest - and it?s on video. He told me that he would call me later in the day if he heard anything else. Later that same day, I received a phone call from Adam enn. He con?rmed that "Commerce" did have an issue with the above arrest and that the arrest is on video. I then asked him if it was a use of force type of an issue and he said yes. He then told me that the Superintendent was going to be calling the Commissioner regarding the arrest. Report submitted. Sergeant Michael Kervick stated during the interview that after being noti?ed by the school department of the issue with the arrest he called Captain Philip Tarpey to inform him. On Februar 11, 2019, I interviewed Mr. in the presence of his mother, Ms at Terrace, . Mr.- stated that on December 3, 2018, he was walking down the hallway at Commerce High School when out of nowhere, an of?cer (Of?cer Marrero) he had never seen at the school before, grabbed him the front of his jacket, pushed him against the wall and punched him in the face. Mr. stated that he wasn?t injured. Mr. stated that he never called Of?cer Marrero a ?puss even jokingly. Mr. - stated that he never threatened Of?cer Marrero. Mr. stated that he was trying to push Of?cer Marrero away from him, but never hit him. Mr. stated that Of?cer Mayo was talking to someone down the hallway and left what he was doing to assist Of?cer Marrero in getting him handcuffed. Mr. stated that Of?cer Marrero kept saying, ?Stop resisting.? Mr. - admitted that he was resisting arrest because he was frustrated. A review of the video from the Commerce High School 2nd Floor Girls bathroom showed that Mr. - is wearin a red sweatshirt and walking down the hallway toward of?cer Marrero. As Mr. passes Of?cer Marrero it appears that he says something to Of?cer Marrero because Of?cer Marrero turns and walks toward Mr. - who turns and looks back toward Of?cer Marrero. It appears as though Of?cer Marrero may be pushing Mr. in the back and then rabs him by the back of the neck and pushes Mr. against the wall. Mr. then turns to face Of?cer Marrero and pushes him in the chest area. A struggle ensues between the two and Mr. Charles Youmans, who was standin in the hallway when the struggle ensued, walks over to assist with getting Mr. handcuffed. Of?cer Mayo arrives and they get Mr. - handcuffed and walk away. so #18?278 Pg. 3 of7 Video submitted on DVD. On February 4, 2019, I interviewed Mr. Charles Youmans, mentor at Commerce High School. Mr. Youmans stated that on December 3, 2018, he was standing in the hallway when he heard Mr. - call Of?cer Marrero a ?Pussy.? Mr. Youmans stated that he heard Mr. - say it again and then Of?cer Marrero turned and asked Mr. why he was saying this to him. Mr. Youmans stated that Mr. - told Of?cer Marrero to get out of his face. Mr. Youmans stated that with all of the kids that were standing in the hallway he never saw Of?cer Marrero grab Mr. by the back of the neck. Mr. Youmans stated that Of?cer Marrero and Mr. were ar uing and were against the locker when he arrived to assist so he tried to calm Mr. i down enough so that Of?cer Marrero could handcuff him. Mr. Youmans stated that Of?cer Mayo arrived and Mr. - was handcuffed. Of?cer Youmans stated that prior to that incident he had never met Mr. On ebruar 15, 2019, I interviewed Ms of. Circle, 413? Ms stated that she recalled the incident on December 3, 2018 when Mr. was arrested in the hallway at school. Ms stated that she was walking down the hallway with a friend between classes and Mr. walked by Of?cer Marrero and stated, ?You?re a uss ass nigga.? Ms stated that Of?cer Marrero ignored him at ?rst, then Mr. said, ?You?re a uss ass nigga, I?ll sla the shit out of you and your not gonna do anything about it.? Ms? stated that Mr. bumped his body against Of?cer Marrero and was being aggressive and ve i, against the disrespectful with him. Ms stated that the of?cer ushed Mr. door and turned him around. Ms stated that Mr. was trying to kick the of?cer and Of?cer Marrero was 'ust tryin to restrain him. Ms stated that she did not see the of?cer unch Mr. Ms stated that Mr. Youmans arrived and tried to calm Mr. down. Ms stated that Mr. - continued yel lin and being disrespectful until Of?cer Mayo arrived and they got him handcuffed. Ms a stated that as they were walking Mr. - away he was yelling threats at the of?cer. On Februar 15, 2019, I interviewed of- Road, 413- . Ms stated that on December 3, 2018 she was walking down the hallway with a friend when Mr. walked by Of?cer Marrero and called him a ?pussy.? Ms - stated that she didn?t hear Mr. - threaten the of?cer but he was being very disres ectful and had an attitude toward the of?cer. Ms stated that she thought that Mr. and the of?cer were joking at ?rst and then the of?cer ushed him against the wall and held him there with his forearm near his neck. Ms i stated that she could hear the of?cer yelling, ?Give me your hands.? Ms stated that Mr. was pushing the of?cer in the chest with his hands. Ms stated that Mr. was not cooperative and that Of?cer Mayo arrived and they put him in handcuffs and walked him away. Ms- stated that she did not see the of?cer hit Mr. Using departmental records, documents; Student Support Unit Telestaff Roster; Call for Service #18?255317; Arrest Report Booking Video; Booking Photographs; Prisoner Injury Reports; it was determined that: SO #18?278 Pg. 4 of? A review of the Student Support Unit Telestaff Roster dated December 3, 2018 showed the following of?cers working and their assignments: Of?cers Angel Marrero and Lawrence Mayo worked 7:00am?3:00pm. Documents submitted. A review of Call for Service #18?255317 dated December 3, 2018 showed that Mr. - was arrested and transported to 50 East Street at 1:32pm. Document submitted. On December 3, 2018, Of?cer Angel Marrero authored arrest report #184231? AR. The followin is the text of that re a ort, includin an rammatical errors: Report submitted. A review of the booking Video dated December 3, 2018 showed that Mr. was booked at the Youth Assessment Center located at 50 East Street by Of?cer John Lopez from 1:56pm-2:07pm. SO #18?278 Pg. 5 of7 Video submitted on DVD. On February 12, 2019, I interviewed Of?cer Lawrence Mayo, Student Support Unit, and he authored a report that is similar in nature and corroborative in content with that interview. The following is the text of that report, including any grammatical errors: On December 3rd, 2018 I was assigned to Commerce High School as the Student Resource O?icer, I am assigned there daily and have a great rapport with the students. On December 3rd, I remember there was loud noises coming from the second ?oor on the west side of the building. I was currently inside the north side hallway of the second ?oor. I walked towards the noise where I witnessed O?icer A. Marrero in a struggle with a student that I know as- - I could see Mr. - pushing icer Marrero in the chest repeatedly. I could hear 0 icer Marrero telling Mr. to put his hand behind his back multiple times. Mr. refused all directions at this time. As I was getting closer to this altercation I could see sta?? member Charlie Youmans trying to assist O?icer Marrero with placing hand cuffs on Mr. - Once I was there I then grabbed Mr. - hand and placed it behind his back where O?icer Marrero was finall able to place the hand cu?s on Mr. - O?icer Marrero and I then walked Mr. to the cruiser. PWzile outside in the cruiser Mr. - stated to me I thought that was you mr?. I then reminded Mr. - that this type of behavior is unacceptable behavior. Let it be known that in the beginning of the school year I had I a long talk with Mr. - about this same type of behavior. Mr. - shows consistent aiiessive behavior towards sta? members. This has been an ongoing issue with Mr. Today while at Commerce High School a sta?? member reported to me that Mr. threatened her. This sta? member was advised to write a statement and turn it into me tomorrow and I will make a report for the threats made. Report submitted. On February 12, 2019, I interviewed Of?cer Angel Marrero, Student Support Unit, and he authored a report that is similar in nature and corroborative in content with that interview. The following is the text of that report, including any grammatical errors: As re uested I am writing this report in regards to the arrest I made on 12/03/18 As we discussed, on 12/03/18 I was assigned to work at Commerce High School as the Student Resource Oyj?cer with O?icer. L. Mayo. I normally work at Balliet Middle School but due to roster changes I was asked I could assist O?icer Mayo at Commerce High School. I had not worked at Commerce High School prior to this day and had no working knowledge of the school and I was not familiar with any of the students. At approximately 1331 I was in the second floor hallway in the 9th grade corridor. I was just in the hallway to be a resence during class transition. While walking the hallway a student identi?ed as was walking past me and stated "You?re a pussy! I then took a step forward and asked him "what did you say? as I was both shocked and perplexed as to why he would make such a comment towards me. SO #18-278 Pg. 6 of? then in response to my question stated "You're a pussy and I 'll slap the shit out of you! This made me fearful as I did not know- nor have I had any interactions with prior to this occasion. This also made me fearful as I did not know what was capable of. - then bladed his body towards me which further heightened my fear he would assault me. At this point and I were in close proximity to one another. then raised his left arm striking me with his elbow in my lower torso area. Upon feeling the strike ?omi elbow, due to the close proximity and I, and also due to having just been threatened by- to be physically assaulted I perceived at that moment he had committed an assault and battery on me by pushing me with two hands in my lower torso area. Upon feeling the strike I made the decision to place- under arrest. I then reached out and grabbed the rear of his neck area where the top of his shirt collar sat to gain control 0 I began to guide him towards the lockers which were adjacent to us so I could affect the arrest while at the same time advising him he was under arrest. Upon hearing this immediately turned around and began physically resisting me by pushing my hands awa and then by grabbing me by my uniform shirt. As I was attempting to placeh under arrest I ordered him to tum around but refused and continued to resist me. This struggle between and I occurred or a brief moment when Officer Mayo arrived and assisted me in gaining control 01? and placing him under arrest. Once- was handcujfed O?icer Mayo and I began escorting him downstairs to the main floor. As we were escorting he began to pull away ?om us in an attempt to free himself from our custody. As was attempting to free himself ?om our custody he looked directly at me and stated "Don?t worry, once these handcuffs come of I ?m going to fuck you up! was escorted out of the school building and placed in the rear of our marked cruiser where he was transported to 50 East St for booking. At no time did I ever have the intention to write the arrest report 0 in a manner that could be perceived as deceitful nor did I write it with the intention of being deceitful. I have been an O?icer with this department for approaching nine years. During these approximate nine years I have never had any disciplinary issues. I have never had any complaints of excessive force. I have never had any complaints of being deceitful in any of my reports or in any arrests I have made or assisted in. I take great pride in my work and make every e?ort to per orm duties in a professional and honorable manner. The incident that occurred withi was a fast moving incident that took place in a ve short period of time. I sincerely perceived in that moment when I was struck by-W elbow that he had struck me with two hands in a pushing manner. Report submitted. On February 12, 2019, I interviewed Of?cer John Lopez, Major Crimes Division, over the phone, as he was on vacation for two weeks. He authored a report that is similar in nature and corroborative in content with that interview. The following is the text of that report, including any grammatical errors: SO #18?278 PgJuvenile I respectfully submit this special in regards to . On December 3, 2018 I recessed and transported Court. During the transport I asked what happened. stated thought he (Off. Marrero) was the other tall cop Mayo), cause we and Mayo) had played around before, so I called him Marrero) a pussy and pushed him I then informed - that that probably wasn?t a good idea. The transport was completed with no further conversation regarding the incident. Report submitted. Respectfully submitted, Sergeant Monique McCoy