Wake deputy defends actions in unarmed Raleigh man's beating
A Wake County deputy is defending his actions last month when an unarmed Raleigh man was beaten by law enforcement while being taken into custody.
Deputy Cameron Broadwell and State Highway Patrol troopers Michael Blake and Tabithia Davis were indicted last week on charges of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and willfully failing to discharge duties. Broadwell also faces a charge of assault inflicting serious bodily injury.
The charges were in connection with their April 3 encounter with 29-year-old Kyron Dwain Hinton near the intersection of North Raleigh Boulevard and Yonkers Road. Officers were responding to reports of a man with a gun yelling at passing cars.
Hinton said he suffered a broken eye socket, broken nose, multiple cuts on his head, "probably 20 bite marks" and memory loss after several officers pushed him up against a patrol car and beat him up while a Wake County Sheriff's Office K-9 bit him on his right arm, side and head.
The Wake County Sheriff's Office previously objected to the public release of video recorded by the officers' body-worn cameras, but the office withdrew that objection Thursday after Broadwell said he wanted everyone to have all relevant information to draw a fair conclusion as to what happened that night.
Broadwell noted in a court filing Thursday that, in addition to be alerted by 911 dispatchers that the man in the street might be armed, a Highway Patrol trooper who was first on the scene issued a Code 10-18 for "urgent and immediate assistance ... to protect the safety of the public and the officer."
"Upon being approached by law enforcement, Mr. Hinton refused to comply with lawful and reasonable commands. His refusal to comply with law enforcement's lawful commands, his threatening manner, and the report that he possessed a firearm resulted in a response by law enforcement, including Deputy Broadwell, to neutralize any and all threats to the safety of the public and the responding officers," the court filing states.
No gun was found on Hinton that night.
Broadwell also contends that Hinton was so high on drugs and alcohol that he had to be given sedatives in the back of a patrol car to halt his "violent and threatening manner" and again at WakeMed that to calm him down enough to be treated for his injuries.
Later, when law enforcement was questioning him, Hinton "apologized profusely for his actions," according to Broadwell.
"Mr. Hinton stated that he was angry on that night, acted in a threatening manner to the responding law enforcement officers, and acted inappropriately. Mr. Hinton also stated that he was extremely intoxicated," the court filing states.
Broadwell also argues that Hinton was in a fight in Garner two nights before his arrest and had to receive medical attention for a broken nose and an injury to his right eye.
Hinton was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting a public officer and assault on a law enforcement animal following his arrest, but Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman dismissed those charges two weeks ago amid a State Bureau of Investigation review that led to last week's indictments.
The indictments allege Broadwell beat and kicked Hinton and that Blake and Davis hit him with their flashlights. All three are accused of violating the Highway Patrol's and the Wake County Sheriff's Office's use-of-force policies, and Broadwell also is accused of improper handling of his K-9.
All three officers are on administrative duty.
A court hearing is set for Friday in which a judge will decide whether to release the body-cam footage to WRAL News and other media. The Highway Patrol and Raleigh Police Department, which also had officers at the scene, haven't objected to the release.
