Dashcam shut off during controversial St. Louis arrest, report says
ST. LOUIS - A man has filed a lawsuit alleging St. Louis police used excessive force on him during an April 2014 arrest in which an officer is heard yelling, "Everybody hold up. We're red right now!," before a police dashboard camera is shut off abruptly.
Attorneys for Cortez Bufford filed the lawsuit January 22. The suit says "red" is cop slang for a running camera and alleges that the dashcam was shut off because authorities lacked probable cause and used excessive force in the incident.
The St. Louis Dispatch reports authorities stopped Bufford, then 18, after being notified by a dispatcher of reports of shots fired just after 10 p.m. on April 10, 2014.
Bufford was reportedly pulled over five minutes later after police say he made an illegal U-turn and came to an abrupt stop.
A police report obtained by the newspaper indicates Bufford smelled of marijuana and "plastic baggies and a green leafy substance" were spotted in his vehicle.
Despite urging from a passenger in Bufford's vehicle and police, Bufford refused to get out of the car and "became increasingly hostile," the police report indicates, according to the Post-Dispatch.
Police claim they discovered bullets in the passenger's pocket and advised Bufford he was under arrest, but he still refused to exit the vehicle, the paper report.
Police then allegedly reached inside Bufford's vehicle, opened the door and maneuvered him to the ground. That's when police say they spotted a gun.
According to the paper, the police report says Bufford hit and kicked several officers before an officer "administered a foot strike" to Bufford's leg and Bufford was Tasered twice.
A female officer then approached a patrol car and is heard on police dashcam video saying, "Hold up. Hold up, y'all. Hold up, everybody, hold up. We're red right now, so if you guys are worried about cameras, just wait," reports the paper.
The video abruptly cuts off and, according to lawyers for Bufford, he was struck by police again.
His lawyers have acknowledged that Bufford should have exited his vehicle upon being ordered to do so, but say that was not required by law. They do concede, however, that Bufford was not old enough at the time to legally carry a gun, reports the paper.
A lawyer for four of the officers at the scene told the paper there was sufficient reason to remove Bufford from the car and said that officers were justified in using force since Bufford was being combative and was in possession of a weapon.
The lawyer would not comment on whether it was against policy for an officer to turn off the dashcam video.
Bufford was charged with unlawful use of a weapon - a felony - and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest in connection with the incident, but the charges were later dropped. His lawyers say it was because the dashcam video contradicted the police report, but a spokeswoman for the circuit attorney says the case was dismissed because "the action of turning off the dashcam video diminished the evidentiary merits of the case," reports the paper.
She said prosecutors notified police Internal Affairs about the video being stopped.