Federal

Zenaida Hernandez visited a prisoner at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on September 18, 2011. Ms. Hernandez was allowed to visit the prisoner briefly; a glass barrier separated them. Defendants then took her to a room and forced her to strip naked and remove her menstrual pad. Two defendants stood behind her, inspecting her naked body. Ms. Hernandez did not have any contraband, nor was there probable cause to believe she did.

On August 28, 2011, West Bridgewater police officer Robert Piepiora was working a paid detail at a bar. William Ortiz was outside using his cell phone to call for a ride when the bar’s manager began aggressively telling Ortiz that he could not drive. Ortiz, who had already assured the manager that he was not driving, told the manager to leave him alone. Without warning, Piepiora grabbed Ortiz from behind and slammed him face first into the pavement. The impact knocked out two of Ortiz’s teeth and fractured his upper jaw bone. He required a bone graft to repair his jaw.

N.M. (15) was walking to an after-school program when N.M. was arrested by 4 Boston police officers for armed robbery, although the officers had no reason to suspect N.M. of that crime. The robbery victim told the officers that N.M. was not involved in the crime. All of the criminal charges against N.M. were dropped after a prosecutor spoke to the victim. At the police station, an officer denied N.M. any opportunity to post bail. N.M. was sent to a juvenile detention center in Lowell and held overnight.

Erik Aguilar was a New Bedford man who died in the custody of the New Bedford police on July 22, 2010. The entire incident was recorded on surveillance video. A convenience store employee called the police seeking help for Mr. Aguilar. New Bedford police officer Paul Hodson arrived at the store, spoke with Mr. Aguilar, then tried to handcuff him. Officer Hodson then took Mr. Aguilar to the ground, sprayed him with pepper spray, handcuffed him with his hands behind his back, left him lying face down on the pavement, and applied pressure to his back. Mr.

Deputy pursued suspected drunken driver to home and entered garage allegedly in hot pursuit. In encounter at door from garage to home, deputy fired Taser to prevent driver’s escape into his home. Driver struck in left eye with Taser dart and subsequently lost all vision in left eye.

Plaintiff was found outside ballpark with the credit card of a police captain’s daughter. Police captain and other unknown officers beat him, put a loaded gun in his mouth, and broke teeth. Captain sentenced to 7 years prison on federal 1983 charges.

During a routine traffic stop, Defendant Police Officer grabbed Plaintiff by the neck and slammed her against the hood of his patrol car. Plaintiff sustained injuries consisting of an 8 mm disc protrusion, a 7 mm disc protrusion with bilateral nerve root compromise, and a 5 mm disc protrusion. Defendant Police Officer admitted to failing to properly focus his vehicle’s dashboard camera and not wearing his body microphone at the time of the incident.

Plaintiff was under arrest and in custody. Complaining of chest pains and paramedics were dispatched and present. Officer ordered everyone present including medical personnel to turn around and struck the plaintiff in the mouth with an open hand.

Police made a forced entry to execute a search warrant for suspect in a robbery of the video rental store. A flash-bang device was thrown blindly into the corner of a room where Plaintiff was hiding in the corner. Evidence showed that the device was thrown in the air more than 12 feet and approx 2-3 in the air. It landed in his lap/face (crouched over) and severely damaged his jaw. A mediation presentation can be viewed at the link below.

Sheriff’s Deputies wanted to arrest Rogelio Serrato due to mistaken identity. They knew Serrato was intoxicated on methamphetamine in his home. When he did not respond to their orders to exit the home, they threw a flash bang grenade into the home, starting a fire. They failed to extinguish the fire, and Serrato died of smoke inhalation, leaving a mother, sisters, and three children.