St. Louis police investigating video showing cop hitting man
January 4, 2011
BY JOEL CURRIER and DENISE HOLLINSHED

ST. LOUIS - Police are investigating an incident at a St. Louis gas station after a YouTube video appearing to show a police officer beating a man with his baton was posted online.

The video shows an encounter between an officer and a man near a car at a Shell station at 1815 Arsenal Street at Interstate 55 early on New Year's Day. The officer appears to push the man to the ground, hit him with his baton seven times, use pepper spray on him, and then handcuff the man and walk him toward the gas station, which contains a police substation.

For some time this afternoon, the video was taken down from YouTube, and visitors instead saw a message that the video violates the site's standards for "shocking and disgusting content." Later the video was working again, but only for users who sign in and say they are 18 or older. A police spokeswoman said the department had not asked YouTube to remove the video.

The owner of the gas station says the officer was off-duty and was there working security.

It's unclear from the video how the incident started and the man is not visible for portions of the video.

"While all of the circumstances of the incident are not known, what is seen on the video is extremely disturbing to us," St. Louis police said in a statement. "Force is to be used only when absolutely necessary and this department takes the use of force very seriously."

Police said no one had filed a complaint about the incident and the department first heard about the video this morning after media organizations began asking about it.

Police spokeswoman Erica Van Ross said the department now believes it has identified the officer, but said it would not release details until and unless charges are sustained. Only then would his name, the charge and disciplinary action released.

The owner of the gas station, Joel Platke, identified the off-duty officer as Dustin Ries, who he said had worked for him for several years providing security. Records confirm that Ries has had approval to work security at the gas station in the past, but police did not immediately provide more current records.

Ries could not be reached for comment. A woman who answered the door at an address listed for Ries said he wasn't there and wasn't interested in speaking to the media.

Platke said the man seen being hit by Ries had been causing a disturbance and was struggling with the officer.

Platke, 49, said he was not at the gas station the night of the incident but said he had spoken to two employees who were and had viewed security camera footage of the incident. Video of the altercation he provided to STLtoday.com was unclear and had an obstructed view. Shots taken inside showed the man but not his behavior.

Platke said the man was causing trouble in the store and was asked to leave by Ries, who Platke said has worked at the gas station providing security for four years.

"The guy was plainly drunk," Platke said. "Inebriated."

His friends got him outside but he continued to cause problems, struggling with this friends, Platke said. Ries intervened.

"The officer grabbed him and tried to get him to come out of the car. The guy fell onto his chest and locked his arms around this officer's ankles and would not let go," Platke said. "(The officer) was there with his feet locked together, screaming at this guy to let go. He used his baton to try to hit him to get him to let go. He finally had to use (pepper spray) and the guy finally let go."

Platke said the man was grabbing the officer's ankles and said he believes Ries acted appropriately. He said Ries hit the man in the arms with the baton to get him to let go.

A Kirkwood man, 23, said he shot the video while getting gas at the Shell station. He said he had been out with three friends after an evening on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis and stopped for gas on his way home.

The man, who requested anonymity out of fear of retribution from police, said he thinks the officer used excessive force.

The man who shot the video said he did not see what preceded the encounter. He said he saw the officer approach the vehicle seen in the video after he pulled up to the gas pump.

"He can tell that cop to shut up without getting hit like that," the man said. "I don't think that warrants a beating like that. That cop abused his power as a police officer. A lot of times cops forget that. I guess they don't realize what they're doing sometime. Maybe if other police officers see this, they'll think first before they fly off the handle."

The man said he and his friends left immediately after the officer took the suspect away in handcuffs.

Police have declined to provide public records including arrest or incident reports from the gas station that night as requested by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and STLtoday.com. Police told the paper to file a Sunshine Law request with the department's legal office.

At least two previous lawsuits naming Ries have made similar allegations of police brutality. A 2008 federal suit alleged Ries assaulted two men with his police baton and pepper spray at the Big Bang nightclub on the Landing in April 2006. Al Johnson, a Clayton attorney for the plaintiffs, said the case was settled out of court. He said he was barred from disclosing the amount.

"I'm glad he got caught this time, maybe enough to where the police department can fire him," Johnson said.

A 2005 civil suit in St. Louis city court alleged Ries struck a man in his head with with his baton and sprayed him with mace during an on-duty traffic stop on North Grand Boulevard in September 2004.

Records show that case was dismissed; it was unclear whether a settlement was reached or if the case was thrown out.