Plaintiff:
Gregory Lester
Incident date:
09/01/2010
Location:
7300 S. Dorchester Ave.
Allegations:
Lester, an African-American male, was riding his bike late at night near the corner of East 73rd Street and South Dorchester Avenue when a squad car pulled up in front of him, nearly hitting him and forcing him to swerve onto the sidewalk to avoid a collision. Officer Hernandez stepped out of the squad car and requested that Lester come over to her. Lester asked why he was being stopped. The officer ignored his question and approached him, while Lester backed away. Hernandez grabbed Lester's wrist, and Lester asked why he was being grabbed. Without warning, Officer Cravens, who was also in the squad car, ran up to Lester and tased him in the chest. The officers handcuffed Lester and placed him inside the squad car. He was taken to the police station and charged with assault of a police officer and battery. At the station, Cravens bragged to the other officers that he was finally able to use his Taser and laughed about using it on Lester. Lester complained of chest pains and requested medical treatment. The officers attempted to talk him out of receiving treatment, and after several hours in custody, Lester was finally taken to the emergency room. He was treated and released back into police custody. He was found not guilty of these charges.