By Lou RaguseUpdated:
Wednesday, May 28, 2014, 10:26 pmPublished: Wednesday, May 28, 2014, 6:52 pm
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Just
days before the statute of limitations would have expired, the U.S. Attorney’s
Office in Buffalo filed charges against three Buffalo Police officers accused
of using excessive force and violating the civil rights of four teens.
Retired Lieutenant Gregory
Kwiatkowski, 49, as well as officers Raymond Krug, 36, and Joseph Wendel, 37,
are accused of using excessive force while arresting the teens in 2009.
Kwiatkowski was suspended in 2010 for a physical confrontation with another officer.
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This is the latest black eye
for the Buffalo Police Department:
>>Last month, News 4
Investigates presented a video showing an officer appearing to strike a
handcuffed man while the man was on the ground
>>A few weeks later,
another video surfaced showing an officer knocking a cell phone out of a
woman’s hand as she recorded an arrest at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade
>>That news was followed
by the incident at Mollys Pub on Main Street near UB’s South Campus, where an
Air National Guardsman was pushed down a flight of stairs, leaving him with
critical injuries. Two Buffalo Police officers were present at the time
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According to federal
prosecutors, Kwiatkowski used excessive force while one of the four teens was
already under arrest. Officers Raymond Krug and Joseph Wendel are accused of
using one of the suspect’s BB guns to shoot at one of the teens, Donald Silmon,
while the suspect was in handcuffs in a police car.
“These officers stand accused
of shooting one of the young men who had already been placed in the police car,
who had already been in handcuffs,” U.S. Attorney Bill Hochul said. “Shooting
that young man two times with a BB gun.”
The group of teens had
allegedly fired a BB gun into a crowd on Treehaven Road near Eggert Road in
Buffalo.
The indictment says Kwiatkowski
and Wendel also used excessive force after the teens, including Silmon, Jeffrey
Campbell II, who is the son of Buffalo Police Officer Annette Parker, and
another teen, were in custody at a police station. Some of the teen suspects
had to seek medical treatment, according to federal prosecutors. Two of them,
Silmon and Campbell, filed civil lawsuits, which were settled in December when
each were paid $75,000.