Video catches Houston goons in action

Attacking a man who was already prone with his hands behind his head

Houston Police Department officials in charge of training and supervising said Friday that former officer Andrew Blomberg was not following “use of force” protocol when he used one foot to try to secure Chad Holley during an arrest and police beating that was caught on tape in 2010.

Jurors also heard investigators say Blomberg stomped the 15-year-old, contrary to defense claims.

Blomberg faces a year in jail if convicted of official oppression for his role in the March 24, 2010, incident in which HPD officers were unknowingly videotaped stomping, kicking and punching Holley during a burglary arrest.

In court Friday, a senior police officer who trains officers about use of force testified that he did not know what Blomberg was trying to do when he rushed to the teen, who can be seen lying on his stomach with his hands behind his head after running from police. “That’s a technique that I’ve never seen,” the trainer testified.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Dick DeGuerin worked to show that Blomberg and other officers were dealing with a situation that was “tense, uncertain, dangerous and rapidly evolving.”

The jury also heard from one of the HPD supervisors who investigated the incident. “Yes, he was kicked, what we called ‘stomped,’...” HPD Lt. Murray Smith told jurors after being asked if Blomberg kicked the teen.

The beating came to light after it a surveillance camera video surfaced at a neighboring business.

Smith said he and other investigators watched the videotaped beating for 2½ days. “It appears to me that he put his foot on the back of his neck,” the veteran officer said.

Smith said he would instead have been handcuffing the teen, who was lying prone on the ground. “You handcuff someone with your hands, not your feet,” he explained. “I don’t know what Andrew Blomberg was doing.”

Holley, now 18, was convicted of burglary in the case. Blomberg is the first of four officers who were fired and indicted in the beating to go trial.

The recording shows a patrol car hitting a chain-link fence in front of Holley, who is running from police. He can be seen hurdling the car’s hood to avoid the fence. When he does not make it and falls to the ground, he flips onto his stomach and puts his hands behind his head as several officers converge on him.

Trials are pending for former officers Phil Bryan, Raad Hassan and Drew Ryser, all of whom were fired.

Original report here