Truck driver nearly beaten to death for not signing traffic ticket

[rambone]

BERKELEY, CA -- A truck driver was beaten within an inch of his life by California Highway Patrol for not signing a traffic ticket that he could not read. The driver, who broke no laws, was beaten so badly that he woke up in a trauma hospital.

Olegs Kozacenko, a local resident originally from Russia, was pulled over and cited by police for allegedly driving too many hours in one day. Kozacenko refused to sign the ticket because he had not or could not read it.

CHP Officers didn't take kindly to the driver's refusal to sign. Two officers, one of them a trained fist-boxer, beat Kozacenko on the side of the highway nearly to death. He suffered a crushed left orbital eye socket, multiple facial fractures, a broken left arm, broken ribs, a concussion, loss of consciousness, and possible neurological damage. His injuries caused a deprivation of oxygen for a prolonged period of time.

Photographs taken of Kozacenko's unconscious body showed that he was in handcuff restraints. A toxicology report showed a 0.00% blood-alcohol content of the driver; perfectly clean.

“The public if they get stopped and simply comply with what they are asked to do, they have nothing to fear, nothing to fear at all," said Acting Chief Ken Hill.

Officers Andrew P. Murrill and Jim Sherman maintained that the force was not excessive. Both are still on the job a full 2 years after the incident. Olegs Kozacenko suffers long-term physical and emotional injuries and is no longer able to work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lcYTJx9Y1c

Berkeley Man Nearly Beaten to Death by CHP | NBC Bay Area

 

[CTS]

So far it's a very one sided story. There certainly are instances when the police cross the line, I don't think the vast majority of officers would even deny that, but there are certainly times where the police are vilified because they can't present their side of events to the media the way the "victim" can. Hopefully the truth bears out in this case and justice is appropriately served against the offending party.

 

[Dead Duck]

Maybe if he hadn't resisted then they wouldn't have Rodney Kinged his ass.

Quit screaming about criminal's rights. It's an oxymoron.
They have the right to remain silent.
Most dirtbags choose to get beatdown.





BTW - The Rodney King beating was completely justified. The LA riots, were not.
___________________________________________________________________


You ever get that DeJa vu feeling?





Mandatory Appearance CVC Section 40302


40302. Whenever any person is arrested for any violation of this code, not declared to be a felony, the arrested person shall be taken without unnecessary delay before a magistrate within the county in which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed and who has jurisdiction of the offense and is nearest or most accessible with reference to the place where the arrest is made in any of the following cases:
(a) When the person arrested fails to present his driver's license or other satisfactory evidence of his identity for examination.
(b) When the person arrested refuses to give his written promise to appear in court.
(c) When the person arrested demands an immediate appearance before a magistrate.
(d) When the person arrested is charged with violating Section 23152.

 

[IndyDave1776]

“The public if they get stopped and simply comply with what they are asked to do, they have nothing to fear, nothing to fear at all," said Acting Chief Ken Hill.

This is a prime example of what we get now that we no longer execute enemies of the republic. If we keep it up, we are going to owe the Rosenberg family an apology for the unequal treatment.

 

[Redtbird]

Quote: "“The public if they get stopped and simply comply with what they are asked to do, they have nothing to fear, nothing to fear at all," said Acting Chief Ken Hill." End Quote

This statement is kind of scary to me.

"You vill comply, Schweinhund!"

Sheesh!

 

[CTS]

Quote: "“The public if they get stopped and simply comply with what they are asked to do, they have nothing to fear, nothing to fear at all," said Acting Chief Ken Hill." End Quote

This statement is kind of scary to me.

"You vill comply, Schweinhund!"

Sheesh!

While the statement is a touch creepy, in most cases when an officer gives an order you comply first and argue about it after the fact. Jumping out of a car instead of staying inside of one as instructed is probably a good way to ensure a beating, as when they say "drop the gun" they're generally pretty serious about it.

 

[Stickfight]

So far it's a very one sided story.

Does it matter that the officer wasn't correct about the violation?

And he admitted on the stand that the hours Murrill was reading on Kozacenko’s truck driver log book were recorded two days earlier when Kozacenko was driving through Nebraska, Iowa and Wyoming.

Police officer is one of the few professions people who aren't good at math can still excel at, but reading a simple table and comparing its numbers to a standard is still something we should expect from them. Probably this truck driver was upset at what must have seemed like a purposeful misreading of his logs, no one would believe that an adult wouldn't be able to understand them. But did he escalate the situation or did the officers? We can't know because:

Murrill and Sherman didn’t have cameras in either of their patrol SUV’s.

and

The CHP also said that computer aided dispatch logs of radio conversations from the incident weren’t found because of “system malfunctioning for this time period."

How do we know the truth of those statements? They seem one sided to me. Anyway, stupid convicted criminals doing stupid convicted criminal things again.

 

[CTS]

Does it matter that the officer wasn't correct about the violation?

Not really, no. If I get pulled over for an expired tag and start beating up the officer do I get away with it just because my tag wasn't really expired?

These officers could be absolute scum for all I know, I just think they deserve the same right of presumed innocence we all do.

 

[lucky4034]

I'll take it a step further... This OLD MAN barely speaks English. Disagreement or not, I'm shocked that two young officers (one apparently a trained fighter) couldn't figure out how to wrestle this OLD FRAIL MAN down to the ground and cuff him without smashing his head and sending him to the trauma center.

 

[bw8755]

I'll take it a step further... This OLD MAN barely speaks English. Disagreement or not, I'm shocked that two young officers (one apparently a trained fighter) couldn't figure out how to wrestle this OLD FRAIL MAN down to the ground and cuff him without smashing his head and sending him to the trauma center.

This

 

[Sfrandolph]

So far it's a very one sided story. There certainly are instances when the police cross the line, I don't think the vast majority of officers would even deny that, but there are certainly times where the police are vilified because they can't present their side of events to the media the way the "victim" can. Hopefully the truth bears out in this case and justice is appropriately served against the offending party.

Sorry, but I call BS. The cops all have dash cams and CAN present their side. I bet in this case the dash cam was inexplicably out of order (or turned off).

 

[jgreiner]

So far it's a very one sided story. There certainly are instances when the police cross the line, I don't think the vast majority of officers would even deny that, but there are certainly times where the police are vilified because they can't present their side of events to the media the way the "victim" can. Hopefully the truth bears out in this case and justice is appropriately served against the offending party.

Crossing the line seems to happen in Cali quite often.

 

[jgreiner]

Maybe if he hadn't resisted then they wouldn't have Rodney Kinged his ass.

Quit screaming about criminal's rights. It's an oxymoron.
They have the right to remain silent.
Most dirtbags choose to get beatdown.





BTW - The Rodney King beating was completely justified. The LA riots, were not.
___________________________________________________________________


You ever get that DeJa vu feeling?





Mandatory Appearance CVC Section 40302


40302. Whenever any person is arrested for any violation of this code, not declared to be a felony, the arrested person shall be taken without unnecessary delay before a magistrate within the county in which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed and who has jurisdiction of the offense and is nearest or most accessible with reference to the place where the arrest is made in any of the following cases:
(a) When the person arrested fails to present his driver's license or other satisfactory evidence of his identity for examination.
(b) When the person arrested refuses to give his written promise to appear in court.
(c) When the person arrested demands an immediate appearance before a magistrate.
(d) When the person arrested is charged with violating Section 23152.

Taking them before a magistrate immediately does NOT equate to a beat down.

 

[JetGirl]

I bet in this case the dash cam was inexplicably out of order (or turned off).

...As well as the article quoted "...computer aided dispatch logs of radio conversations from the incident weren’t found because of “system malfunctioning for this time period."

 

[jgreiner]

...As well as the article quoted "...computer aided dispatch logs of radio conversations from the incident weren’t found because of “system malfunctioning for this time period."

I call cover up.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

I call cover up.

On who's part ?

for not signing a traffic ticket that he could not read.

To be a truck driver in this country you have to be able to read English and speak a dialect of it .

 

[Sfrandolph]

On who's part ?



To be a truck driver in this country you have to be able to read English and speak a dialect of it .

On the part of the CHP. The police in Cali are out of control. There have been other stories in the past year or so where officers have "lost their control" and beat the crap out of people most of whom were already in cuffs. Really takes a heroic man to beat someone when their hands are cuffed.

 

[zippy23]

So a trained FIGHTER and another officer have to severely beat an old man?? You mean this man was soo tough to bring down they had to physically destroy him? Its like the criminals that comply and still get a serious beating. Like when you see the cops tell a guy to get on the ground, he gets on the ground with his hands out and 3 cops jump on and start digging their knees into his throat, etc. Now if they arent complying then who cares but holy crap, then again i'm not in their shoes, i just see it like everyone else.

 

[zippy23]

It is interesting that there are so many stories like this coming out of california, a police state run by liberals, where's the compassion?

 

[IndyDave1776]

To be a truck driver in this country you have to be able to read English and speak a dialect of it .

Not true in the sense you are understanding it. Basically, you have to be able to understand signs on the road which is, of course, far less demanding than understanding more complex documents like traffic tickets, particularly the charge as written. It is also significant to remember that he likely did not understand that signing the ticket is tantamount to acknowledging that he received it and is required to appear as opposed to a written confession of guilty given his national origin.