Body camera footage shows baton beating that prompted charges
Body camera footage released Wednesday shows for the first time how a Denver police sergeant beat an unarmed teenager in an incident that prompted criminal charges against the sergeant, though a jury found him not guilty.
The video shows Sgt. Joseph Rodarte strike the 17year-old six times in a 24second span. Rodarte first strikes the teen four times in the upper body after he trips and he then strikes the teen two more times in the legs as the teen tries to stand. At least one of the baton blows hit the teen in the face, an arrest affidavit said. The teen suffered a broken leg, a fractured nose and other injuries during the arrest.
Prosecutors previously played the video during a court hearing, but declined to release a copy until the criminal case concluded. A jury on Oct. 2 found Rodarte not guilty of two assault charges, and the Denver District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday provided a copy of the video to The Denver Post in response to a records request.
Rodarte and Officer James Martinez responded on the afternoon of Aug. 22, 2018, to the area near Ruby Hill Park after 911 callers reported a man yelling obscenities. The officers found the teen a short time later on a nearby street. Martinez called out to the teen, who then ran away.
Martinez chased the teen down the street, where the teen had stopped near Rodarte. Martinez then shoved the teen from behind, the teen ran into a nearby auto repair shop and then back out a garage door. Martinez tripped the teen, who fell.
Rodarte struck the teen in the face, the back and on the legs as the teen sat on the ground and again when the teen attempted to stand, according to Rodarte’s arrest affidavit. The sergeant also used police nunchunks on the teen’s ankle, squeezing them as the young man was on the ground and being handcuffed by other officers.
The teen later told investigators he was high on LSD and thought the officers were demons.
Denver Public Safety Department officials will review the incident and determine whether Rodarte’s actions violated police use-offorce policy and if he should be disciplined.
Rodarte returned to work in a non-line assignment, the police department said last week in a statement. The sergeant had been on unpaid leave since prosecutors filed charges against him in October 2018.
Denver police policy states that officers can use batons only if a person demonstrates “an overt act or threat of an assault, coupled with the present ability to carry out the action, which reasonably indicates that an assault or injury to a person is likely.”
The policy bars officers from striking non-violent people with batons and states officers should not intentionally strike a subject in the head or neck unless the officer intends to use lethal force.
Rodarte has been the subject of 20 use-of-force complaints during his 20year career at the Denver Police Department, though he was cleared by the internal affairs bureau in all but one of those cases.
In that case, Rodarte signed off one of his officer’s use of a Taser against a person who wasn’t a threat, which is against department policy. He was suspended for 10 days without pay.