'Horrific' Police Beating in California Caught on Camera

Velasco, 28, appears from the video clip to be hit on his head, legs, hands and back during the 45-second beating. At one point, five police officers struggle with him as sirens from their vehicles wail. One officer is seen arriving on the scene halfway through the clash and vigorously striking Velasco at least nine times.

Source

Police were called when a report came in that Velasco was assaulting his mother on the sidewalk and running into traffic. He became violent towards the officers as they tried pulling him off of her.

Two attempts to subdue Velasco with a Taser were unsuccessful, according to police, who claimed the 28-year-old managed to grab one of the stun guns. “Velasco continued to struggle and resist, eventually needing five officers and the use of batons to control and place him into handcuffs,” the police statement said.

The police chief claims Velasco had been drinking and using methamphetamine, which helped him resist pain during the confrontation. I guess if Tasers don’t work, repeated blunt force to the head, neck and legs will do the trick. If we catch you beating on mom, we’ll give you an even bigger beating and then tell you how wrong YOU were.

I didn’t see much of an attempt at subduing the individual correctly and one officer just watched, making no attempt to control the suspect. Two properly trained officers could have had him in cuffs pretty quickly while he was on his stomach flopping like a fish.

The police chief said he “absolutely” had concerns about what the video footage showed but urged people to bear in mind what Velasco was alleged to have done beforehand and “start making sense how we got there”.

Nothing to me makes sense about why an “alleged” suspect needs to get beaten dozens of times by multiple officers before a proper investigation can take place. His mental illness was not taken into account and the police chief makes constant remarks in support of the officers' actions. He also states there were no police vehicle or body cameras used to record the event. How convenient...

Maybe the dude should stop drinking... and doing meth?
Oh.... and beating his mom.

a reply to: eisegesis

I've got to holdback judgment on this one. Although it seems excessive you can hear the tasers on him at the beginning of the tape he did appear to keep fighting .

Besides if the reports were true and he hit his mom I would hope they would give him a extra bump from me .

a reply to: eisegesis

Anyone that assaults their own mother deserves whatever he gets..

originally posted by: butcherguy
Maybe the dude should stop drinking... and doing meth?
Oh.... and beating his mom.

Maybe the cops should stop using excessive force... and killing people?
Oh.... and covering each others asses.

originally posted by: eisegesis
Two properly trained officers could have had him in cuffs pretty quickly while he was on his stomach flopping like a fish.

Have you ever seen someone on meth? Very difficult to subdue by two people, let alone a half dozen.

originally posted by: DestroyDestroyDestroy

originally posted by: butcherguy
Maybe the dude should stop drinking... and doing meth?
Oh.... and beating his mom.

Maybe the cops should stop using excessive force... and killing people?
Oh.... and covering each others asses.

Did they kill this guy?
He needed to comply.
I am not a cop cheerleader, but this guy got a 45 second beat down because of his own actions.

originally posted by: butcherguy
Maybe the dude should stop drinking... and doing meth?

I totally agree except there are better, more helpful programs than inducing amnesia through blunt force trauma to the skull.

As for mom? Lets see how the story unfolds.

a reply to: DestroyDestroyDestroy

so you support the suspect beating the # out of his mom and taking a very dangerous and destructive drug combined with the use of alcohol in excessive amounts then i take it? would you have the cops ask the violent man to politely restrain himself and kindly pretty please stop beating up your own mother? or would you rather the cops step in and help the poor lady out?

pick one, defend the action of the criminal or support the mother whose getting the hell beat of her by her own son.

originally posted by: eisegesis

originally posted by: butcherguy
Maybe the dude should stop drinking... and doing meth?

I totally agree except there are better, more helpful programs than inducing amnesia through blunt force trauma to the skull.

As for mom? Lets see how the story unfolds.

I am all for quick and easy arrests. The perp could have facilitated that had he just laid down on the ground and let them handcuff him.
He didn't do that though. I would hazard a guess that it had something to do with the meth in his bloodstream.
I doubt that someone else purchased the drugs and forced him to take them.

originally posted by: butcherguy
Maybe the dude should stop drinking... and doing meth?
Oh.... and beating his mom.

Piece of scum deserved to go to jail and then be judged by a JUDGE! Not the police who are acting as judge, jury and executioner. I see no attempt here to arrest the man, just officers beating him with their clubs. These officers could have easily handcuffed him after the first few hits. Criminals have always been out of control, but now the cops are out of control too, so I'm sure we'll continue to see this type of behavior escalate...and a few more Ferguson and Baltimores in our near future.

Maybe instead of tasers we should give the cops thorazine or chloroform so instead of a beatdown suspects can just go nite-nite.

originally posted by: eisegesis

originally posted by: butcherguy
Maybe the dude should stop drinking... and doing meth?

I totally agree except there are better, more helpful programs than inducing amnesia through blunt force trauma to the skull.

Totally agree also, all I see in the video is one guy on the ground and a baseball team practising some unknown move or another. I hope they cleaned their batons, God forbid they might have caught something also unknown afterwards!

originally posted by: butcherguy
Maybe the dude should stop drinking... and doing meth?
Oh.... and beating his mom.

The problem with this kind of thinking is, you'll be a meth head, and a drunk too, when the cops decide to beat on you. Even if you aren't. The victim is ALWAYS wrong. Not once have I ever heard a cop say: "I'm sorry. I used excessive force, and it was totally wrong."

We need to wait and find out what really happened here. If that ever happens, that is.

ETA: Thought I would add. I've seen some vicious mothers out there. She might be worse than him. We don't know at the moment.

a reply to: Rezlooper
Someone called the police because this guy was beating on his mom in public.

When the cops showed up, he was trying to throw his mom into oncoming traffic.
They tased him. He kept fighting them.
He had to be sedated when they got him to the hospital. He was trying to bite paramedics in the ambulance. He admitted to using methamphetamine.
In the end he suffered leg injuries.
The cops were not acting as judge and jury. They needed to arrest him.
What were they supposed to do in this case? Stand off to the side and talk sweetly to him while he continued to beat his mother?
huffingt on post

I would have beat the meth out of that dirtbag.

a reply to: Klassified

I made it through 52 years without being arrested. I have never even tried meth.
I am not a drunk.
I don't plan on losing common sense anytime soon.
Look at my post history
Ask some of the members here that are cops, you know who they are. I am not a cop lover. I have been called a cop hater on here.

"Two properly trained officers could've had him in cuffs pretty quickly...."

I lol'd at that. Thank you.

Alright, i can see the guy fighting back. I can see the cop hitting the guy in his face with the baton and he is still fighting. With the available info, i will have to side with the police on this one.





a reply to: eisegesis

a reply to: Greathouse

I figured ATS would have mixed feelings about this one.

He's a meth user who hit his mom. Without knowing the whole story, he gets beaten to a pulp. His mental illness has not been taken into consideration and I still believe the officers had multiple chances to detain him without further clubbing. I guess if you're bad enough in the eyes of others, this type of beating is justifiable. Maybe I don't get it.