“Were Simoes’s actions justified?” No. If Simoes was ” trying to keep Marquez from interfering with emergency medical technicians” he could have pulled her away, immobilized her against a wall or even handcuffed her. What he did was over-the-top excessive force. “If convicted, Simoes could face up to ten years in prison and a fine of $250,000.” That indicates to me that if convicted he’ll get a year suspended sentence and the city will pay the fine. I know law enforcement is a stressful job, but Simoes should, at the very least, be fired. He doesn’t have the temperament to be a dog officer much less a police officer. Luckily it was caught on tape.

Justified? Absolutely not! Excessive force in a case like that is NEVER justified.

Simoes actions were absolutely not justified. On the video there is a room full of police and the lone woman, while possibly annoying him, has not done anything threatening. He could have taken many actions other than to pick her up and slam her face down to the floor. Absolutely unnecessary and horrible.

A lot of times, when someone gets an ounce of authority it goes straight to their head. Not always, but quite often.

I’ve been in EXACTLY the same position the officer was in: trying to keep a drunken relative from interfering with emergency workers. Being a girly-girl, I seriously doubt I would have the strength to pick someone up and slam them to the floor but his behavior was not entirely unjustified. If you watch the tape closely, she is OBVIOUSLY very intoxicated. When moved away from the EMS crew the first time, she staggers back into the officer behind her, then elbows him (Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer). When Simoes approaches her, her intoxicated state and belligerence becomes even more obvious. I have dealt with far far too many dangerous drunks and recognize the body language. The situation was going to escalate very rapidly. All in all, I think he probably took it a bit too far but I do not fault him for taking her to the floor and neutralizing the situation. If you haven’t done the job, you have NO RIGHT to stand in judgment of his situation (jury of our peers?)

Figuring that the policeman is trained in moving people in an emergency situation, there is no excuse for a body slamming. Since he’s stronger than her and sober, there would be other ways to subdue and control her. In my opinion, he over reacted, probably because he was overstressed and overworked and, typical of policemen, has severe anger management probs that need to be dealt with professionally.

Good; a video tape. Naked brutality. Lord, she’s lucky he didn’t kill her. NY police tend to get away with that. They must be very hard, those men. Do you think Rev. Sharpton will get involved? Oh my. I’m so glad she survived.

My god… I worked in criminal justice for years. started as a gaurd in a detention facility and ended doing parole. Where I had the authority to make arrests and often found myself in situations that I can tell you… were a hell of a lot more dangerous than this one little drunk woman in a room full of police. Knowing quite a bit about the kind of training these guys have I can tell you this guy… used none of it. I would say that he’s being charged because after reviewing this tape with the right people the right people said “you’ve got to be kidding me”. There were at least 100 other ways to deal wtih this situation and keep everyone safe. This particular officer is a nut case. He obviously got annoyed and thought that due to his annoyance he had the right to beat the shit out of a helpless person. amazing. hope he goes to jail. I’ve always said theres a thin line between cops and criminals. A thinner one for some than others.

oh… and he was showing off for fellow officers saying “see what a take no shit guy I am?”. You can see it in the body language. You can also see in the body language that there wasn’t a single guy there that felt “threatened”. unreal.

@ch You seem pretty sure of yourself. Just a couple questions. First, how do you know she is drunk? Because she stumbles a bit? How do you know that she didn’t trip on a piece of medical gear? How do you know she wasn’t kneeling so long she lost some feeling or cramped up? How do you say on one hand she was off balance and on the other the elbowed the other copntentionally i? I don’t see it, and neither did the courts. Finally do you really think breaking someones jaw is justified? Really? When there are at least 4 cops within 3 feet of her? None of the others seemed too worried about anything. The one behind her barely moved. The other two just stood there. Don’t try and sell me that this was necessary. Even the other cops didn’t move to stop her. They obviously didn’t think this was necessary. Oh, and you mention nothing about how the cop lied, and dept. ruled in his favor… until the video comes out…oops! And yes, I can judge you without wearing a badge. I understand many cops have a story about that one time or maybe more that they were a little careless and they added to the chance of danger. But that doesn’t mean they get to stomp everybody - just in case. It means they need to learn discernment. There is no place in law enforcement for “shoot first and ask questions later” There is a middle ground here. And as a martial artist myself I know there are plenty of ways to immobilize any person without doing them harm. The highest skill practitioners can do this with barely more than a finger. Surely this guy has been trained enough to do the same with his baton, or even his hands. I bet at least one of them has a tazer on them too. Face plants are not acceptable. P.S. The “jury of our peers” line is misapplied in your letter. This is not a court of law, and you don’t really expect criminals to be tried by a jury of criminals, do you? It doesn’t work for cops either.

Totally uncalled for. Even if the woman was intoxicated. Owned a small bar & grill for two years and have seen the police handle patrons and relatives in similar situations with gentleness because they know that they are just worried about the person down.

This is the scenario, paraphrased from court papers that have filed against the majority of Officers at the scene.

When the medically trained ESU Police Officers Kowatch and Messar were placing an oxygen mask on Irma Marquez unconscious niece, she leaned forward to get a better view. Yonkers Officer Wayne Simoes and another Officer pushed Marquez into a third Officer who also pushed Marquez.

Wayne Simoes then approached Irma Marquez stepped behind her and placed his arms around her waist pinning her arms to her body, lifted her off the floor and then proceeded to drive her body, face first, into the ceramic tile floor of the restaurant.

Home health are provider, Irma Marquez suffered a head injury with related loss of consciousness, memory loss, jaw fracture, two black eyes, facial contusions, severe swelling and bruising, hemorrhaging in both eyes, lacerations to the nose, chin and mouth, neck and bruising and/or lacerations about the back, arms, hands, right knee, right leg, right hip and right breast. She is said to have permanent memory loss. The locals news said her ”extensive injuries were too graphic to be shown”“

Wayne Simoes then handcuffed the unconscious, seriously injured and bleeding plaintiff and again assaulted her while she was unconscious.

Wayne Simoes alleged that Irma Marquez “pushed” and “pulled” on ESU Police Officer Kowatch physically blocking Officers who were attempting to render aid and despite repeated requests by police and others, continued to physically interfere with police, preventing them from rendering first aid, causing alarm and annoyance to everyone present.

Irma Marquez was arrested and charged with obstruction of governmental administration.

At her criminal trial Irma Marquez was acquitted of all charges. Both ESU Officers, Kowatch and Messar, testified that Irma Marquez in no way physically interfered with their rendering of medical aid to plaintiff’s unconscious niece.

Nevertheless an internal inquiry cleared Wayne Simoes of any wrongdoing.

A year later, Federal prosecutors investigating the case, said Yonkers officer Wayne Simoes used excessive force when he grabbed the woman by the waist, hoisted her in the air and slammed her, face first, into a tile floor, knocked Irma Marquez unconscious and put her in the hospital for four days.

There is an interesting article, regarding this incident, in the Westchester Guardian Thursday, June 26, 2008 Cops On Steroids?