More 'police' conduct at the mall: Security guard arrested for concocting story to arrest customer [View All]

[Bunny]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10346/1110287-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml

Security guard arrested for concocting story to arrest mall customer

<snip>Security guard Gregory Lattera intially told police he arrested customer John Kaminski in the parking lot of the Ross Toys R' Us last month because Mr. Kaminski had run him down with his Jeep. He has since admitted he was just "tired, cold and sore" when he decided to concoct the story and target Mr. Kaminski, who was roughed up by Mr. Laterra and then Tased by a Ross police officer in front of his wife and child before being taken into police custody.

At around 2.45 p.m., Mr. Kaminski was driving his red Jeep SUV through the intersection of Old McKnight Road and Cheryl Drive, where Mr. Laterra was directing traffic, when Mr. Laterra smacked the back window of the car. At that point, Mr. Laterra reported to police that he had been run down by Mr. Kaminski and that he was going to locate him in the parking lot.

He stormed through the lot, found Mr. Kaminski and told him he was under arrest. When Mr. Kaminski's wife Kellie asked what was going on, Mr. Lattera responded that her husband had just assaulted a police officer. He then put Mr. Kaminski in a headlock, slammed him against his car and demanded that he lie down on the ground. Mr. Kaminski yelled that he couldn't because he was pinned against the car, witnesses told police. He then threw Mr. Kaminski to the ground, holding him down with his knee, while a Ross police officer who had arrived as back up Tased Mr. Kaminski. He was handcuffed and taken to the Ross police station.

Mr. Lattera's version of events unraveled after he gave his statement to police, because the Kaminskis and multiple witnesses contradicted his story that he had been hit by their Jeep. He conceded, admitting he fabricated the story because he was exhausted and upset from directing traffic for nearly six hours. <snip>

I added the emphasis. A completely innocent guy can be traveling to the mall with his family, and some jackass rentacop decides to take out his frustration by throwing the guy down and having him tased, handcuffed and hauled off to jail, all because the rentacop was tired and cranky??? WTF?