Driver: 20 Police beat man who died in custody...Police: Man mysteriously unresponsive

[Bluebear]

A man who died in State Police custody last week was beaten by as many as 20 police officers during a traffic stop in North Andover, according to the driver who gave a statement to investigators from the Essex County district attorney's office.

The driver was behind the wheel of a truck that stopped at a sobriety checkpoint on Wednesday night. His passenger, Kenneth Howe, was pulled by police out of the truck, beaten, and dragged before he collapsed next to a police cruiser, according to the driver, whose name has not been released. His taped statement was recounted for the Globe by attorney Frances A. King, who represents the Howe family and sat next to the driver when he spoke to investigators on Sunday.

The account from the driver differs sharply with what authorities have said about the death of Howe, 45, of Worcester. In a press release issued by the Essex County district attorney's office, authorities said that Howe was uncooperative when asked to step out of the truck and jumped out the passenger side window, striking a state trooper in the process.

Howe attempted to flee, but was caught after a brief foot chase. A brief struggle ensued and Howe was handcuffed and arrested for assault and battery on a police officer, according to the release. Troopers at the Andover barracks noticed that he was unresponsive during booking and took him to Lawrence General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m., according to authorities.

The sobriety checkpoint was staffed by State Police, North Andover police and the Essex County Sheriff's Department. It was scheduled for the holiday evening and every car was stopped for a "threshold observation," according to authorities. State Police were drawn to Howe as he sat in the front passenger's seat of the truck because he made "furtive movements," authorities said.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/11/driver_police_b.html

[marmar]

1. Sadly, that's not a headline from The Onion

Unbelievable......

[graywarrior]

2. Ma, I live in the next town over from N. Andover.

I didn't know they had that many cops over there

[Bluebear]

5. checkpoint staffed by State Police, North Andover police and the Essex County Sheriff's Department

It was a checkpointapalooza.

[graywarrior]

7. We'd been hearing about checkpoints all holiday week end

It's like they got cranked up on crack to go out a crack a few heads. Unbelievable.

[Echo In Light]

11. Sadists = opportunists

[graywarrior]

13. They acted like they're in Lynn, for crissakes.

[billybob537]

16. I'm in chelmsford!!!!

[imdjh]

3. I hate checkpoints.

[imdjh]

4. Where did you get "20 police beat"?

[Bluebear]

6. uh, the first sentence?

[imdjh]

9. Well how was I supposed to see that? sheesh....

[Bluebear]

10. :)

[jberryhill]

23. Bluebear thinks we are freakin' mind readers here...

Might as well post in secret code!

[Bluebear]

26. :)

[grasswire]

8. from the cradle of liberty....

....fair Massachusetts. How low we have come.

[virgogal]

15. Ummm---innocent until proven guilty. Sound familiar?

[bobburgster]

18. Innocent until proven guilty - which NEVER happens when the cops are the perps

[Jim__]

12. "Troopers at the Andover barracks noticed that he was unresponsive during booking ..."

Noticed he was unresponsive during booking? That is pure bullshit. How can the newspaper report that without commenting on it?

[TCJ70]

14. I'm guessing there's no police video of the event...

...if true, that's awful. I wonder if the marijuana he had had anything to do with his "furtive movements".

[Beaverhausen]

17. Is it illegal for passengers to be drunk?

why did they go after him anyway?

[Bluebear]

19. He made "furtive movements"

[Beaverhausen]

20. Ok gotcha. Those illegal furtive movements will get you every time

WTF???

[immoderate]

21. Furtive means sneaky, stealthy, and secretive.

If he was really furtive, they wouldn't have seen it.

--imm

[Bluebear]

24. a good point lol

[liberalhistorian]

25. Every time I've been a passenger in a car

that's stopped at a checkpoint, I've noted that they check the passengers out as much as the drivers.

[Kid Dynamite]

22. I thought this was going to be 1000 post long eulogy thread

but I guess only cops are accorded that honor and that not the people killed by cops. Go figure. Maybe I just need to find the right high horse to mount..