A police officer used his baton on a man after a brief altercation at 7 p.m. at 16th and Mission streets.
The man lay under a tree hurt, drunk and surrounded by police officers for more than 20 minutes before paramedics arrived.
The incident happened after two police officers arrived on the scene to break up a fight between two other individuals, according to witnesses on the scene who gave various accounts as to why the officers used force to subdue the man.
According to several witnesses, the officers got involved in a fight when a third person tried to stop one of the officers from arresting his friend. Then, the officer confronted the man using his baton.
One witness who did not reveal his identity said, “[the officer] got confused and beat a man who was not involved in the fight at all.”
Another witness said, “[The officer] got out of control and hit him several times for no reason.”
Witness Rene Garza said that it was the individual on the ground that initially assaulted the officer. “He tried to stop an officer from doing his job,” he said.
Witness agreed, however, that the officer involved used his baton several times after the man was on the ground.
The man involved was arrested after being treated by paramedics at the scene. The officer involved sustained no injuries.
SFPD Lt. Spillane said that it was not a serious incident and the man wasn’t hurt at all. “It was just a couple of drunks,” he said.
The writer of this article gives us no information and clearly has an agenda against the police. I’m glad they are at 16th and Mission, this is a hell hole of drunks and needs to be taken care of.
who cares??? these guys are DRUNKS FROM 16th and MISSION who piss all over the BART platform, cause fights, stink, yell, beg for money, and litter. GOOD JOB COPS!!!! GET THESE DRUNKS OFF OUR STREETS!!!
There really isn’t enough information here to justify an article, actually. I’m also a bit conflicted about your use of photos as well, considering we don’t really know anything about the story.
Odd. When someone gets shot and killed, nobody saw nothing. But when a drunk interferes with an arrest, and himself gets arrested, all sorts of “witnesses,” who decline to identify themselves to the “reporter,” step forward to imply excessive force. Maybe anonymous “witnesses” hanging out at 16th and Mission oughtn’t be considered sufficiently objective to be quoted in a journalism piece.
They must feel proud.. Smiling to the camera
RIDICULOUS