We have the latest on the violent arrest of motorist in Centre County last year that continues to draw national attention. In a new court filing, the motorist’s Attorney says his client was the victim of “Unhinged, angry and violent policing.”
Its a State Police dashcam video that continues to draw controversy. The arrest of Dereck Raimey, in a rural area of Centre County last December. State Police have defended their actions in arresting Raimey, admitting to punching him, but terming the punches “Compliance Strikes”. The traffic stop came after Police say the first tried to pull over Raimey on Interstate 80 for following a truck too closely, but instead he led them on a high speed chase for nearly 20 minutes before stopping.
Raimey’s Attorney filed a pre-trial motion questioning the validity of the traffic stop and resulting criminal charges against Raimey. In a new filing to support his motion, Raimey’s Attorney Patrick Klena argues Raimey did not resist arrest once stopped, but instead was dealing with conflicting orders from Police, and then was punched nine times during and after being yanked from his vehicle.
Klena goes on to argue any reasonable person viewing the video objectively “Saw an unhinged, angry and violent member of Law Enforcement meting out his version of street justice. This behavior by Law Enforcement should not be condoned or encouraged”. Klena says the violent Police action impacted Raimey’s ability to consent to a blood test, which Police claim shows Raimey was driving with several drugs in his system.
