Post by WaTcHeR on Nov 2, 2006 12:54:05 GMT -5
11.02.2006 - An off-duty Salt Lake City police officer who prosecutors say attacked a man during a pick-up basketball game has been charged.
Officer Marcus J. Barrett was charged in West Valley Justice Court with two counts of assault, both class B misdemeanors; unlawful detention, a class B misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor.
Wednesday, a 911 call that allegedly recorded some of Barrett's profanity-laced tirade against the other man was released. During the recorded message, a man can be heard angrily threatening to take the caller to jail on charges ranging from inciting a riot to resisting arrest.
Barrett was playing basketball at a Gold's Gym in West Valley City Aug. 29 when he shoved an opposing player to the ground, "hitting him repeatedly with a closed fist," according to court documents. When the other player tried to leave, Barrett used his Salt Lake City patrol car to box the man in and continued to engage in "violent or tumultuous behavior by repeatedly yelling and fighting with the victim in a public place," court documents state.
The opposing player, Agim, asked that his last name not be used because he was still shaken over the incident and fears retaliation.
Agim said he called 911 as Barrett and his friends were trying to get at him through his car window. What was recorded on the 911 call is a "big part of the evidence" in the case against Barrett, according to West Valley prosecutor Ryan Robinson.
As the 911 dispatcher picks up the phone, a man can be heard outside of Barrett's car yelling, "Call whoever you want, man" followed by threatening demands of, "Get out here (expletive). You're (expletive) with the wrong people."
Agim can be heard on the tape calmly saying, "Don't touch me."
"You wanna start something? Get out of the car right now," the other man yelled. After apparently pointing to his patrol car, the man then yelled at Agim, "You know what I am? ... I will put you under arrest."
Agim tells the man he will get out of the car when other officers arrive and will give him a copy of his ID then. Until then, he is heard on the tape saying, "I don't trust you. ... I am defenseless right now."
At one point on the tape when Agim tells the man he attacked him, the man counters that if he had really fought with Agim, "I would have put you in the hospital already."
Robinson said there was not enough evidence to determine what other parties may have been involved in the incident and what, if any, roles in the physical altercation they had.
Barrett, 24, has been with the Salt Lake City Police Department since July of 2005. He was placed on administrative leave the day after the alleged attack, pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650203719,00.html
Officer Marcus J. Barrett was charged in West Valley Justice Court with two counts of assault, both class B misdemeanors; unlawful detention, a class B misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor.
Wednesday, a 911 call that allegedly recorded some of Barrett's profanity-laced tirade against the other man was released. During the recorded message, a man can be heard angrily threatening to take the caller to jail on charges ranging from inciting a riot to resisting arrest.
Barrett was playing basketball at a Gold's Gym in West Valley City Aug. 29 when he shoved an opposing player to the ground, "hitting him repeatedly with a closed fist," according to court documents. When the other player tried to leave, Barrett used his Salt Lake City patrol car to box the man in and continued to engage in "violent or tumultuous behavior by repeatedly yelling and fighting with the victim in a public place," court documents state.
The opposing player, Agim, asked that his last name not be used because he was still shaken over the incident and fears retaliation.
Agim said he called 911 as Barrett and his friends were trying to get at him through his car window. What was recorded on the 911 call is a "big part of the evidence" in the case against Barrett, according to West Valley prosecutor Ryan Robinson.
As the 911 dispatcher picks up the phone, a man can be heard outside of Barrett's car yelling, "Call whoever you want, man" followed by threatening demands of, "Get out here (expletive). You're (expletive) with the wrong people."
Agim can be heard on the tape calmly saying, "Don't touch me."
"You wanna start something? Get out of the car right now," the other man yelled. After apparently pointing to his patrol car, the man then yelled at Agim, "You know what I am? ... I will put you under arrest."
Agim tells the man he will get out of the car when other officers arrive and will give him a copy of his ID then. Until then, he is heard on the tape saying, "I don't trust you. ... I am defenseless right now."
At one point on the tape when Agim tells the man he attacked him, the man counters that if he had really fought with Agim, "I would have put you in the hospital already."
Robinson said there was not enough evidence to determine what other parties may have been involved in the incident and what, if any, roles in the physical altercation they had.
Barrett, 24, has been with the Salt Lake City Police Department since July of 2005. He was placed on administrative leave the day after the alleged attack, pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650203719,00.html