A man who said he was pulled over during a traffic stop in Maryvale on Sept. 13 and forced by Phoenix police officers to eat about a gram of marijuana spoke to reporters Thursday afternoon about the experience.
Edgar Castro, 19, said he was originally pulled over for speeding and the officers executed a search of his car without his permission. The officers found marijuana and a BB gun, Castro said.
“When I was told to sit on the curb, they told me to eat the marijuana or go to jail,” Castro said.
Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner said the three officers alleged to have forced Castro to eat the marijuana have resigned and are now involved in criminal and administrative investigations. A lieutenant who did not follow the proper protocol in reporting the incident was demoted, Yahner said.
Yahner identified the three officers as Richard G. Pina, Jason E. McFadden and Michael J. Carnicle, all of whom were probationary employees and had been with the department for less than one year. Yahner said “termination was inevitable” if the officers hadn’t chosen to resign on their own.
He described the incident as “compelling, appalling and extremely unprofessional” during a Sept. 22 news conference.
Yahner said Lt. Jeff Farrior, who had been notified about the allegations but failed to launch an investigation, was demoted to the position of sergeant.
Castro would not say whether he had the marijuana in his car legally or if he had a medical marijuana card.
Castro appeared at a news conference outside Phoenix City Hall called by the Rev. Jarrett Maupin, who said he was introduced to Castro through mutual colleagues. Castro then reached out to Maupin for help, and Maupin said he obliged.
“The city has made the decision … to terminate the three officers who were involved, and subsequently they resigned before the termination was effective,” Maupin said. That’s to be expected in a situation like this.”
Maupin said the decision by Yahner to remove the involved officers from the department was appropriate, but said it was not enough.
“He suffered quite a bit emotionally, psychologically, physically as a result of what he went through,” Maupin said of Castro.
Maupin said he wanted policy reform at City Hall, the completion of diversity training for all police officers, and compensation for Castro.
Castro said, “I would like them to be more responsible and hire more responsible police officers.”
Source: http://edition.cnn.com