Max Chantha | January 15, 2016
NEVADA – The narrative of abusing citizens under the pretext of ‘resisting arrest’ is one that has been tried and true for law enforcement.
Fortunately, the public push for mandatory body cameras on officers is beginning to dispel the smoke and mirrors that surround these frequent cases.
For one officers, his lies about a suspect resisting have been contradicted by his own body camera – and he is now facing down thirty years in prison.
Las Vegas officer Richard Scavone is the latest liar to be added to the long list of officers who have attempted to bury their crimes under a false narrative.
Last January, Scavone stopped a woman near the Las Vegas Strip who he believed to be loitering for the purpose of prostitution.
According to Scavone, once approached the woman became violent, and a struggle ensued in which Scavone became physical with the woman – even claiming she reached into her bra, implying she was armed.
However, after the woman made a formal complaint of excessive force, a detective made a brutal but unsurprising discovery.
After viewing the body camera footage, the unnamed detective revealed that Scavone had in fact quickly handcuffed the woman after exiting his patrol car despite having no probable cause to arrest her.
Scavone proceeded to violently abuse the woman, throwing her onto the ground before slamming her head not one but three times into his vehicle, even while she begged for mercy and told him, “You’re abusing me for no reason.”
Finally, he failed to read the woman her Miranda rights, which would prove to be the final error in a litany of unprofessional actions that would result in all charges being dropped.
Scavone has since been terminated, and is now being charged with civil rights violations and falsifying a police report.
The detective found Scavone made four false statements in his report, as well as making an unfounded arrest and excessive force. We can only hope he is rightfully convicted and put behind bars, where he can never again think his authority will shield him from the heinous actions he is clearly capable of committing.