A sergeant in the Chicago Police Department posted bail on Friday, for charges that he repeatedly struck a handcuffed teenage arrestee in the face.
Edward Howard, Jr., 48, allegedly appears in a surveillance video showing the attack. (Scroll down to see the video.) In the footage, 19-year-old Gregory Jeffries is restrained, and does not appear to be non-compliant in any way with the officers' requests, prosecutors argued.
The clip "shows that (Jeffries) never acts in a physically provocative manner before the defendant strikes him each time," Assistant State's Attorney Lauren Freeman said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
But as the Sun-Times reports, the defense tells a different story. Robert D. Kuzas, Howard's attorney, says that Jeffries was attempting to spit on the officer.
"If I tried to spit on you, wouldn’t you think that’s offensive?” Kuzas asked a reporter. "I don’t care who you are. If someone’s attempting to spit on you, of course you have a right to defend yourself.”
Jeffries never actually spit on Howard, Kuzas said. “It was more of a hacker up—you know, where you’ve got it lined up in the throat to send the projectile out,” he explained.
Howard is charged with felony aggravated battery and official misconduct, according to WGN. He has already been relieved of his police powers and assigned to desk duty.
Watch the surveillance tape:
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