Video captured two Philadelphia Police officers viciously attacking a scooter driver as he cried for help during a May 2013 altercation.
Sean McKnight, a 7-year veteran, and Kevin Robinson, a 6-year veteran, are accused of knocking Najee Rivera from his scooter from their patrol car and then repeatedly hitting the man with their fists and batons while he screamed in pain.
“One of them actually reached out of the window and clubbed Rivera in the head,” said Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams during the Thursday news conference.
“After the beating, they handcuffed Rivera, who was still on the ground, and for several minutes they kept him there while he was bleeding and they were standing on him with foot on back,” Wiliams said. “Another officer had arrived at the scene and thought that Mr. Rivera had been shot because there was so much blood on the ground.”
“Simply put, no one – not even police officers – is above the law,” he said. “This type of behavior has absolutely no place in our city.”
The violent interaction, which left Rivera with a fractured orbital bone and multiple facial lacerations, took place around 10 p.m. on May 29, 2013.
The officers attempted to pull over Rivera, who was 24-years-old at the time, near North 7th and Somerset streets in North Philly, investigators said.
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Rivera became frightened and drove away, and was subsequently chased by the officers who went against procedure by not using lights and sirens during the pursuit, authorities said.
McKnight and Robinson caught up with Rivera a few blocks away near North 6th Street and Lehigh Avenue, where the beatdown took place.
A surveillance camera from a nearby business captured the entire altercation — beginning with the moment the officers knocked the man from his scooter.
The video discredited McKnight’s and Robinson’s versions of the story, which accused Rivera of throwing an officer against a wall and then slamming his head against it.
Authorities credited Rivera's girlfriend with bringing the video to their attention. She canvassed the neighborhood following the attack and asked local shop owners and residents if they had any footage, Williams said.
The pair were suspended from the force as soon as the charges were announced. They were removed from street patrols two years ago – as soon as investigators determined their accounts of the May 2013 altercation were false.
McKnight and Robinson are charged with aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, tampering with public records and other related offenses.
Both men will be terminated at the end of their 30-day suspension, said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
Initially Rivera faced charges based on false accusations from McKnight and Robinson. The charges were withdrawn once prosecutors reviewed the video depicting the attack.
The charges against McKnight and Robinson come a day after two former Philly cops were sentenced for repeatedly robbing drug dealers while on duty.
