An investigation is underway after video surfaced showing a Camden County officer appearing to repeatedly punch a man in the head. Now that man is speaking out and accusing the officers of police brutality.
“That’s what I call it, hatred,” said Edward Minguela, a 32-year-old Camden, New Jersey father. “I did nothing wrong to them. I didn’t resist. I didn’t do nothing.”
The incident occurred Thursday around 8 p.m. outside a store on Collings Road in Camden. Camden County spokesperson Dan Keashen told NBC10 officers received a tip call about a person with a gun at that location. Minguela was in the area when officers arrived and according to officials, he matched the description of the suspect and was near a car that matched the description of the vehicle.
Video obtained by NBC10 shows three officers confront Minguela. One of the officers wrestles Minguela to the ground and then appears to punch him in the back of his head more than ten times as he lies on his stomach. The officer also knocks off the hat of another officer while swinging his arm.
“The one cop grabbed my one arm and he was punching me and punching me and punching me,” Minguela said. “And I’m trying to block with this arm.”
Minguela suffered a fractured wrist during the incident and was cited for resisting arrest and obstruction. Police never found a weapon in Minguela’s possession.
Minguela's attorney Devon Jacob accused the officers of giving his client two options after the incident.
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"The officers advised Mr. Minguela that he had two options: option one - refuse medical care and receive citations for resisting arrest and obstructing justice, or option two - accept medical care and be criminally charged with assaulting a police officer," Jacob said.
The three officers who confronted Minguela are currently on paid administrative leave as the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office investigates the incident. Camden County Police have not commented on Jacob's allegations.
“Listen, the video I think it speaks for itself,” Keashen said. “It’s highly disturbing. We have serious concerns with it.”
Minguela said he wants the officer who confronted him to get help.
“He needs more social skills,” Minguela said. “Or he needs more training.”
The officer who Minguela said attacked him was wearing a body camera during the encounter.
Camden County Mayor Frank Moran told NBC10 he learned about the video Tuesday morning and called it "disturbing and troublesome."
"If he's exonerated, then I still believe there should be some sense of training, additional training, that this officer and others should receive," Mayor Moran said.
Moneke Gasdale and Vida Neil of Camden County's NAACP say they have serious concerns about what they saw on the video and the rest of the city should be raising a red flag.
"Everybody should be furious about what's going on because we know it's going on and they sweep it under the rug," Neil said. "What we need is some kind of citizen's review board."
Mayor Moran told NBC10 the city of Camden has made great strides in the last five years in building relationships between residents and officers.
