A Mesa man is claiming police brutality against the Mesa Police Department after he was shoved to the ground while riding his bicycle on the sidewalk. Police body camera video shows the confrontation, but the man's attorney says the police report does not match what is seen in the video.
The silent video captured the 30 seconds before the Mesa police officer activated his camera. But in that crucial moment, he shoves a man to the ground.
"I couldn't believe it," said Joshua Dombrowski.
Dombrowski was riding his bike on the sidewalk on Main Street in Mesa back in August. He claims he didn't know the officer was shouting at him.
"I kind of went on minding my own business and then next thing I know, I have a bunch of cops jumping on me," said Dombrowski.
Dombrowski hired attorney Anthony Ramirez with My AZ Lawyers who is a retired police officer.
"To come at him and push him down like that and then continue in that matter is excessive," said Ramirez. "Especially when he was only riding a bicycle on the sidewalk. I would give the officer the benefit of the doubt if it was a dangerous crime but it wasn't."
According to the police report, the officer says Dombrowski "forced two pedestrians to move off the sidewalk" to make room for him. It also states the officer yelled "stop" and Dombrowski took off riding "at a high rate of speed" and "advanced" when he approached.
"The video comes on at about 35 or 40 seconds, just enough to catch this impact push, which contradicts what's going on in this police report," said Ramirez.
Dombrowski struggled with officers, saying his backpack made it hard to cuff him. And a stun gun was deployed and he screamed in pain. He spent a night in the hospital. Pictures showed bruises and cuts.
On another body camera video, when an assisting officer asked a witness to make a statement, the man brought up police brutality issues. The officer cut him short, warning that they were rolling, and he needs to write whatever he saw.
Mesa police said they could not comment on the pending case. But they did want to make it clear that Dombrowski had drugs in his system when he was arrested. His attorney says that is no excuse for the force that was displayed.
Dombrowski and his attorney have filed a claim against the city of Mesa.
