The family of a man whose brutal beating by five Atlantic
City police officers was captured on a shocking surveillance video and aired on
a New Jersey TV station Friday says they now plan to file a lawsuit over the
incident.
In the video, 20-year-old David Connor Castellani is seen
being bitten by a police dog as well as thrashed by the officers. He was
charged with assault on a police officer, an accusation his attorney says was
without any basis.
“If he committed any of the offenses they charged him with,
he wouldn’t be on the other side of the street figuring out a way to get home —
he’d be under arrest,” lawyer Steve Scheffler told an Atlantic City local
newspaper. “I certainly don’t see aggravated assault on a police officer or a
K-9. Quite frankly, I don’t see resisting, either.”
Scheffler is defending Castellani against the criminal
charges he now faces.
The incident occurred shortly after 3 am on June 15, when
Castellani had been ejected from the Tropicana casino for reasons that remain
uncertain. A local TV news report said he was kicked out for being underage.
One of the officers involved in the savage beating has faced
accusations of excessive force at least three times before.
The video shows officers tackling Castellani then striking
him with batons and their knees. About a minute into the beating, a police K-9
vehicle shows up and the cops release an attack dog on the fallen Castellani.
The dog bites him and drags him to a curb.
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