Video from a body camera, obtained by the ABC7 I-Team, reveals a troubling incident in Robbins, Ill. A police officer is seen deploying a Taser directly on the face of a man from Chicago.
The man has taken legal action against both the village of Robbins and the officer who deployed the Taser. Concurrently, the Illinois State Police integrity task force has initiated an investigation into the matter.
Robbins police said the man was irate during the incident. He has now spoken exclusively with the I-Team.
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Dominic Bradford said he has permanent damage to his right eye after a Taser was used on him by the Robbins police officer.
According to the Robbins Police Department, the man, Bradford, displayed hostility when approached to vacate a convenience store. However, Bradford contests the department’s assertion, claiming that the use of force against him was unwarranted.
The I-Team has obtained video of the incident involving the use of a Taser, and some of the footage and images might be hard to watch.
“I’ll never look the same again, or feel the same again quite frankly,” Bradford said.
Bradford’s right eyelid is stitched together after he underwent four surgical procedures. The Chicago man said he may never see out of this eye again after a Taser was used on him by a police officer.
“This is what my reality is right now,” Bradford said. “I don’t wish this on my worst enemy.”
The incident happened on March 18. The 22-year-old said he and his friends were on their way home from a sports bar and stopped by a convenience store in Robbins.
I was feeling a mode of protection, because I had just watched the officer push my friend away to tase me. It was very intense and everything was happening super fast.
Dominic Bradford, plaintiff
He said a store clerk thought he recognized him, but Bradford said it was his first time in the store.
“That became a minor back and forth of, ‘I think I’ve seen you?’ ‘No, you haven’t. I’ve never been here before,'” Bradford said. “That’s when I knocked on the glass for the item behind the counter.”
Bradford said a Robbins police officer, who happened to be in the store, asked him to stop knocking on the glass. Bradford said words were exchanged, and he was asked to leave.
Bradford said he followed orders and left, and that’s where the officer’s bodycam video began.
“I was frustrated, upset, being removed from an establishment for no reason,” Bradford said.
In the video, Bradford and his friends can be seen walking to their vehicle. The officer was holding a Taser in his hand as he approached the vehicle, and he ordered Bradford to get into the car.
“Say something else. You’ve got two seconds to get in the car,” the officer can be heard saying.
Bradford’s friends tried to intervene, and things escalated.
“You’ve got two seconds to get in the car,” the officer said.
A Taser was then used on Bradford, who then advanced toward the officer. A Taser was used on Bradford a second time, in the face.
Moments later, the officer called for backup. Bradford reemerged from the vehicle after a Taser was used on him.
“Look at my face. I’m in pain,” Bradford said.
An ambulance was called to the scene, and Bradford was taken to the hospital.
“It was difficult to view. My husband had to support me because, that’s our son,” Bradford’s mother Starlet Banks said. “To see blood on his face, his eye almost hanging out of his head, grotesque is the only way to describe it… No mother, father, no parent should ever have to see their child in that situation.”
Bradford and his attorney, Keenan Saulter, are now suing the village of Robbins and the officer who used a Taser on him. They believe the use of force was unjustified, claiming the officer followed Bradford as he was trying to leave.
“I’m not here to sugarcoat the fact that Dominic was angry,” Saulter said. “But he’s outside the store. That’s the key. He followed his command… Police officers, quite frankly, are trained to deal with individuals who are not happy that they are being interacted with by police. That’s part of the job. That doesn’t mean police officers don’t have feelings, they do. But they’re trained to not emotionally react, particularly when they are not being placed in danger.”
The village of Robbins said it doesn’t comment on matters of litigation, but said in part, “A Robbins police officer was engaged in an incident outside of a local business with an individual, in which the police body camera shows was irate and noticeably intoxicated during the exchange. All of which was in response to the owner of the local business requesting the officer to have the individual leave the store following a prior hostile exchange.”
Bradford denied being intoxicated on the night in question, maintaining he was upset that he had to leave the store after being misidentified by the clerk.
ABC7 asked Bradford why he advanced at the officer after a Taser was used on him the first time.
“I was feeling a mode of protection, because I had just watched the officer push my friend away to tase me,” Bradford said. “It was very intense and everything was happening super fast.”
“I feel confident in saying that video does not display his proudest moment, but in that video I watch him and his friend walk away,” Banks said. “I don’t understand why he pursued them. If he told them to leave and they left, what’s the rationale for following them to the car, engaging with them verbally. At that point, it’s like antagonistic.”
“I forgive you, because I should,” Bradford said. “The police department definitely needs to do better training.”
The Robbins officer involved in the incident has not been charged with a crime and is still with the police department.
Bradford, who had a Taser used on him, was not arrested or charged with a crime during the incident.
The Robbins Police Department said its mission is to service the citizens of Robbins with a high level of integrity. They said they are cooperating with Illinois State Police to investigate the matter.
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