Student beaten so badly by cops he thought he was going to die!
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania - January 22, 2010 - Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper said three plainclothes officers have been reassigned during an internal investigation into the beating of an 18-year-old student violinist from the city's Creative and Performing Arts High School.
Police charged Jordan Miles, 18, with assault and resisting arrest January 11 because, they said, he fought with officers who thought a heavy object in his coat was a gun. It turned out to be a bottle of Mountain Dew.
Miles said he resisted because he thought the men were trying to abduct him; they didn't identify themselves as police.
Miles' family and attorney said he was hit with a stun gun and hospitalized after the violent struggle during which a chunk of his hair was yanked out and a tree branch went through his gums.
"I was accused of something I never had anything to do with," said Miles, an honor student at CAPA. "I was completely innocent. They couldn't find anything."
Police took Miles to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment. The student said he had to go back after he was released from custody.
"I want my son's life restored, that's all," said Miles' mother, Terez Miles. "I just want his life to go back to the way that it was before."
City officials are conducting a full investigation, spokeswoman Diane Richard told Channel 11 News.
The officers claim they identified themselves as police. According to officials, the officers have been moved from plainclothes detail to uniformed duty.
Police charged Jordan Miles, 18, with assault and resisting arrest January 11 because, they said, he fought with officers who thought a heavy object in his coat was a gun. It turned out to be a bottle of Mountain Dew.
Miles said he resisted because he thought the men were trying to abduct him; they didn't identify themselves as police.
Miles' family and attorney said he was hit with a stun gun and hospitalized after the violent struggle during which a chunk of his hair was yanked out and a tree branch went through his gums.
"I was accused of something I never had anything to do with," said Miles, an honor student at CAPA. "I was completely innocent. They couldn't find anything."
Police took Miles to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment. The student said he had to go back after he was released from custody.
"I want my son's life restored, that's all," said Miles' mother, Terez Miles. "I just want his life to go back to the way that it was before."
City officials are conducting a full investigation, spokeswoman Diane Richard told Channel 11 News.
The officers claim they identified themselves as police. According to officials, the officers have been moved from plainclothes detail to uniformed duty.