Police Abuse in Austin: Iraq Vet Antonio Beuhler Assaulted, Falsely Charged for Photographing Brutal DWI Arrest

Posted on 05 January 2012 by William Grigg

Antonio Buehler, 34, a combat veteran of Kosovo and Iraq, West Point graduate, and middle school teacher, was serving as a designated driver shortly after midnight on January 1 when he saw a woman being abused by police outside a 7-11. The costumed assailants were members of the Austin PD, who were conducting what they called a DWI arrest. To Buehler and his friends, the spectacle looked more like a gang assault.

“We hear a loud scream, and we look over, and we see the cop violently yanking the female out of the car onto the ground,” Buehler told local ABC affiliate KVUE. “She is screaming. The other cop ran up and they both sort of grabbed her arms. Her hands were behind her back straight out and they lifted her up by her arms. It looked extremely painful.”

With the help of a friend, Buehler began to document this act of “street justice” with his cell phone. That prompted one of the assailants to peel away and confront Buehler, who was nowhere near the scene of the assault.

According to Buehler, the cop snarled, “What the hell are you taking pictures for?”

“My response was, `I am allowed to. Public official in a public place.’”

As he was trained to, the cop started to lie in an effort to devise a cover charge against Buehler. First he claimed that Buehler was somehow “interfering with the investigation,” which was patently untrue. Then the cop assaulted Buhler by pushing the unresisting man — who would have been more than a match for the donut-grazer, had he chosen to fight back — up against a truck.

“Once he had me pinned up against the back of the truck he kept leaning in,” Buehler continued. “He kept pushing me.”

Eventually the cop got so close that Buehler actually breathed on him — which gave him a pretext to accuse the witness of “spitting” on him. After finally wrestling Buehler (who offered only passive resistance) to the ground, being joined by one of his comrades, and threatening to shoot him with a Taser, the cop took him to a BAT van—- a patently unreliable mobile alcohol testing unit — in the hope of documenting that the witness was intoxicated, which he wasn’t. The cop finally settled on charging him with “harassing a public servant” — a third-degree felony — and “resisting arrest.”

Through Craig’s List, Buehler was able to obtain a second video of the event that corroborates key elements of his story. According to KVUE, “there was a female who witnessed the altercation and offered to give Beuhler’s friend her card,” but was prevented from doing so by the police.

“We need to keep the pressure on the City of Austin,” commented Beuhler in a post to his Facebook page. “There are two criminals on the loose: they are looking to get into fights, they wear blue, they are armed and they wear badges.”

“Second, thanks for words such as `hero,’” he continued. “I appreciate it. But the other heroes are those citizens who stood up, took photos and video, and are writing affidavits. Without them, I might be looking at serious jail time for a fraudulent charge from a crooked, evil, worthless cop.”


http://networkedblogs.com/snNk2

For more on this story, go to KVUE.com.

APD officers accused of abuse during New Year's arrest

by JIM BERGAMO / KVUE News
Bio | Email | Follow: @JimB_KVUE

kvue.com

Posted on January 4, 2012 at 9:33 PM

Updated yesterday at 10:39 AM

AUSTIN -- The Austin Police Department faces allegations of abuse stemming from a New Year's Day arrest.

Like most cases of alleged police abuse, the accuser has his story and police have another. However there is video which may help determine which side is telling the truth.

Cell phone video shot across the street from a gas and convenience store on Lamar Boulevard and 10th Street shows police taking down Antonio Buehler, 34, early Sunday morning.

Buehler was returning home from a New Year's Eve party. While stopped for gas, he noticed police performing a DWI stop on a woman.

"We hear a loud scream, and we look over, and we see the cop violently yanking the female out of the car onto the ground," said Buehler. "She is screaming. The other cop ran up, and they both sort of grabbed her arms. Her hands were behind her back straight out, and they lifted her up by her arms. It just looked extremely painful."

Buehler and his friend began taking pictures. He said one of the officers then marched toward him and asked, "'What the hell are you taking pictures for,' or something along those lines," said Buehler. "My response was, 'I am allowed to. Public official in a public place.'"

Buehler says the officer accused him of interfering with the investigation.

"I said, 'I never got in the way of the investigation,'" said Buehler. "At some point, he pushed me into the truck by the chest. Once he had me pinned up against the back of the truck, he kept leaning in. He kept pushing me."

The officer accused Buehler of spitting in his face. Buehler denies it. Buehler put an ad out on Craigslist for anyone who may have witnessed the incident. Someone responded and provided video which appears to support Buehler's version of events.

Austin police disagree.

"Buehler was in the officer's face," said APD spokesman Corp. Anthony Hipolito. "The officer kind of put his hand on his shoulder and tried to back him up, and at that time was when Buehler spit in the face of Officer Oborski. At that time he was placed under arrest for harassment of a public servant, which is a third degree felony."

Actually before that charge, Buehler was taken to the BAT bus and asked to take a breathalyzer.

"I was really interested to see what mine was going to be since I had not been drinking," said Buehler.

"He was probably taken down to the BAT bus so that Oborski could complete his paperwork on the other DWI arrest," said Hipolito.

So then why was Buehler asked to blow into a breathalyzer? "I don't know," said Hipolito.

Buehler is a West Point graduate, an Army Ranger and an Iraq War veteran. He says he knows what it means to serve and has great respect for police, but he says these two officers crossed the line.

"I want to see both cops reprimanded, disciplined, maybe even fired," said Buehler. "I saw a woman getting assaulted by the police. It looked like police abuse, and I decided to speak up and take pictures. I think that is every person's right."

Buehler says he may consider legal action but at the moment is concentrating on getting the charges dismissed. APD says he must first file a complaint with its Internal Affairs Department.

Buehler says there was a female who witnessed the altercation and offered to give Buehler's friend her card. Buehler says police prevented her from doing so. Buehler says he would like for that woman to come forward as well.

video link here

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/Two-A...136709358.html