Amanda Warren
Activist Post
It was only a matter of time before a bizarre confrontation involving one policeman in Toledo, Ohio finally reached local news reports. You can read our first report and watch the footage HERE. More info has surfaced including names and both sides of the strange incident in a normally quiet neighborhood.
The video showed Officer Eric Hart with three people down on the neighborhood road, two in handcuffs behind their backs. Yelling is interchanged while the cop points a weapon at their heads. The police report states that commands were not listened to, so Officer Hart got out his Taser and handgun. Later, he wrenches Aaron Tatkowski from the ground and puts him under arrest in the Washington Township police vehicle.
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Aaron says when he pulled up to his home he questioned Officer Hart as he didn’t like the way he was talking to the person he pulled over for a license plate violation – it was Aaron’s daughter-in-law, Cassandra Meyers.
Officer Hart hollered for him to get back in the truck so he did. That’s when Aaron says he, his girlfriend, and son were yanked from the truck and made to get on the ground in what looks like a stand-off. Aaron says his daughter-in-law was made to get on the ground, but only one female can be seen on the ground in the video. Aaron holds that the officer’s commands to him were followed.
Aaron’s daughter-in-law, Cassandra, gets her arms wrenched up behind her back and nearly above her head as she is ordered to “Sit your ass on the tailgate! Sit! Sit up there!” Later in the original video you can hear Officer Hart yelling at Aaron’s 14-year-old son: “When the police tell you not to do something – that’s who you listen to! … I told you to get out of the truck!”
Jim Stechschulte was the man recording the incident who later was told to hang up and go as the officer tossed his phone to the ground. Jim later said:
It was totally uncalled for, the way [the officer] was using force on people. I’m sorry to say that, but that’s the way it is and if they don’t like it, so be it.
Force is definitely the keyword here. Did this situation really have to escalate the way it did? Two young granddaughters were in the truck the entire time.
Tatkowski had to be treated on the scene and taken to the hospital for a cut on the elbow and knee – Officer Hart’s scratches were treated on scene.
It is still unclear if Hart was pointing a Taser or a handgun. And why does he say “This is not Toledo!” when Aaron and, later, witnesses wish to call Toledo police for backup. Washington Township has a Toledo address and is in the vicinity of Toledo in Lucas county.
Here is Hart’s account, according to Toledo Blade:
During the stop, a man, later identified as Aaron Tatkowski, who was in another vehicle, stopped and got out of his truck, and reportedly told Officer Hart, “I’m [expletive] sick of you cops. I’m [expletive] sick of you harassing people for no reason.”
Officer Hart wrote in the report that he ordered Mr. Tatkowski to get back; when he allegedly refused, the officer said he pointed his stun gun at Mr. Tatkowski, who yelled for spectators to videotape the encounter. The passenger from the first vehicle, Cassandra Meyers, got out of the vehicle and approached the officer, who had Mr. Tatkowski handcuffed on the ground.
The officer wrote he had his gun out and pointed through open vehicle doors.
He also wrote that he had told spectators to leave “for their safety.”
Washington Township police chief Christopher Kaiser has not wanted to comment too much on the situation and said he stood by the police report.
Officer Hart who has worked there part-time for two years has been placed on administrative leave. He also works for Toledo Public Schools as a resource officer! Kaiser said:
He’s not in trouble, but to keep things aboveboard, we put him on administrative leave until an internal investigation is fully complete. I’m not saying he did anything wrong, but we’re trying to show we’re not trying to sweep this under the rug or cover it up.
Washington Township Police – If writing, please be respectful:
Chief Christopher Kaiser
419.726.0478 [email protected]
Also see:
Bizarre Confrontation With Toledo Cop Caught on Video
Read other articles by Amanda Warren
Corrupt town and bad cops. Glad I don’t live anywhere near that hellhole.