May
10, 1989, the Fairfax County Police offered a man $1,000 to repair damage to
his teeth caused by one of five cops who beat the man across the mouth with his
nightstick while the man was handcuffed.
Here’s the surprising part, the man that was handcuffed and beaten by
the police was black and the five cops who beat him were white…..I know, I
didn’t believe it ether.
The
man, Steven Martin, a 27-year-old lawn service employee, was visiting his sons
in Reston. At the same time the cops
were looking for a black man whom they say had assaulted a cop. So they stopped Martin and arrested him on
charges of trespassing and being drunk in public.
The
cops then drove Martin to an empty elementary school parking lot where
"they yanked me out of the car and threw me on the ground.” Martin said he did not know how many officers
were there, but that "they were all just surrounding me.” Martin, whose hands were cuffed in front of
his body, said an officer placed a nightstick in his mouth and twisted it
numerous times, leaving one bottom front tooth so loose that a dentist told him
it will probably have to be removed.
His
pants were pulled down, and the pockets were ripped out. His shoes and two pairs of socks were
removed. Then another cop slapped him
across the face. He was then dragged
before a magistrate at the county jail and released on personal
recognizance. His moth bleeding, his
shoes, and socks missing, Martin walked to his sister's home in
Centreville. “He came in with blood all
over him," his sister said "He said [the police] beat him up, and put
the stick in his mouth. I was mad. I said: 'You should do something about that”