A man dies after a police operation. Three weeks later, investigations are now underway against twelve officials. Four of them are said to have deleted videos from witnesses’ cell phones – and must also fear consequences within the police force.
Oer-Erkenschwick (dpa/lnw) – The four police officers who are said to have deleted a video of a witness in at least one case during a police operation with a man who subsequently died are threatened with legal consequences in addition to the ongoing investigation. Disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against them, said a spokesman for the Recklinghausen police on Monday. The four are still on duty. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating them on suspicion of coercion – but the lawyer for a witness also sees evidence of the allegation of suppression of evidence.
On August 7, the police were called to a 39-year-old who is said to have rioted in his apartment in Oer-Erkenschwick. According to the police, he put up massive resistance, the police used pepper spray and fixed him. The 39-year-old lost consciousness during the operation and died hours later in hospital. Investigators suspect he was under the influence of drugs. Shortly after the deployment, investigations into physical harm were initiated at the office against eight officers.
There were also a good 150 onlookers on site, many filming with their cell phones. The public prosecutor’s office sees evidence in four officials that they could have viewed recordings on the witnesses’ cell phones and, in at least one case, deleted them. Attorney Hans Reinhardt, representative of one of those affected, said that according to his client, the officials took his cell phone away, opened the file and deleted it. Everything happened very quickly, he was perplexed, according to the witness. From the lawyer’s point of view, not only is there an accusation of coercion, but also the suppression of documents.
A spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office said on Monday that the four police officers had not all commented on the matter. At least one said they would not provide any information about the case. According to his client’s description, the police officers referred to the protection of privacy, said attorney Reinhardt. But this is about evidence, not personal rights. “Otherwise you could never secure evidence,” said the lawyer. It is unclear how much of the operation was seen on the video.
The cause of death of the 39-year-old remained unclear even after the autopsy. The results of the toxicological tests are not yet fully available, said a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office on Monday.
An external specialist company was hired by the investigators to restore possibly deleted videos on the cell phones of the witnesses. At the same time, the investigators appealed to other witnesses of the operation to contact the Dortmund police. There, the investigations into the police operation in the Recklinghausen district are being conducted for reasons of neutrality – while at the same time the Recklinghausen police are investigating the case of a 16-year-old shot by police in Dortmund. This crossed responsibility had recently been criticized from various sides.
