WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - New video has been released showing a police officer throwing punches over and again at a man on the ground.
The officer has been accused of excessive force, and the video showed more than the punches.
The violent struggle between two West Palm Beach police officers and a suspect they were trying to arrest landed one of those officers on the other side of the law.
“Yes, I was shocked. That wasn’t called for. He jumped on my back and punched me in my face, knocked me to the ground and brutalized me. That wasn’t called for,” said John Monroque.
Investigators said the officer went too far when he punched Monroque in the head up to 11 times, then kneeled on his head to keep him under control.
“He is supposed to serve and protect the people, not destroy people’s lives,” said Monroque.
Officer Nicholas Lordi was called out to a grocery store on Nov. 1, 2019 to address a trespasser.
After a warning, Lordi tried to arrest the man.
Lordi and a second officer struggled to get him in handcuffs.
Surveillance video showed the three falling over.
Lordi is accused of using excessive force when he put Monroque in a headlock, punched him in the head and face several times and broke the 65-year-old’s nose.
“I’m very angry that after he did everything he did, he went on his phone and then put his knee on John’s head,” said Imoya Monroque, the sister of the victim, “when John was already looking like a dead man. That is what I’d like to ask him, why did he do it?”
A just-completed Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation showed that after Monroque was handcuffed, Lordi indeed placed his knee on Monroque’s head.
Investigators said Lordi eventually stopped hitting the victim when an unidentified person stepped in and blocked Lordi from striking the man.
“Being falsely charged, he went through that process and spent a lot of time in jail based on the false charges, and those things affected his record, affected his ability to find housing, affected his ability to find medical treatment,” said Sue-Ann Robinson, who is representing Monroque.
A photo showed what Monroque looked like after: bruised and bloodied.
He never hit back at the officers.
According to the West Palm Beach Police Department, they conducted an internal investigation, added that once more evidence surfaced that was when they got the FDLE more involved.
This week, the agency moved forward with charges against the officer.
The 34-year-old officer was arrested and appeared in court Wednesday.
“He’s served in the military. He’s done two tours of Afghanistan,” said Lordi’s lawyer.
“I think the most important thing right now is to make sure we see it through as a community to conviction,” said Robinson.
The Fraternal Order of Police in West Palm Beach stood beside Lordi and issued a statement that reads in part, “The actions he took in 2019 were fully justified. Officer Lordi feared for the life and safety of himself, his partner, and the public as a violent felon was trying to take an officer’s weapon.”
He is being charged with aggravated battery, a second-degree felony.
“There is an issue with violent police officers like officer Lordi, but the systemic issue goes back to a system that continues to support and gratify the behavior,” said Civil Rights Attorney Lee Merrit.
And while Monroque’s wounds may be healing slowly, his scars are deep.
“He has not even watched it since. It’s very difficult for him to even talk about it,” said Monroque’s sister.
Lordi was placed on administrative duty due to the outcome of the court case and has since bonded out of jail.
Monroque’s attorney said she would like to see the other officer who was in the surveillance video also charged in the case.
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