Cop Violently Assaults Man, Then Charges Him With Assault

by Steven Thomas
Cop Block
Sep. 15, 2015

Chris Barger is your average citizen. Except for a traffic ticket, Barger has never had any legal problems in his life. That all changed on September 7, when Barger was violently assaulted by a Purcell Police Officer. According to Barger, he was at an apartment complex, dropping off a friend when a police officer approached him. The officer shined his flashlight into Barger's car.

He begins to shine his light in my car window repeatedly, and after a while, I decided maybe I should get out of the vehicle and ask the officer what the problem is.

According to an eyewitness, the officer then pulled his gun and pointed it at Barger. Barger immediately raised his hands in the air (the universal sign of surrender). However, the officer charged him and placed Barger in a headlock. The witness also stated that Barger was screaming for help as the officer repeatedly punched him.

They were on the ground for a good two or three minutes, and the guy was screaming, 'Somebody help me, somebody help me, I don't know why you're doing this.

Barger stated that "By the time he threw me on the ground and hit me a couple times with his elbow, at that point, I was like, 'This isn't a police officer -- this is just some guy here to kill me'".

The police report stated that Barger knocked the officer's glasses off during the beating, so in true police fashion, the officer charged Barger with 'assault on a police officer'.Prosecutors dropped the assault charge, but then charged Barger with a misdemeanor charge of 'obstruction of justice'.

Barger also pointed out that his cellmates in jail helped tend to his facial injuries and that they were very supportive.

They brought me chairs and helped me sit down. They were better than the police were to me,” Barger said. “It's not the way it's supposed to be. The police are supposed to be the good guys.