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2 Former Bridgeport Cops Get 3 Months In Prison For Beating Man In Arrest

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Two former Bridgeport police officers were sentenced to three months in prison Thursday in Bridgeport federal court for violating an individual’s civil rights by using unreasonable force during an arrest, according to U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, Deirdre M. Daly.  

Two former Bridgeport cops were sentenced to three months in prison for use of excessive force.

Photo Credit: Youtube

U.S. District Judge Jeffery Alker Meyer also sentenced both Elson Morales, 43, and Joseph Lawlor, 41, to six months of supervised release in the case, which was captured on cellphone video and went viral on YouTube.

“The use of unreasonable force is illegal,” Daly said in a statement. “When a police officer uses unreasonable force, he both violates the victim’s civil rights and undermines the community’s trust in law enforcement. 

"The vast majority of Bridgeport Police Department members, and all law enforcement officers, are public servants who dedicate their lives to protecting the public. However, any police officer who crosses the line during an arrest risks federal prosecution and, as this case demonstrates, incarceration.”

According to court documents and statements made in court, officers Morales and Lawlor engaged in a high speed chase of a van driven by an individual who was suspected of having a firearm and had failed to stop at traffic stop on May 20, 2011.

After a further foot pursuit in Beardsley Park in Bridgeport, the individual was apprehended by Morales, who used his department-issued Taser on the suspect.

Even though the suspect was on the ground and incapacitated by the use of the Taser, Morales deployed the Taser a second time and Lawlor kicked the individual several times.

Morales and Lawlor pleaded guilty on June 10, 2014, to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law.

Both have resigned from the Bridgeport Police Department.

The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anastasia E. King and David E. Novick.

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