Accusations of Excessive Force

It was before midnight on Friday when two men said they were walking home along West 5th Street when they were confronted by Erie Police. 

"We just seen a car coming up Cherry (Street) with no lights on, so we ran across the street, and as we get across the street, the car run up to us, (police officers) stop us, tell us to get up against the fence, they want to know our names," said a man who only wants to be identified as "Raymond." 

"Raymond's" companion's name is Jeffrey Rosendary.  Rosendary is currently in police custody on drug-related charges.  When the police approached the two men, neighbors said the noise caught their attention.

"I came out the door and there were two gentlemen detained on the edge of my stoop here," said Michelle Harkins of West 5th Street.  "The policemen kept asking the one gentleman where he was going and what he was doing.  He said, 'I'm trying to get home.' The policeman told him, 'No, you're going to jail,' and started punching him hard, like a street fight," she added.

Harkins said police threw Rosendary into a fence on the edge of her property, knocking the fence down. 

"They slammed him on the ground, and had his head rammed into the fence," Harkins said.  "And when he kind of fought his way to where he could stand back up, they slammed him into the fence and started punching him some more," she said. 

Another witness who did not want to be named said he thinks police were out of line. 

"He (Rosendary) wasn't trying to fight back, after they had him down, he was trying to get up, and they were just choking and hitting him, choking and hitting him.  They were wrong," he said. 

Action News 24 tried to talk to Erie Police about the events.  They confirmed that Rosendary had been taken into custody.  But they would not comment on any other accusations.