Homeless Man Claims He Was Beatened By Law Enforcement Officers

Jackie Dowd blogs about a potentially disturbing case of police brutality.

A homeless man says two Bradenton police officers drove him behind a shopping plaza, beat him up and dumped him into a ditch with a stern warning: Stay out of the city.

Jose del Angel, a 32-year-old day laborer, flagged down a Manatee County Sheriff's deputy after the beating and recounted the story in an affidavit. As a result, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office has opened a criminal investigation.

Some of the story has been confirmed.

One of the Bradenton officers acknowledges driving del Angel out of the city, but he said he didn't beat the man, according to the Sheriff's Office.

no investigation was launched two weeks after del Angel filed his complaint. The two officers are Jeff Cox and Dean Buttitta.

There is public documentation that del Angel was assaulted. The question is was it the officers.

On the night of July 12, when Buttitta drove del Angel out of the city, paramedics said del Angel was bleeding from his mouth and was complaining of abdominal pain after flagging down a deputy for help.

He was taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital. Authorities said del Angel, who has been charged with public drinking numerous times in recent years, was drunk, and a test confirmed that.

Captain Russell Tibbitts believes the investigation will clear the officers. I'm not sure if del Angel was assaulted by the officers. I do know how the investigation will end. It's the word of a homeless man vs two law police officers. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how this will end.