OKLAHOMA CITY (January 30, 8:24 p.m. PST) - A prosecutor said Thursday he
will not bring charges against two police officers who hit a man repeatedly
with their batons in an arrest caught on videotape last summer.
Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane said the force used against
Donald Pete was "not excessive under the law but rather, was completely
appropriate."
Officers Greg Driskill and E.J. Dyer approached Pete on July 8 after an
anti-prostitution activist called police about a couple having sex in a van
in a church parking lot.
The activist's videotape of the arrest showed the two white officers
striking Pete, who is black, more than two dozen times. The footage was
broadcast on TV news shows nationwide.
Pete has filed a lawsuit seeking $7.7 million in damages. His attorney,
Roland Combs III, said he had anticipated Lane's decision.
"It's a sad day in Oklahoma City," Combs said.
Roosevelt Milton, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, said the
prosecutor's decision not to file charges "adds to the hopelessness and
helplessness people feel with interacting with the police department."
Earlier this month, federal prosecutors decided against bringing civil
rights charges against the officers.
Pete, 51, pleaded no contest in October to charges of destroying evidence,
engaging in a lewd act and resisting arrest in October.
Driskill said Pete tried to eat a bag of marijuana, apparently to get rid
of evidence.
