Man wrongly jailed for 15 months until this video proved cop had lied

Ronald Jones / WFAA news 8 screenshotThe Daily Caller – by Robby Soave

A wrongly imprisoned Dallas man, who just won his $1.1 million lawsuit against the city, would still be in jail if not for the discovery of video evidence, which proved that his arresting officer had attacked him and lied about it.

In December of 2009, Dallas police Officer Matthew Antkowiak was dispatched to break up a fight between two white men. But on his way to the scene, he saw a black man, 62-year-old Ronald Jones, crossing the street. Antkowiak claimed that Jones was throwing beer bottles. He stopped his car and approached Jones. According to the officer, Jones tried to choke him, provoking a fight that lasted until other officers arrived.   

Jones was arrested on assault charges and spent the next 15 months in prison, according to WFAA News 8.

The only problem? Antkowiak’s account was a complete lie — and eventually, footage from police dashboard cameras disproved it.

It was Antkowiak who choked Jones, without any provocation. When police arrived on scene, they began beating and kicking Jones, who begged for help. 

After seeing the video evidence, prosecutors dropped all charges against Jones. The police department eventually launched an investigation that resulted in Antkowiak resigning. The others officers involved were all cleared of wrongdoing.

For his 15 months in prison, Jones received a $1.1 million settlement.

“Had the videos not surfaced, it’s likely that Mr. Jones would have been convicted of this and served a very long prison sentence,” said his lawyer, Don Tittle, in a statement. “He spent 15 months in jail for something he clearly didn’t do. I doubt money would make up for that.”

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Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/04/02/man-wrongly-jailed-for-15-months-until-this-video-proved-cop-had-lied/#ixzz2xpRYKStR

6 thoughts on “Man wrongly jailed for 15 months until this video proved cop had lied

  1. That pig should be charged with assault and battery! If that was any one of us, we’d be in the “slammer”.

  2. @Millard I agree, charges should be filed against him and he should spend some time in jail for assault these cops are not and should not be held above the law this goes for the other officers involved too, also I would file a civil suit against each officer involved.

  3. Why aren`t these pigs in prison for assault and battery, false imprisonment could be included as well. Yea, why should cops – or any govt. employee for that matter – change when they know that they will never be held accountable.

    1. lets hope they will be held accountable when the time comes to do so,,(if you catch my drift)
      if that were my family member I would have a list.
      sucks that we would have to wait that long, but sometimes the wait is worth every minute.
      these C-suckers days are numbered with the where this world is headed

      and the same group that stands there and watches , will be the same group that stands there and watches as the retribution is payed out

  4. the fact that the city that this happened in isnt doing something about it , lays blame on all the government and those in it , of that city. they are all players in a corrupt system that allowed and supports murder

    remember, for all these killings by cop.., murder has no statute of limitations..when the time comes we the people will hand out their sentancing

    swift and hard

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