Dwayne Ivery Severely Beaten by RPD in his Backyard
On August 17, 2013, around 10:30PM, Dwayne Ivery wasn't expecting a severe beating meted out by Rochester Police Department officer Alexander C. Baldauf (white, 26 years old), but that's exactly what he got: a fractured nose, seven large, throbbing knots on his face and head, a bone fracture or bone chip in his right elbow, eyes swollen shut, beat into unconsciousness twice, kicks to the back of the neck, and a stomped face while his shirt was over his head and he was handcuffed. All this while another officer, who was African American, remained silent as the pummeling was occurring.
Earlier in the evening, there was a domestic dispute between Ivery and his girlfriend. The police were called. The surveillance video, from Ivery's house on East Main St. near the bus terminal, shows the two working together carrying items from her car to his truck. After the police arrived and found out what was going on, things remained calm and Ivery and his girlfriend continued to move his belongings to his truck.
According to Ivery, he owns the truck where the belongings were being put, but it's registered in her name. She told the officers that she wanted the license plates from the truck. The video shows her and officer Baldauf going to the front of the truck and removing the plates as Ivery was behind the truck speaking with the African American officer. The officer he was speaking with said it would be OK for him to get his TVs from her home. He told the officer, “Cool,” and proceeded to walk calmly toward his girlfriend and officer Baldauf in front of the truck.
Ivery asked officer Baldauf, “Is it alright for one of you guys to go with me and get my TVs?”
Officer Baldauf stood up and told him, “I thought I told you not to saying anything!”
At this point, Ivery said, “What?” somewhat incredulously as officer Baldauf grabbed his hand. According to Ivery, no such warning had been issued before. He pulled his hand away from the officer and moved away toward the backyard. The officer gave chase, landing a punch across Ivery's face sending him down. Baldauf jumped on top of him and began violently punching Ivery in the face and head. As this was happening, the African American officer also jumped on Ivery and locked him in handcuffs before stepping back. During the initial attack, his shirt got half way over his head and blinded him. As he was being punched and kicked, he went unconscious, twice. When he woke the after the second time, officer Baldauf had his boot on the side of Ivery face crushing down. Ivery screamed. He knew the other officer was around and called out.
“Why are you letting his happen?!” Ivery screamed at the African American officer who was near by and silent.
He said he heard his girlfriend in the background screaming for the officers to stop hurting him.
Weakly, the officer said, “Alright, alright, that's enough,” to officer Baldauf who stopped beating Ivery after a few more punches.
Ivery was arrested and charged with harassment in the 2nd degree and resisting arrest. He was initially taken to Rochester General Hospital at the insistence of the sergeant who arrived later and was then taken to jail after he repeatedly said he did not like the treatment he was getting. He was booked around 1:00AM and bailed out around 3:00AM. Later that day, August 18, he went to Strong Memorial Hospital.
Because of the attack, Ivery is in an arm brace and wears sunglasses because his eyes are so sensitive to light due to head trauma. He also has near fainting spells and gets dizzy and tired often. He is currently seeing a neurologist.
His next court date is September 24, 2013 in Judge Rainbow Morse's court at 1:30PM.
Enough is enough.
