ORLANDO, Fla. — Channel 9 obtained exclusive video that shows an Orlando Police Department officer knee a handcuffed suspect in the stomach as he was turned around and about to sit down in his downtown holding cell.
The new video is at the center of yet another excessive force lawsuit against the department.
Officer Peter Delio is accused of kneeing 40-year-old Robert Liese so hard, that it ruptured the suspect's spleen, which then had to be removed.
Raw: Handcuffed suspect kneed by OPD officer (Short version)
Raw: Prisoner kneed by OPD officer (Full version)
Liese's attorney, William Ruffier, said they gave a statement to Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators a couple of weeks ago, calling Delio's actions outrageous.
The alleged excessive force happened in August after Liese had been arrested by OPD for leaving a bar without paying for his drink.
Liese's lawyer said after his client head-butted a holding cell window, Delio slammed Liese with a knee strike so forceful it not only ruptured Liese's spleen but an artery as well.
Video obtained by Channel 9 shows Liese slam his head against the door. He tells the officers he's going to sit down and turns around and heads for the bench. Before he can get there, Delio comes into the cell and says, "Let me help you," as he knees Liese in the stomach.
Delio then tells Liese to "stop resisting (expletive)," in which Liese responds, "I'm not resisting."
Delio and another officer then escort Leise out of the cell because he broke the window with his head.
"Let's go scumbag. You want to be a tough guy? Breaking (expletive) for no (expletive) reason? Let's go," Delio tells him.
The video shows Delio putting Liese into another holding cell, where Liese is panting and barely able to sit. Delio then ties Liese's ankles together.
"Understand if you stand up, you will fall, and we will not retrieve you," Delio tells him.
Liese can be heard groaning and is seen rolling onto the floor.
"He was bleeding internally and could have died," said Ruffier.
Ruffier said Liese was in the holding cell for two hours before OPD called paramedics. When EMT's arrived, another officer misled paramedics, steering them away from the abdomen, where Delio struck Liese. He said.
"What happened?" one medic asked.
"He said his chest hurts and apparently my partner said he used his head to break a window over there," the officer replied.
Ruffier said officers again lied when they got to the hospital.
"They told the hospital personnel that by history Mr. Liese was in a fight with the police officers and was injured in the chest," Ruffier said.
Liese's attorney told Channel 9 the city of Orlando is no longer representing Delio in the federal lawsuit. He believes the union is.
OPD has not returned Channel 9's calls for comment.
WFTV
