By RICHARD C. LEWIS
Associated Press Writer
PROVIDENCE, R.I.- An FBI-led investigation concluded that Providence police did not use excessive force against a man who appeared in court badly bruised, bleeding and swollen after he was accused of killing a detective at police headquarters.
Esteban Carpio, 26, had blood oozing from the plastic spit shield he was wearing when he appeared in court. His family complained he was a victim of police brutality.
But Kenneth Kaiser, the agent in charge of the Boston FBI office, said Tuesday that a monthlong review of the department’s handling of the case found no civil rights violations.
Law enforcement officials said Carpio hurt himself jumping from a third-story window after he fatally shot Detective Sgt. James Allen with his service weapon on April 17. Officers later tackled Carpio when he resisted arrest, officials said.
“If he’s fighting police officers, the officers have a right to use whatever means necessary to subdue the suspect,” Kaiser said in a news conference with local and state police. “From personal experience, I think the police officers and correctional officers used amazing restraint with Mr. Carpio.”
Kaiser said a woman who called a cab for Carpio soon after he jumped from the building told investigators he was bleeding from his hand and face and that his forehead was dented. And when officers caught up with him a few blocks away, he tried to escape and resisted handcuffing, Kaiser said.
“He was punched in the face to get him back down on the ground,” Kaiser said.
Police Chief Dean Esserman said the officers tackled Carpio and did not use night sticks or any other weapons during the struggle.
When Carpio appeared in court the next day, badly bruised and bleeding, the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons called on the FBI to investigate.
A panel led by the FBI and including members of the state and Providence police conducted the probe. Carpio’s family declined to talk directly with investigators, instead referring questions to their lawyers.
NAACP officials were briefed on the findings earlier Tuesday, Kaiser said.