While a police K-9 tore into Frank Baker's shin, St. Paul officer Brett Palkowitsch kicked him in the ribs twice, breaking them. Then he kicked him again, and act that evoked "disgust and anger," one of his colleagues at the scene would go on to testify in federal court.
A jury heard opening statements Wednesday morning in a trial in St. Paul that will determine if Palkowitsch should be held criminally liable for violating Baker's civil rights, or if the officer was justified in using force to bring what he believed to be a dangerous suspect into compliance.
The case, stemming from the June 2016 arrest, marks a rare example of a police officer being charged criminally for using force on duty. Along with graphic squad car dashcam footage which captured the incident, much of federal prosecutors' case relies on the testimony of Palkowitsch's colleagues, including two officers who have since left the department.
Palkowitsch, 32, was indicted in January on one count of deprivation of rights in connection with the incident, which left Baker with seven broken ribs and two collapsed lungs. The city settled a lawsuit with Baker for a record $2 million. Palkowitsch remains on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case. Chief Todd Axtell fired Palkowitsch, going beyond the discipline recommended by the Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission, but by law had to rehire him after an arbitrator ruled in 2017 that he should get his job back.
On June 24, St. Paul officers responded to an unnamed 911 caller reporting of a violent street fight near an apartment building on St. Paul's East Side. The caller said one man, who he described as African-American with dread locks and a white T-shirt, was carrying a gun. Baker matched the description but was unarmed and not involved.
Officers Joseph Dick and Anthony Spencer, both of whom have left the department, were the first to arrive on scene. They found no evidence of a violent mob, which Dick reported back to dispatch and the other squads en route. They saw Baker in a white Jeep in a parking lot nearby, but didn't deem him a threat.
Dick, who now works for the FBI, testified that he didn't like Palkowitsch's policing style, and he'd seen Palkowitsch escalate situations in the past. When he arrived on scene and saw no mob, Dick said, he made sure to report to dispatch promptly because he knew Palkowitsch was en route.
Dick told the court he felt "disgust and anger" after seeing Palkowitsch repeatedly kick Baker, in what he described as unjustified use of force.
