Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Watch: Trooper dives into car during traffic stop in South Boston
"The trooper dives head first in the car of his own volition. That's a little over the top for an equipment violation," the driver's lawyer said.
A State Police trooper dove headfirst into a car window after pulling over a Boston city worker last month who is now facing weapon and assault charges.
Nasiru Ibrahim, 25, was pulled over on Old Colony Avenue in South Boston for having tinted windows, according to a police report.
He pleaded not guilty July 31 to a dozen charges, including possessing a machine gun and a large capacity feeding device, as well as assault and battery on a trooper and with a dangerous weapon. He is also facing additional charges for allegedly resisting arrest, having no inspection sticker, and for obstructed windows.
Advertisement:
According to the report, Ibrahim told trooper Matthew Hickey he was on his way home from work with the City of Boston. Ibrahim’s lawyer, Peter Marano, told Boston.com he works in the Property Management Department in the graffiti removal division.
A spokesperson for the City of Boston said Ibrahim was put on unpaid administration leave “immediately after the City became aware of the allegations against him.”
Hickey saw a backpack on the floor of the front seat of the car and detected “the odor of raw marijuana,” according to the police report.
“Ibrahim’s behavior became noticeably more unusual than that of a typical traffic stop. He was overly fidgety, his hands were trembling, he cracked a nervous smile, and his eyes were darting rapidly,” Hickey wrote in the report.
Advertisement:
When the trooper asked to feel the backpack, Ibrahim allegedly yanked it away and placed the vehicle in drive. In video from the cruiser, brake lights flash and the car jostles during an apparent struggle. Hickey then dives into the car, and his feet fly up.
The trooper’s body camera recorded him telling Ibrahim “stop,” “you’re going to make it worse,” and “you’re going to f–ing kill somebody, dude.”
“Okay, sir,” Ibrahim says multiple times before what sounds like a taser goes off. A man grunts, and the two-minute clip ends.
“I dove headfirst into the vehicle and began pleading with Ibrahim: ‘Stop! Stop, dude! You’re going to make this worse,’” Hickey wrote in the report. He said Ibrahim allegedly continued to place the vehicle back to drive. “I was fully inside the vehicle and feared for my life.”
Later, troopers found “nothing of note” in the backpack, police said, but allegedly found a Glock semi-automatic pistol, a Glock switch, and ammunition wrapped in a sweatshirt with his work logo on it elsewhere in the car, the report said.
“The purported reason the trooper’s pulling over is for an equipment violation, tinted windows, so the questioning into what was in his bag, which turned out to be nothing,” Marano said, “(so) the whole stop is on very shaky constitutional grounds.”
Advertisement:
The car doesn’t belong to Ibrahim, Marano said, and Ibrahim didn’t move towards the alleged gun during the struggle.
When in the vehicle, Hickey tased Ibrahim, who then allegedly used the taser on the trooper, the report said. Hickey punched Ibrahim twice in the face and “fish-hooked” his mouth, the report said. Ibrahim was then pulled out of the passenger side door, according to the cruiser footage, and arrested.
“The trooper dives head first in the car of his own volition. That’s kind of a little over the top for an equipment violation,” Marano said.
Ibrahim pleaded not guilty in South Boston court July 31 and was committed to Suffolk County Jail.
Massachusetts State Police referred inquires to prosecutors, who declined to comment.
Watch the full videos here:
Watch the view from the cruiser below:
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com