Last August, 40-year-old Robert Liese exited a local bar without paying for his drink and was subsequently arrested by Orlando police. While in a holding cell following his arrest, Liese, appearing inebriated, headbutted the holding cell’s window, damaging it. In the above-embedded raw video of the incident provided by WFTV, Orlando Police Department Officer Peter Delio, rather than simply charging Liese with an additional crime for destroying property, appears to respond by taking it upon himself to dish out a punishment instead, viciously kneeing Liese, who was bound by handcuffs, in the stomach. Following the incident, Liese was hospitalized with a ruptured spleen, which had to be removed.
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William Ruffier, an attorney who is representing Liese in a federal excessive force lawsuit, noted that the MMA-style knee strike also damaged an artery and said in comments to WFTV, “He was bleeding internally and could have died.” According to The Orlando Sentinel, Liese was charged with and pleaded guilty to defrauding an innkeeper, criminal mischief, and resisting an officer without violence. Liese’s excessive force lawsuit seeks over $75,000 in damages.
Video shows OPD officer knee cuffed suspect in stomach; Ruptured spleen removed
