Police were prepared for problems at Kokopellis

FILE PHOTO OF COMMAND CENTER

On Friday night, hours before the riot broke out at Kokopellis, police had its Mobile Command Center set up on Fourth Street and had four extra patrolmen on duty, according to two sources whose information was confirmed by Capt. John Cooney.

The precautions, in place at 10 p.m. Friday, were on the count of police expecting a "large gathering" at the bar," said Cooney, the department spokesman. 

The question then becomes, if police were expecting problems, how did the situation deteriorate to the point where six officers ended up in Samaritan Hospital?

FACEBOOK PHOTO
OF DONLEY

Cooney said the command center and additional officers were outside when the call came in at approximately 2:45 a.m. Saturday about one of the bar’s employees being assaulted - but not inside the establishment. More than 200 people, and some say upwards towards 350, were attending a memorial service for Darzee Reid, a Troy man who was shot to death in Albany on April 18, 2013 by Leonard Spencer.

According to police, some officers went inside where they were punched, jumped on, had bottles thrown at them, sprayed with pepper spray and at one point a patron sprayed a fire extinguisher. Outside, someone threw a garbage can through the window of a police cruiser and other police agencies were called in to assist.

According to Channel 13, the bar’s owner, Dr. Barry Glick, claims the crowd was civil until police entered and tried to arrest 25-year-old Roshawon Donley for assaulting the employee. A video taken from surveillance cameras inside the bar, and televised by Channel 13, seems to back up Glick’s claim that all hell broke loose after the officers entered and the fire extinguisher was sprayed into the crowd.

It’s shortly after that, according to Channel 13’s account of what transpired, the explosive video shot by someone using a cell phone picks up the action. That 44-second clip can be seen below.

In all, five other people were placed under arrest but at the time of this writing none of them were charged with assault – which is why the police were initially called - or any drug related offense. The alleged assault on the employee reportedly occurred when he tried to stop patrons from smoking pot.

Other questions that no one seems to have an answer to:

-Again, how did police allow the situation get so far out of control if they were expecting problems? Was it the commanding officer at the time or the guys in the field who screwed up? I don’t say that lightly, but when six officers end up in the hospital, someone screwed something up.

-Cooney is quoted as saying police used appropriate force while arresting Donley, but how do they explain the 44-second video clip? Also, how did Donely get the black eyes if appropriate force allows officers to hit a suspect in the body’s larger muscles but not the head? I’m told the injuries seen in the video came during the alleged fight with the employee but who knows?

-Why isn’t the fact everyone carries a cell phone, and every cell phone can take a video taught at the police academy?

-Will the administration and/or Council, stand by the cops involved or throw them to the wolves? At this point in time I would be surprised, and disappointed, if they didn’t back up the officers pending a thorough investigation.  

-I did reach out to Donley’s cousin in the hopes of talking to him and the cousin, who goes by the Facebook name of Quanto Quanloo, told me Donley isn’t talking until he confers with an attorney. The next logical question is how much is the civil suit going to be worth?

-How bad will race relations get in Troy? There are already a number of inflammatory comments on Facebook, some of which have been taken down? I don’t think race had anything to do with it but anyone want in on a pool guessing when Rev. Willie Bacote will hold a “march for peace?” There is a rally slated for 6 p.m. Monday in front of the Missing Link Zion Church at 101st Street and Fifth Avenue.