The following post consists of eyewitness video that was recorded by two sets of bystanders during an incident earlier this year. On that video, four Kentucky State Police Officers can be seen brutally beating Lewis Lyttle, a 65 year old man. It’s also quite apparent on that video that Lyttle was resisting physically in any way whatsoever at the time that he was attacked by these cops.
This video was sent anonymously to the family of Lewis Lyttle. His family then sent it to Southeast Kentucky Cop Block’s via their Facebook page, who in turn forwarded it to me in order to have it shared publicly to expose the violence and corruption of Tpr. Jimmy Halcomb, Sgt. Rob Farley, Detective Josh Howard and Detective Kevin Miller, the officers who can be seen on the video brutally beating Lyttle.
While the video stands on its on, the original Facebook post, as well as Mrs. Lyttle’s statement on behalf of the family, have been included below.
Text from Southeast Kentucky Cop Block Facebook Post:
On June 15, 2016, an elderly Virginia man, Mr. Lewis Lyttle, was brutally beaten by four Kentucky State Police Officers in the parking lot of Harlan Appalachian Regional Hospital.
That very evening, a partial video of that beating was posted on Facebook and went viral. When that video began, it showed the elderly man standing in the parking lot of the hospital with two uniformed KSP officers. The elderly man was for some odd reason, being uncuffed by Tpr. Jimmy Halcomb. The video then showed the other of the two uniformed officers, Sgt. Rob Farley (who was and remains a KSP supervisor) grabbing the old man by the beard and pulling the old man down to the ground face first by the beard while kneeing him in the groin area. At that point in the video, two plain clothed KSP detectives (later identified as Detective Josh Howard and Detective Kevin Miller) joined in as the old man was kicked and horribly assaulted as he lay helplessly on the ground.
On June 17, 2016, two days after the incident, a Federal Lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky, Southern Division in London. That suit named all four officers involved in the beating as Defendants stating the cause of action as multiple and various violations of the U.S. Constitution. Those violations included, among other things, the Fourth Amendment violation of excessive use of force.
This afternoon, Thursday, October 13, 2016, Cop Block was contacted by the wife of Lewis Lyttle on behalf of Lewis Lyttle’s family.
Mrs. Lyttle gave the following statement:
”We want to thank the organization of Cop Block for helping to bring the truth regarding the circumstances surrounding the horrible, unnecessary and inexcusable beating of Lewis by those KSP officers to the attention of the public. We also want to thank the countless people who have shown support for Lewis and our family since the incident. We want to extend a very special thank you to those many individuals who witnessed the beating personally and who have chosen to do the right thing by coming forth with statements. Many of those people have come forth with witness statements and are preparing to testify in court even though they fear retaliation and harassment from a few of the KSP officers.
This whole thing has taken a heavy toll on our family and been very difficult for us. Some people have said a lot of untrue and unkind things about my husband without knowing any of the facts about what happened that day and further basing their statements on terrible assumptions.
Our family would like to point out that almost 100 percent of those people saying those terrible and untrue things about Lewis have one significant thing in common. That one significant thing is that NONE OF THEM were even anywhere near the scene when the violent assault of my husband occurred. However, the fact that they did not hear or see ANYTHING that went on that day sure doesn’t stop them from giving there expert opinions of how wrong and bad Lewis was and how those KSP officers were only doing their jobs etc.
Today Lewis’ attorney turned over to the KSP officers’ attorneys, the first round of evidence in the federal case so far. Included in that information was a stack of 16 sworn to, signed, and notarized affidavits of individuals who ACTUALLY WERE THERE on the scene and personally observed the incident. All of those statements contend the officers absolutely did use excessive force.
Also, included in the information turned over to the KSP today were the names of nearly 20 individuals, all who were there personally when the incident occurred and all who are prepared to testify in court that at no time during the entire incident did Lewis Lyttle EVER attempt to punch, kick, spit on or otherwise try to assault any of those officers at any time. Of all those individuals, only one knew Lewis before the incident. The remainder of those witnesses did not know Lewis. Those are professional individuals who are highly credible in the community. None of them had any reason to lie for Lewis. They are only telling the truth because it is the right thing to do. Most of those witnesses were actually enraged at the way in which those officers beat my Lewis.
What I’d like people to understand also, I mean the side no one gets to hear or see is that Lewis is 68 years old and has never had a criminal conviction for anything in his entire life. He has a good deal of health issues including 8 metal pins in his leg. The same leg that detective Miller kicked several times and stood on according to the video and several eyewitnesses. Even before he took that beating, he had a great deal of trouble just trying to walk around. When those bully KSP officers beat my Lewis, they beat up a then 67 year old crippled man who couldn’t have hurt them even if he wanted to.
Also among the information released to the KSP today was a video that has never before been seen by the general public or the Defendant Officers. The video was taken on a cell phone by one of the many outraged on lookers. That witness released this video to Lewis’ attorney the day of the incident. I am releasing a segment of this video to Cop Block to post for the first time ever to be seen by the public. The video shows everything necessary to prove my Lewis did nothing to deserve or provoke the beating. It is my understanding the KSP officers who beat Lewis hasn’t seen it yet either. I think their attorneys will get it in the mail tomorrow.
The video shows he was sitting on his butt in the parking lot. He was handcuffed behind his back. His legs were outstretched in front of him, He was in no way trying to kick or hit any officer. In fact from his position it would have been just about impossible to do anything. I included a slow motion section in the video to show Lewis wasn’t trying to kick or anything when Sgt. Farley got out of his car, walked straight to Lewis and violently struck him in the left side of the head so hard that it sent Lewis’ upper body to the pavement.
The video shows how after Sgt. Farley struck Lewis to the ground he stuck his finger in Lewis’ face and wouldn’t even let Lewis raise up to a sitting position. The video shows how Sgt. Farley then violently jerks Lewis off the ground in a manner which I’m sure he wasn’t taught at the academy. Farley grabs Lewis by the cuffed arm which puts all Lewis’ weight on his arm and shoulder. That really hurt my Lewis!
The video then shows Tpr. Jimmy Halcomb Jr. unhandcuff Lewis and Sgt. Farley trying to provoke Lewis to fight. Multiple independent eyewitnesses have given sworn affidavits to that. It was clear to them Farley was purposely trying to get Lewis to fight. When Lewis didn’t take the bait and refused to fight, well, the first video that was posted on Facebook June 15, shows what happened then. I provided a copy of that video attached to the newly released video.
The previously released video starts where the newly released video ends. The two videos together show in detail the whole story. The newly released video was taken from one side of the parking lot and the previously released video was taken from the other side of the lot. You can hear what the two different groups of people (none of which even know Lewis Lyttle) around the two different cameras on the two different sides of the parking lot are saying about what was going on. “They slapped him for no reason”! etc, etc.
During the beating, at least one of the employees from Harlan ARH called KSP Post 10 in Harlan to get help for Lewis. Post 10 sent no one. Looking back I guess it was likely because all available units were already at Harlan ARH and busy beating on Lewis.
Our family has learned from witnesses that after the beating, KSP LT. Jason Adams came around asking people questions about what they saw. According to a number of the witnesses he contacted, LT. Adams seemed to spend as much time trying to inflame then against Lewis as he did investigating any wrongdoing surrounding the beating. He was by reports, however, consistent in mentioning how unbiased he was in his investigation.
One of the witnesses stated that Lt. Adams had commented that the old man didn’t even have a mark on him after the beating. Again, eyewitness testimony is going to contradict that. Lt. Adams alleged comment did inspire me, however, to attach to the end of the video clips I have provided to Cop Block, a small slide show of the pics that were taken when Lewis was in jail after his beating. Those pics are of some NOT ALL of the marks Lt. Adams allegedly claims Lewis did not have.
Some of Lewis’ injuries cannot be captured in a photo. After receiving the beating from the KSP officers, Lewis was lodged in the Harlan County Detention Center on multiple felony counts of assaulting a police officer before being bonded out after two and a half days. Upon getting released, Lewis had a CT scan performed which indicated he had received an injury severe enough to cause bleeding on his brain. The brain bleed was located directly under the area where Sgt. Rob Farley had struck him. Some of the photos in the slide show depict pooling of the blood under Lewis skin at the point of impact where Sgt. Farley struck him. Sgt. Farley may be guilty of felony assault. But, for now we are crossing one bridge at a time.
The last our family heard from the person who called Post 10 for help the day of the beating and who also initiated a complaint against the abusive officers, KSP Post 10 has yet to inform them whether any disciplinary action has been taken.
Once again, our family sincerely thanks all those who have supported Lewis during this terrible time. We ask that after you see the video if you feel the officers involved in the beating should be held accountable for their actions, that you call the office of KY Governor Matt Bevin and let his office know you want this looked into. The number is (502) 564-2611. Remember, the next person who takes a beating from these same officers could be you or your loved ones. Please share this link.”
Exclusive Eyewitness Video of Four Kentucky State Police Officers Beating 65 Year Old Lewis Lyttle is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights
