Cop Testifies About Pre-Beatdown Shooting

INQUIRER: “I saw the muzzle flash . . . and heard 8 to 10 shots in rapid succession,” Buitrago said. Despite the late hour, the undercover officer said he could clearly see the gunman and his friends, lit by a streetlamp. “I could see their faces and the whites of their eyes and their lips moving,” he said. Dyches, Hall, and Hopkins ran back to the parked Marquis as two other men darted into a nearby alleyway, he said. Buitrago said he immediately sent out a radio “flash” alerting nearby officers to the shooting and the descriptions of the men. Minutes later, after a 2-1/2 mile pursuit by unmarked and marked police cars, the Marquis came to a stop at Second and Pike Streets. Uniformed officers dragged Dyches, Hall, and Hopkins from the vehicle, and kicked and battered them as a Fox29 news helicopter taped it from above. That video resulted in the firing of four officers and the demotion of four others. MORE