JOLIET, IL - A bystander recorded Joliet Police officers on video as they confronted a driver and smashed out the driver's side window of the man's car, then yanked the young man out of the car. The Friday night incident has been the buzz of social media over the weekend.

The video prompted Ernest Crim, a social studies teacher at Joliet Central High School, to compile a trio of the video snippets and post them to YouTube. The video was captured by Gemini Bass, a relative of one of the occupants of the car who was arrested.

The video posted on YouTube is headlined "Joliet Police Viciously Beat Man After Smashing Window."

"‪I came across an incident of police brutality in Joliet on Facebook and decided to compile 3 of the videos," Crim posted on Facebook over the weekend. "They show a Joliet officer attempt to arrest a man without probable cause, then proceed to smash his window, drag him out of his car and beat him viciously. This occurred on July 14th 2018 ..."

Crim said he plans to appear before the Joliet City Council on Tuesday night to address the council. Crim said he is seeing and hearing about an increasing number of instances of what he terms "police brutality" involving Joliet's Police Department. He believes it's time the city council and Mayor Bob O'Dekirk take a stand and seek repercussions for officers engaged in such behavior.

Crim said Friday night's traffic stop of the 21-year-old driver, Milton Travis, and his carload of friends appears questionable.

During the video, he is heard complaining that the city's police officers who pulled him over had no legitimate reason to do so.

Ernest Crim/File image

"We just want the officers to be held accountable for their actions," Crim told Patch. "It's happened before in Joliet, but we usually don't have video evidence or proof."

On Sunday afternoon, Joliet Patch requested the official news release the Joliet Police Department issued regarding the incident in question.

The official statement indicates patrol officers saw a silver Chevrolet Malibu "disobey a stop sign. The officers had to aggressively apply their brakes on their squad car to avoid making contact with the other vehicle. The officers activated their squad lights to make a traffic stop on the vehicle. The occupants in the vehicle disregarded the officer's lights and would not stop.

"The officers had to activate their siren and horn twice before the vehicle would comply with the traffic stop."

When the officers approached the car, they could not see inside "due to the heavy tint of the vehicle's windows. Officers told the driver of the vehicle to roll down his window all the way numerous times which Travis would not comply with. The officers then gave Travis a lawful order to exit his vehicle several times which Travis also would not comply with," the Joliet news release states.

According to police, Travis was notified the officers "would be forced to break his window and remove him from the vehicle to arrest him. Travis still would not comply with the officer's commands. Officers were forced to break the driver's side window to unlock the door to remove Travis from the vehicle."

Although the video shows the officer yanking the driver out of the car, the police news release states that "Travis resisted the officer's efforts to remove him from the vehicle, forcing the officers to increase their response to his resistance to the arrest. After a brief struggle, officers were able to place Travis into custody."

Travis, 21, of Joliet, was charged with obstructing a police officer and resisting a police officer. He was also cited for disobeying a stop sign and disobeying a police officer and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

Three others in his car were also charged with minor offenses as well. Maurice Bass, 23, of Joliet, was charged with resisting a police officer. Deandra Robinson, 19, of Joliet, was charged with resisting a police officer. A 16-year-old juvenile was charged with a curfew violation.

None of the four were jailed. Instead, Travis, Bass and Robinson were all booked at the station and released on a $1,500 I-bond. The teenager was turned over to a relative.

According to the Joliet Police Department, "as officers were trying to place Travis in custody, Bass and Robinson tried to intervene despite commands from officers to stop. Bass and Robinson were told they were under arrest. Bass had to be tazed in order for officers to place him into custody and gain his compliance. After a brief struggle, Robinson was also placed into custody. None of the subjects complained of any injuries, or requested medical treatment."

On Sunday night, Patch received information indicating that Travis suffered a broken hand.

You can view the video posted by Crim here. (Caution: Video contains foul language and screaming).

Images via YouTube, images of Milton Travis provided to Patch with permission to use

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