FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CR MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1996 (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICER INDICTED FOR USING EXCESSIVE FORCE WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Minneapolis police officer who allegedly punched handcuffed detainees was charged today with civil rights violations, the Justice Department announced. Officer Anthony Michael Barragan of the Minneapolis Police Department was charged in U.S. District Court in Minnesota with two felony counts of using excessive force while acting under the color of law. The charges stem from two incidents that occurred in November of 1995. According to the indictment, on November 24, Officer Barragan and his partner arrested Stonewall Jackson Drain, a resident of a transitional group home. A video camera at the group home shows that after handcuffing Drain, Officer Barragan punched and kicked him. The indictment also alleged that earlier that month, on November 7, Barragan and another partner arrested a man in the alley behind a Minneapolis apartment complex and placed him in the back seat of his patrol car. Barragan allegedly punched the man, again after he had been handcuffed. If convicted, Barragan faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Today's case is being jointly prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota together with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. # # # 96-595