By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A police officer charged with using excessive force to restrain an Iraq war veteran in the lobby of his own apartment building was acquitted on all five counts of assault and falsifying records charges on Monday.
The officer, David London, 45, was seen on surveillance video striking the then 28-year-old former soldier Walter Harvin, who shoved and cursed at the officer when asked for identification at his West 93rd Street public housing building.
London beat Harvin 15 to 20 times with his night stick at about 1 a.m. in July 2008, including several times after Harvin was already handcuffed and on the ground, surveillance video presented to the jury showed.
A Manhattan jury agreed with the officer's claim that the force used against Harvin was necessary to maintain control.
London was also charged with falsifying records for allegedly signing off on a false criminal complaint. On the stand, London argued that the incorrect complaint was drafted by the DA's office and he was not responsible for its contents.
As the "not guilty" verdict was read, the officer, his family members and other supporters cried and embraced.
"I'd like to thank God and my family," London said as he walked out of the courthouse.
Harvin's family was livid about the verdict.
"You go serve your country and you come back to get beat," Harvin's uncle, Earl Jones, 55.
"He's handcuffed and that bastard beats him with a stick," said Cora Page, Harvin's mother.
Page, 46, said she was shocked that the jurors ignored what they saw on the evidence video.
The verdict is an injustice akin to the acquittal of the officers responsible for Sean Bell's death, the indignant mother said.
"If they got away with Sean Bell he was going to get away with this," she said. "Anyone else would have been in jail with no bail."
Prosecutors could not locate Harvin to testify at London's week-long trial. Jurors relied on the video and testimony from several witness.
Page and the other family members said they do not know Harvin's exact whereabouts, only that he was roaming the country, staying at various veterans hospitals.
The alleged abuse only worsened Harvin's post-traumatic stress symptoms, his family said.
Rookie police officer Patrick Pogan, facing similar charges after he was caught on video shoving a Critical Mass cyclist to the ground during a group ride through Times Square, was acquitted on assault charges but found guilty in April of falsifying records, a felony. He faces up to four years in prison when he is sentenced on July 14.
