A video has been posted to YouTube of a Philadelphia police officer beating a citizen
with his baton. The posting comes less than three weeks after fellow officer, Lt. Jona-
than Josey, made headlines after a video of him hitting a woman at a public event
was also put online.
This time, though, the YouTube video shows the citizen, identified as 43-year-old
John Scrivano, slapping the officer first.
A video has been posted to YouTube of a Philadelphia police officer beating a citi-
zen with his baton. The posting comes less than three weeks after fellow officer,
Lt. Jonathan Josey, made headlines after a video of him hitting a woman at a pub-
lic event was also put online. This time, though, the YouTube video shows the
citizen, identified as 43-year-old John Scrivano, slapping the officer first.
The incident above happened during Oktoberfest on South Street in Philadelphia
on September 29. Lt. Raymond Evers defended the officer to Philly.com, saying
“The guy was highly intoxicated. What do you want?” Evers billed it as “old news”
to Philly.com and is not releasing the officer’s name. The officer will be investi-
gated by Internal Affairs, but Evers told NBC10 that top brass in the department
say this officer was defending himself. He was not put on desk duty or repri-
manded for his actions. Scrivano’s girlfriend told NBC10 he was unconscious
when paramedics arrived. Josey was suspended for 30 days for his role in the
earlier incident, and the department intends to fire him. Police Commissioner
Charles Ramsey made it clear that he doesn’t want him back on the force.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter publicly apologized to the victim, Aida
Guzman, in the Lt. Josey case, saying he was appalled, angry and ashamed.
He said Josey violated his role as a public servant. “We’re here to serve
the people who hire us. We’re not over them or above them. We’re here
with them.”
