NEW YORK – A jury found a photography student not guilty\nof harassment and resisting arrest, but guilty of disorderly conduct\nin April after he says he was beaten, arrested and then had his\nfilm confiscated by police in May 1998.
Paul Estabrook, a fine arts photography major at Rochester\nInstitute of Technology and occasional free-lance photographer,\nwas standing on the front lawn of his apartment last May when\npolice were called in to break up a loud party next door. When\npolice began making arrests, Estabrook seized a photo opportunity.\nHe set up his tripod eight feet away from a police car, in which\ntwo arrested suspects sat in the back seat, and began snapping\npictures.
“A police officer told him to go home,” said Estabrook’s\nfather, Paul Estabrook Sr., “and then in only a few seconds,\nPaul was beaten to the ground by seven officers.”
Estabrook Sr. also said a police officer repeatedly hit his\nson’s hand with a flashlight, which required a trip to the emergency\nroom. His shirt and necklace were ripped off, and an officer jumped\non him, with his knee landing on Estabrook’s back, according to\nhis father.
Estabrook was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct,\nresisting arrest and harassment. According to Estabrook Sr.,\nthe police confiscated his film and then told him later they misplaced\nthe film and could not find it.
Rochester Institute of Technology expelled Estabrook, who now\nattends Virginia Intermont College, two days before his last final\nexam of the semester because of the incident.
Estabrook Sr., who has set up a Web page on behalf of his son\nasking for the public’s support, says he and his family plan to\ncontact the FBI to investigate the arresting officer from a civil\nrights perspective, because Estabrook is Korean-American.
View Estabrook’s Web page at http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Theater/8756/