Former APD officer accused of dragging disabled man out of Target stands trial
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — It was a video that sparked outrage from the community: a man with disabilities being dragged out of a Target on Coors in August of 2022 for taking too long to pay for a bicycle at self checkout.
Video: Albuquerque Police officer charged for disabled man’s arrest
News 13 reported on the incident last year when the New Mexico Attorney General filed criminal charges against former Albuquerque Police Department (APD) Officer Kenneth Skeens.
Now, Skeens is facing several charges, including false imprisonment, battery, perjury, and making a false report of a violation of criminal code for his actions against Matthew McManus that day.
“Taking too long to pay for something isn’t a crime and there was no crime committed and that’s why he crossed the line. Even if he had authority to contact him from the Target employees, he did not have authority to drag the man out of the Target against his will and place him in handcuffs, demanding identification,” says Johnna Walker, prosecuting attorney in the case.
The state told the jury McManus had been at the self checkout for about 20 minutes trying to buy the bike with cash, and that he did have enough money to pay for it.
Former Albuquerque officer accused of excessive force to stand trial
The state argues Skeens pulled McManus out of that Target without the lawful authority to do so, and that he made false claims about the situation in his reports. The defense told the jury that Target had a history of bike thefts, and Skeens believed he had the right to remove the man from the premises.
“It all boils down to: did Skeens believe he had a lawful objective? Or was he some rogue cop after doing hundreds of these types of calls to pick on Mr. McManus and violate his civil rights?” asks John D’Amato, defense attorney for Skeens.
The state and a fellow responding APD Officer Gregory Radigan said police were never actually called out to the Target, but rather were actively patrolling and stopped when they saw a different man who appeared to be using drugs outside of the Target. Radigan says Skeens joined him and Officer Marcos Flores when they went inside and saw McManus.
McManus took the stand and told the jury how he was ‘jumped’ by police that day. “I got to the self checkout and got my money out and then all of sudden a lot of police people came and jumped on me and hurt me very bad and they were very brutal and they just kept hurting me,” McManus says.
The state says a Target employee did try to help McManus buy the bike before the situation escalated, and Officer Flores testified that one Target employee seemed confused by the escalation saying she said she thought McManus had enough money.
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Former officer Kenneth Skeens was also involved in the deadly shooting of Keshawn Thomas at a westside gas station in that same month.
