Shop

On July 27, 2017, Johnny Wheatcroft was a passenger in a silver Ford Taurus when a pair of Glendale police officers pulled in front of the care in a Motel 6 parking lot. The stop was for an alleged turn signal violation.

Minutes later, Wheatcroft was handcuffed lying face down on the hot asphalt on a 108-degree day. He'd already been tasered 10 times, with one officer kneeling on his back as another, Officer Matt Schneider, twice kicked him in the groin and pulled down his athletic shorts to taser him a final time in his testicles. The scene was witnessed by his 11- and 6-year-old sons.

Multiple independent law enforcement experts said the officers’ conduct was unlawful, criminal, and one of the cruelest and most sadistic cases of police misconduct they’ve ever seen. ABC15's ongoing Abuse of Force investigation deeply examined the troubling incident, revealed others, and exposed a corrupted culture inside a local police department that works to protect officers and mislead the public.