A Michigan State Police trooper, who Tasered a Detroit teen on an ATV shortly before the youth crashed his vehicle and died, has a history of excessive force, according to court documents obtained by the Detroit Free Press.

On Saturday evening, 15-year-old Damon Grimes died after crashing his four-wheeled, all-terrain vehicle into a pickup truck. Grimes crashed after MSP trooper Mark Bessner, who was trying to get him off the road during a chase, reached out the passenger window of his patrol car and shocked the teen with a Taser, according to a source familiar with the case. It's a violation of Michigan State Police policy to deploy a Taser from a moving vehicle.

Detroit police are investigating the incident and the subsequent death of the unarmed teen. Court records obtained by the Detroit Free Press, however, indicate that Bessner, who joined MSP's Metro Post in 2012 after serving 3 years with Canton Township Police Department, has a history of excessive force.

Read more

How problem cops stay on Michigan's streets

$50M lawsuit filed against Michigan State Police trooper in ATV Taser case

Since 2013, two different civil lawsuits, both involving Tasers, have been filed against the 43-year-old for excessive force.

The first, which was filed in 2013 in U.S. District Court in Detroit and settled a year later, alleges that Bessner "repeatedly struck" and "gratuitously kneed" an unarmed plaintiff, who was never charged with a crime.

The second case, filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in 2015, alleges that Bessner Tased the plaintiff on "multiple and continuous occasions with the specific intent of inflicting pain," including after the plaintiff was in handcuffs.

In the federal case, the incident happened in September 2013 when Martin McCurtis accompanied several individuals to Sinai Grace Hospital in Detroit. While there, Bessner and several other Michigan State Police troopers approached McCurtis.

According to the suit, Bessner and the other police officers violently tackled McCurtis.

The defendants did not observe plaintiff commit any crime," the lawsuit said.

Bessner, according to the suit, "repeatedly struck plaintiff’s body and gratuitously kneed him in his face and head multiple times as plaintiff was lying defenseless on the ground."

The complaint goes on to say that the other officers joined in on the attack, assaulting McCurtis, who was unarmed and posed no physical threat.

The officers then arrested McCurtis without a warrant or probable cause to believe he committed any crime, according to the complaint. McCurtis was then taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital to be treated for the wounds inflicted by the officers and then transported to the Detroit Detention Center.

While Bessner and the other police officers attempted to get a warrant from the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office against McCurtis for a felony charge of resisting and obstructing a police officer, the prosecutor's office denied the request.

McCurtis was eventually released several days later, never charged with any criminal offense.

The case was ultimately dismissed in October 2014 after Bessner and the other troopers decided to settle.

This wasn't the only time Bessner was accused of misconduct.

In Septemeber 2015, a case was filed against him, as well as three other Michigan State Police troopers, in Wayne Circuit Court.

According to the complaint, on the morning of Sept. 17, 2014, Bessner and another trooper attempted to pull over the plaintiff. Michael Crittle, after running his plates and seeing they didn't match the car.

When Crittle, then 56, did not slow down, two other troopers joined in the high-speed chase.

According to the complaint, when the troopers were able to stop Crittle, they broke his passenger window, Tased him in the vehicle, pulled him out the window, placed him in handcuffs while he was on the ground and then continued to Tase him "with the specific intent of inflicting pain."

When asked at a preliminary examination who administered the Taser, Bessner said, "I did," stating that he Tased Crittle four times and confirming that that final time was after Bessner was already in handcuffs.

"We placed him in handcuffs and he decided to try to kick me," Bessner stated, explaining why he Tased Crittle after he was already arrested.

Bessner also noted that the Crittle had complained that he had arm pain throughout the altercation — it was later discovered that Crittle's arm was broken during the incident.

As the complaint put it, the conduct of Bessner and the three other troopers was, "unjustified, unprovoked, grossly disproportionate" to that of Crittle's.

Ultimately, the case was dismissed without prejudice. Crittle never served Bessner and the other defendants with the complaint. This typically occurs when a case is settled outside of court.

Crittle's attorney in the case, Dionne E. Webster-Cox, could not be reached for comment.

Bessner, who graduated from the Wayne County Regional Police Academy in November 2008, earned a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University, a master's degree from University of Texas at Arlington, and his juris doctor at Ava Maria School of Law, according to March 2009 Canton Observer article, announcing his new employment with the Canton Township Police Department.

In October 2012 he graduated from MSP's 123rd Trooper Recruit School. His incident with McCurtis, which led to the first suit, came just one year after he joined MSP's Metro Post. The second incident with Crittle came a year after that.

A search of Bessner on Google shows that the trooper has also been publicly lauded over the years. In June he was honored by Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority for using Naloxone kits to save the lives of overdose victims.

When a reporter approached Bessner at his home in Grosse Pointe Farms this morning, the suspended trooper confirmed his identity but said "no comment" and shut the door, as soon as the reporter identified herself as being with the media.

Bessner said this before the reporter even explained why she was there. Bessner's Facebook page and Instagram are currently deleted.

On Wednesday evening Bessner's attorney Richard Convertino sent the Detroit Free Press the following statement.

"The death of Damon Grimes was tragic and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. On August 26th, Troopers attempted to stop Mr. Grimes who recklessly and dangerously drove an ATV as he actively resisted and evaded arrest. During the pursuit, Trooper Bessner was forced to make a split-second decision under circumstances on the scene and at the moment which was tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving. We are fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation and trust the investigators will assess the facts objectively in light of the totality of the circumstances.”

Contact Allie Gross: aegross@freepress.com