Police violence in Bergheim | Man badly beaten and crime covered up: police officers in court

This Monday the trial begins in Cologne against two police officers who seriously mistreated a man in Bergheim. According to the prosecution, in order to cover it up, they wrote a complaint about resistance against the victim. Photo: dpa/Oliver Berg The prosecution of police violence often comes to nothing because the victims cannot prove the crime, the perpetrators respond with counter-complaints or agree with each other. They are often only persecuted if someone has taken a video of them. Such an attack is now being negotiated in Cologne. The brutality and cold-bloodedness of the police officers at the station in question in Bergheim is shocking - which is why the case is being heard in the regional court from the start.

Two officers, 28 and 40 years old, who worked at the district police authority in the Rhein-Erft district are sitting in the dock. The public prosecutor's office accuses them of intentionally and sometimes dangerously injuring a 40-year-old who was very drunk and had previously argued with his wife. In addition to bodily harm in office, the charges also include deprivation of liberty and persecution of an innocent person.

The Bergheim district court was actually supposed to hear the case, but because of its implications, it referred the case to the responsible regional court in Cologne.

On the afternoon of December 23, 2024, the two police officers went to the Zieverich residential park not far from their station. There they met the later victim and initially sent him off. The man later confirmed to the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” that he had not complied with the request. The police immediately took violent action against him.

According to the prosecution, the younger police officer sprayed irritant gas in the direction of his face - even though the man had not attacked anyone and there was no reason to fear this. He then pulled out the baton, hit the victim with it and also kicked her several times. The man staggered backwards and fell. Both police officers pulled him back to his feet, the younger one hit him several times with his stick and the man fell again.

The older police officer also pushed the man's head down and hit him with the pepper spray can. The container burst, leaving the perpetrator and victim standing in the irritating gas mist.

The police then wanted to cover up their violence, according to the public prosecutor. The 28-year-old, in consultation with his 40-year-old colleague, wrote a complaint against the man for resisting law enforcement officers. With the help of this complaint, the police officers are said to have had the responsible investigating judge take a blood sample. In this way they got the judge to have the man taken into custody for one night.

The crime only became known because a neighbor caught it on camera without the police noticing and posted it online. It shows that the officers are gesturing in front of the man and he is stretching out his arms, apparently to appease them. Then he stumbles backwards and falls into a bicycle after a strong kick.

In addition to the beating attack, the blow with the stimulus gas can is also clearly visible on the video. The victim sustained several injuries, including a laceration to the head.

After the Christmas 2024 video circulated on the Internet, the district police authority began internal investigations, and criminal proceedings later followed. “For reasons of neutrality,” as is usual with the police, a neighboring police department, in this case from Cologne, investigated.

The guard in Bergheim also opened disciplinary proceedings. It was not until February 4, 2025 that the authorities temporarily released both police officers from duty. Both have now been suspended.

Sentences for excessive police violence almost always remain below the threshold of twelve months in prison. Only then does the civil service relationship end automatically and the perpetrators have to leave the police service - even if the sentence is suspended. The verdict in the Bergheim case is scheduled to be announced on Wednesday.

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