Sixty-four-year-old John Monroque was arrested back in November of 2019 and was left with a battered and bloody face, which can be seen clearly in his mugshot taken from that very night.
Monroque says he’s disabled, but used to work for the City of West Palm Beach until he hurt his back. Since then, he’s helped the owners of Food Plus from time to time.
Monroque has known the owners of Food Plus market in West Palm Beach for years.
However, on Nov. 1, 2019, everything changed.
According to Monroque, he went back to the market to get some cigarettes for a friend and was stunned when one of the owner’s sons called the police.
Monroque described the moment two West Palm Beach Police officers arrived. “When the police walked in, he told the police, ‘I don’t even know,’” and I said, ‘What did I do?’”
Two officers responded. They asked him for his ID, and while they were running it, Monroque and an officer were left alone. According to Monroque, he was upset police were even called in the first place.
“I’m a good person,” says Monroque.
Then, Monroque went up to the officer to ask for his ID back. “I go, ‘How long are you going to keep my ID for?’” he recalls.
That’s when the unexpected happened.
“He got behind me and jumped on my back, punched me in my face, and then slammed me on top of the car,” says Monroque.
In police body camera video, Monroque’s back is turned away from the officer. Monroque says not only was he not resisting, but he didn’t even see the officer coming.
