Sergeant guilty of obstructing police beating investigation

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A Florida police sergeant has been convicted of trying to cover for three officers accused of beating of a man caught after a high-speed car chase.

The Palm Beach Post reports a federal jury found Boynton Beach police Sgt. Philip Antico guilty Friday of obstruction of justice but acquitted him of two counts of falsifying records. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Boynton Beach officer Michael Brown was convicted last week of two excessive force charges in the August 2014 beating of Jeffrey Braswell. Authorities say Braswell was a passenger in a car that struck one officer and led others on a 20-mile (32-kilometre) chase. A sheriff’s helicopter captured video of officers kicking Braswell, the driver and another passenger.

A jury cleared two other former officers of wrongdoing.

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Information from: The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, http://www.pbpost.com