Raptor 13: Tattooed tow truck driver Dylan Yates claims no-nonsense cop ruined his sex life
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Hard-nosed cop ‘Raptor 13’ has settled a compensation claim with a tow truck driver who claimed the officer assaulted him so badly in an ‘illegal’ search that it ruined his sex life.
NSW Police Senior Constable Andrew Murphy and his partner Constable Michael Smith were accused of roughing up Canberra man Dylan Yates at a petrol station in 2018.
Formerly a member of NSW Police’s famed anti-gang Raptor squad, Senior Constable Murphy was confined to desk duties in 2020 after the police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, released a report about an incident where he abused two Muslim women.
Senior Constable Murphy had shot to internet fame in preceding years for controversial in-your-face tactics shared in viral videos, using the codename ‘Raptor 13’.
Mr Yates, 28, sued the state of NSW in the ACT Supreme Court over his alleged treatment by the two officers in a civil personal injury claim of assault and battery causing psychological illness.
According to court documents, Yates also claimed he was maliciously prosecuted by Murphy over the incident, and that $5,000 disappeared from his tow truck after it was searched.
Senior Constable Andrew Murphy, known as ‘Raptor 13’, suffered a humiliating court loss after allegedly assaulting a tow truck driver
Dylan Yates (pictured) sued the state of NSW over his alleged treatment by the two officers in a civil personal injury claim of assault and battery causing psychological illness
The case was settled last Thursday at the request of the defendant in the middle of a trial.
His solicitor Phillip Gibson said the terms of the settlement were confidential and wouldn’t comment on whether any admissions were made by the NSW Government.
Mr Yates received an institutional apology from the ACT chief justice for the time the case took to resolve and the impact that had on him.
During the case, Mr Yate’s mother Marion told the court that November 23, 2018, was the day she ‘lost her son’ as he ‘withdrew’ from the world over the next year.
‘He’s never been the same. He had no dealings with anyone, he was just a shell,’ she said.
In a statement of claim filed in the ACT Supreme Court, Mr Yates explained that he was towing a vintage Ford XB GT for All States Towing.
The company has a contract with the Australian Federal Police and was targeted by anti-vaccine activists in February for towing their cars during protests.
Mr Yates stopped at the Shell service station in Gundagai, NSW, home of the famous Dog on the Tucker Box statue, on the way from Shepparton, Victoria, to Canberra.
Mr Yates said the officers accused him of being a Rebels bikie and demanded to see all his many tattoos
At the same time, about 3pm, Senior Constable Murphy’s patrol car arrived and he and Constable Smith got out and approached Mr Yates.
Both parties agree the officers asked to see proof the car was being towed legitimately and inspect his licence and other documentation.
The driver showed them his work log on an iPad and the policemen inspected the registration of both vehicles, along with his towing authority.
A defence filed with the court alleged that though the checks showed the car was not stolen, they ‘revealed a history of weapons offences and links to’ bikie gangs.
‘He’s got a warning for Rebels,’ Constable Smith later told the court.
Mr Yates claimed in his lawsuit that Senior Constable Murphy said his partner saw him ‘in club colours’ the previous week. The defence denied he said this.
Senior Constable Murphy then demanded Mr Yates show him his tattoos because he had reason to believe he was a member or associate of the Rebels bikie gang.
‘Have you got any 13s tattooed on you?’ he asked. Mr Yates said no.
The lawsuit claimed Senior Constable Murphy ‘suddenly pushed him to the rear of the tow truck’ and subjected him to a search of all his visible tattoos.
Mr Yates (pictured with his daughter) claimed he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the officers’ conduct, along with anxiety, depression, and humiliation
Mr Yates has numerous tattoos across his body and the officers demanded to see them, according to social media pictures
The controversial cop allegedly grabbed Mr Yates’s arms and twisted them behind his back.
The defence denied this but admitted he then told him to take of his shoes and hand them over.
Constable Smith then began searching the tow truck, which Mr Yates was told was for illegal drugs or weapons they believed he may be carrying.
The government’s defence claimed the officers were entitled to search Mr Yates and his vehicle without a warrant because they had a reasonable suspicion.
Mr Yates claimed in his lawsuit that while the tow truck was being searched, Senior Constable Murphy pushed him so hard he stumbled backwards onto the road.
The officer then allegedly yelled at him to get off the road, before grabbing him and pushing him towards the tow truck.
Mr Yates claimed he saw Senior Constable Murphy take a bum bag out of the tow truck during the search, and he later discovered $5,000 cash was missing from it.
The government’s defence denied any of this happened and Constable Smith testified during the trial that he never saw the cash during the search.
Senior Constable Murphy gave Mr Yates a defect notice for his tow truck claiming the driver’s seat and seatbelt were in poor condition and there was an oil leak.
However, an inspection by a mechanic four days later found no defects on the vehicle.
About this time, Mr Yates’ boss Zoran Matijevic called his employee and asked to speak to the officers, but Senior Constable Murphy hung up on him without answering, the court heard.
After the search was over and the defect notice issued, Mr Yates drove out of the petrol station but realised the policemen were driving behind him.
Formerly a member of NSW Police’s famed anti-gang Raptor squad, Senor Constable Murphy was booted in 2020 for abusing two Muslim women
Mr Yates’ statement of claim said that in response he turned around and drove back to the service station ‘as he did not feel safe’ with them following him.
The state’s defence claimed Mr Yates cut off another driver while turning around, then cut off a second driver while changing lanes, forcing them to brake suddenly to avoid a crash, then changed lanes again without indicating – all while not wearing a seatbelt.
The officers followed Mr Yates back to the patrol station and told him to get out of the tow truck and show them his licence. Mr Yates refused.
Mr Yates was issued with five infringement notices and two weeks later was charged by Senior Constable Murphy with refusing to comply with a requirement to submit to a search.
He pleaded not guilty in Goulburn Local Court and the charge was dropped two months later, along with all but one of the infringement notices.
The statement of claim alleged the charge was malicious and there was ‘no reasonable or probable cause’ to lay it.
Mr Yates also alleged the officers knew the search was illegal and only did it to intimidate him. The defence denied this.
The father-of-one’s lawsuit claimed he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the officers’ conduct, along with anxiety, depression, and humiliation.
This gave him difficulty maintaining concentration or attention and performing everyday tasks, hyper-vigilance, fatigue, disturbed sleep, and an ‘inability to have intimate or sexual relationships’.
His statement of claim listed six doctors who he sought help from to deal with his psychiatric problems after the traffic stop.
Senior Constable Murphy became notorious in a series of viral videos showing him using controversial tactics as part of Strike Force Raptor
Mr Yates claimed he was unable to go back to work until December 14, 2018, and wanted the value of that time reimbursed, along with damages for loss of future earnings.
‘The assault and battery were affected in a high-handed, humiliating, and oppressive manner,’ the lawsuit alleged, calling the prosecution an ‘oppressive abuse’ of the law.
The government’s defence claimed the use of force by both officers was reasonably necessary under the circumstances.
It denied Mr Yates’ psychological issues were the result of the officers’ conduct.
The case dragged on for more than three years, which Mr Yates’ lawyer told the court worsened his mental state.
Mr Yates last year moved from his home in Caldwell, in southern Canberra, to live with his parents in Albury, on the NSW-Victoria border.
ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum apologised in court the Thursday before last, after the settlement was reached, for the way the case was handled.
‘I’ve seen a lot of material in the medical documents, indicating that the processes of the court during that time exacerbated the stress that you suffered,’ she said.
‘I would like to extend an institutional apology on behalf of the justice system for the time [it took] to resolve for you and the impact that that had on you.
‘I sincerely hope that the resolution of these proceedings gives you the strength to recover and move towards a happier way of life.’
Senior Constable Murphy became notorious in a series of viral videos showing him using controversial tactics as part of Strike Force Raptor.
He infamously stopped mourners travelling on their way to the burial of slain Comanchero boss Mick Hawi, waved a metal pole near a man’s head, and pushed a member of a ‘veterans’ motorcycle group.
The final straw was a scathing report from the police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, over a ‘threatening and bullying’ road stop in Parramatta, in Sydney’s west, in April 2019.
In footage that sparked massive uproar, Raptor 13 and his squadmate were seen pulling over a P-plate driver, 24, and her stepmother passenger.
He told the driver: ‘Don’t argue with me love or you’ll be going back in the paddy wagon as accessory to bloody murder.’
The watchdog described Raptor 13’s behaviour as ‘intentionally intimidating, abusing, threatening and bullying’ and slammed it as ‘serious misconduct’.
Senior Constable Murphy was as a result reassigned to a ‘non-public facing’ admin role dealing only with his fellow officers.
‘NO NONSENSE’ COP: CONTROVERSIAL RAPTOR 13
Senior Constable Andrew Murphy first caught the interest of the public about two years ago when videos of his stand-offs with members of the public began to go viral.
The hard-nosed officer is part of an anti-gang police enforcement squad named Strike Force Raptor, which targets outlaw motorcycle groups and uses unconventional tactics.
He sparked headlines for confronting mourners on their way to the burial of slain Comanchero boss Mick Hawi, waving a metal pole near a man’s head and getting in an elderly man’s face.
‘Move it… I’m not asking, I’m telling you,’ he told the latter man.
Mr Murphy has been praised on talkback radio for his ‘no nonsense’ tactics – and videos circulating through Facebook show he rarely backs down in tense stand-offs.
One of Raptor 13’s first viral incidents occurred when he waved a metal pole at a member of the public’s head
Two of the many tense standoffs involving Raptor 13 which have gone viral: Left, he inspects a motorbike. On right, he confronts a ‘veteran’ in an angry stoush
But he has also become a hate figure and the target of vile online abuse, including rape and death threats.
During the police watchdog investigation, he told investigators he was ‘not proud of’ his ‘stupidest person’ comment to the Afghani driver.
He claimed to investigators that he ‘had never been this rude to anyone else before.’
But he ‘later agreed that ‘it has happened in the past (outside of dealing with members of outlaw motorcycle gangs) though not ‘many times.”
‘He felt ’embarrassed’ but made no effort to apologise’, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission report said.
Senior Constable Murphy denied that his behaviour was because the women were Muslim but conceded that it may have seemed ‘racially motivated’ to the women, or passersby.