DES MOINES, Iowa — A former Des
Moines police officer was arrested Thursday on charges he used excessive force during
an arrest in February.
Colin Boone was indicted
Tuesday. Court records show the formal charge is deprivation of rights under
color of law, which is a violation of the constitutional right citizens have
against unreasonable force by police.
Boone was arrested Thursday
morning in South Dakota. An arraignment was set for Jan. 3 in Council Bluffs.
He did not yet have an attorney assigned to his case.
A grand jury indictment filed
in U.S. District Court in Des Moines alleges Boone kicked a man causing an injury
on Feb. 19. The charge carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Boone was fired May 2 for
inappropriate use of force, said Des Moines police spokesman Jason Halifax.
Boone had worked for the department since June 2000.
Halifax said Boone responded to
a call on Feb. 19 when a car had crashed into a concrete wall in Des Moines.
The driver, Orville Hill,
initially refused to leave his car and was removed by officers. Reports said he
resisted and kicked another officer several times. A police department review
found that Boone kicked Hill in the head.
The Des Moines Register
reported in May that Boone was one six officers awarded a Medal of Valor in
2011 for pulling several teens out of a burning car after a crash. But that
same year, he was sued over a 2009 incident of reported excessive force
involving a woman he was arresting for drunken driving. The lawsuit was settled
for an undisclosed amount.
U.S. Attorney Nicholas
Klinefeldt said in a statement Boone's arrest on Thursday was the result of an
FBI investigation.