Louisville
Cop Arrested for Allegedly Assaulting Two Children; Previously Commended for
His Work With Youth
Cop had multiple commendations
for working with youth. Psychologist says she was kicked out of clinical
program after reporting kids's allegations against him.
Ed Krayewski
LMPDJonathan Hardin, a police officer with the
Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD), was arrested and suspended without
pay, charged with assault, wanton endangerment, official misconduct, and false
swearing, stemming from his alleged beating two students at the Olmsted Academy
North, an all-boy public middle school (the only one in Kentucky) at which
Hardin worked.
Via local TV station WAVE:
Arrest warrants for Hardin
allege that he hit one student with a closed fist, knocking him to the floor,
and choked another student until he lost consciousness. Both students were 13
years old. The warrants say the incidents were caught on surveillance video.
In 2013, Hardin was commended
by the department for his work with the Gentleman's Academy summer program, a
joint effort between LMPD and the University of Louisville, which was designed
to help students learn conflict resolution. He and a number of other officers
with the program received the Distinguished Community Service award from the
department.
It gets worse:
Erica Buckner, a psychologist
who worked for Gentleman's Academy said she was kicked out of the clinical
psychology [sic] program at UofL after she reported students' allegations about
Hardin's behavior and the behavior of other officers. She said she was told she
had "ruined the relationship" between LMPD and UofL.
Representatives of police
officers, union reps and otherwise, often claim drawing attention to incidents
of police brutality damages the relationship between the community and the
police. If Buckner's claims are true, they illustrate how police can ignore
allegations of police brutality for the same reasons.
Hardin is also facing a lawsuit
by the family of a boy attending the summer program at the Gentleman's Academy
last year. He's only been reprimanded by his police department twice, for
missing a court date and losing his badge. He received another commendation
praising him for "going above and beyond the call of the duty" for
helping to work on a police youth program while off duty. The police department
also says it received a letter from a citizen "grateful" for Hardin
being there to deal with their "out of control child" with
"grace… defusing what could have potentially become a very nasty
incident."
Police:
Off-duty Baltimore County officer accidentally shoots 14-year-old boy
RANDALLSTOWN, Md. - Baltimore
County Police are investigating after they say an off-duty officer accidentally
shot a 14-year-old boy at a Randallstown apartment complex where he worked a
second job as an armed security guard.
Police were called to 9600
block of Southall Road Monday after getting two calls to the area within a
three-minute period. One of the calls was for a shooting in the 9600 block of
Button Buck Circle, the other was for the accidental discharge of a weapon on
Southall Road.
When officers arrived, they met
with two armed security guards who were also off-duty Baltimore County Police
officers.
The off-duty officers said they
were working as armed security at the Woodridge apartment complex when they got
a call from management about people inside a vacant apartment that was under
construction, police said.
The off-duty officers told
investigators that they saw and heard movement as they walked up to the
building. As one of the off-duty officers watched the building, someone walked
out onto the balcony. As one of the off-duty officers pointed his gun at the
balcony, he told investigating officers it accidentally went off.
The person on the balcony,
later identified as a 14-year-old boy, went
back inside and ran to his own home nearby.
The teen was injured by the
gunshot, but the injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, police said.
The officer who fired his
weapon has been placed on administrative status as the investigation continues.
The homicide unit is investigating and will send a report to the Baltimore
County State's Attorney's Office for review.
Oklahoma
City Police Officer Charged With Child Abuse
BY LACIE LOWRY, NEWS 9
OKLAHOMA CITY -
An Oklahoma City police officer
has been charged with child abuse.
Investigators said he is
accused of shaking and injuring a 7-month-old baby he had been fostering for a
month.
Oklahoma City Police Officer
Jeremiah Thompson and his wife became foster parents in October of 2014.
In November of 2014, Thompson
called 911 from his Edmond home about one of his foster children having trouble
breathing.
“This is very sad for everyone
involved - the foster family, our agency, the biological family,” said OKDHS
Spokesperson Sheree Powell. “This is a tragedy,” she added.
DHS placed a 7-month-old girl
and her 2-year-old sister with the Thompsons.
On Nov. 18, Thompson called 911
while his wife was at work and said the infant was having trouble breathing.
He said the girl was throwing
up a whole bunch and wasn't really looking at him like she had a hundred yard
stare.
Court documents said four
minutes and 22 seconds into the 911 call, Thompson said, "I did drop her
as well...from a height of 3 to 4 feet...onto padded carpet."
Doctors said the baby's
subdural hematoma and extensive bilateral retinal bleeding could not have been
caused by a single fall incident.
Doctors said the injuries were
likely from a person shaking a baby.
“There were no red flags, no
indications that anything like this could have happened,” Powell told News 9.
Powell said the Thompsons
passed every background check and certification with flying colors.
“This particular foster parent
did that, passed all of his background checks, home study was glowing on the
family and also completed all the training,” Powell explained.
DHS removed both foster
children from the home and will not place any other children there.
DHS said the baby is now safe,
but she has had seizures and increased pressure in her skull from her brain
injury.
According to court documents,
doctors said the long term effects of her brain injury are unknown at this
time.
Officer Thompson has pleaded
not guilty to the charge.
He has been with Oklahoma City
police for two years and is currently on paid leave while the case is open.
News 9 reached out to his
attorney for comment, but have not heard back.
NC
police officer suspended without pay for spitting on teen
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A North
Carolina police officer has been suspended without pay for the equivalent of
eight 40-hour workweeks after he spit on a teenager.
The Asheville Citizen-Times
reported that Asheville’s Civil Service Board upheld the lengthy unpaid
suspension for officer Jonathan Collins.
Collins claims he never meant
to spit at the 17-year-old last April. He said he was spitting on the street
and the boy passed by. The officer appealed, saying the discipline was too
harsh.
The board sided with the city
that Collins actions were inappropriate, according to WLOS. In addition to the
suspension, Collins took sensitivity training classes, wears a body camera and
got his final written notice.
The former police chief called
Collins’ actions inhumane and disrespectful, according to the paper.
Tucson
officer was suspended for shoving UA student
By Caitlin Schmidt
Police officer accused of
violently shoving woman, pushing another near UA Read more
A Tucson police sergeant who
violently pushed a then-UA student while officers tried to control a large
crowd after the men’s basketball team’s loss in the 2014 NCAA tournament, was
suspended, newly released records show.
Sgt. Joel Mann was suspended
without pay for 80 hours, the department confirmed Friday. Hundreds of pages of
documents in the internal review of the incident were released Friday.
The suspension was for two
separate incidents, both occurring after the University of Arizona men’s
basketball team’s loss in the tournament.
Mann, a 19-year veteran of the
force, served his suspension in mid-August after his appeal was denied,
according to the documents. Sgt. Pete Dugan, an agency spokesman, confirmed
Mann is back on active duty.
Police Chief Roberto Villaseñor
said in July that he anticipated disciplining the officer.
On Aug. 11, Mann’s notice of
discipline was issued, allowing him seven days to file an appeal, which he did.
In September, Mann notified the
department that he intended to file a grievance, saying that the punishment was
too severe. He submitted it in December, and it was rejected.
He filed another grievance on
Jan. 12, asking that the decision again be re-evaluated. On Jan. 20, the
department rejected the second grievance.
“The serious nature of your
actions, especially in regard to any lack of perceived or actual threat
justifies the enhanced sanctions,” according to the department’s response to
Mann.
Mann’s attorney, Michael
Storie, said winning a departmental appeal is difficult, but was the only
process afforded to Mann under the punishment guidelines. “Why would anyone
think that Sgt. Mann would get fair consideration from those who bungled the
planning of this tactical response to this event?” asked Storie.
No criminal charges were
pursued against Mann. County prosecutors said last year that while Mann was
“overzealous,” his actions did not rise to a level that showed criminal intent.
Storie said the county
prosecutors’ findings were based on a criminal investigation conducted by the
Arizona Department of Public Safety, which concluded Mann “did nothing wrong.”
“Sgt. Mann’s response was not
overzealous,” Storie said. “In choosing not to bring charges against Sgt. Mann,
the county prosecutors determined that his actions were justified, because if
not, he would be charged with assault,” said Storie.
In the first incident, Mann
pushed then-UA student Christina Gardilcic over a bench. The shove also was
captured on a helmet camera Mann wore.
Gardilcic has filed a $375,000
claim against the city.
Stephen Weeks, Gardilcic’s
attorney, said he also intends to file a lawsuit against the police department.
The second incident occurred
during the same night, when Mann pushed a young woman out of a chair.
Mami Morita also filed a
complaint against Mann.
Reporter Carmen Duarte also
contributed to this story. Contact reporter Caitlin Schmidt at
cschmidt@tucson.com or 573-4191. On Twitter: @caitlincschmidt
