A white Ohio police officer caught on video repeatedly punching a black man and hitting his head on the pavement after a traffic stop has been suspended without pay for just 15 days.
Euclid Police Officer Michael Amiott was suspended on Monday following an internal investigation into the August 12 incident outside Cleveland.
Cellphone footage and a police dashcam video captured Amiott wrestling 25-year-old Richard Hubbard III to the ground after he was pulled over on suspicion of having a suspended driver’s license.
Euclid Police Officer Michael Amiott was suspended on Monday following an investigation into the August 12 incident outside Cleveland involving 25-year-old driver Richard Hubbard III
Video of the incident has been viewed more than seven million times on Facebook and sparked outrage across the country.
Richard Hubbard III, 25, was charged with resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license over the August 12 incident outside Cleveland
Police initially said Hubbard had refused the officer’s orders to ‘face away’ after getting out of his car and claim he immediately began resisting.
Hubbard’s lawyer said the dashcam footage appears to show Amiott not even giving the driver a chance to comply with his orders.
The video shows Amiott opening the car door and Hubbard getting out.
Within a second of Amiott ordering him to ‘face away,’ the video shows the officer grabbing Hubbard’s arms and wrestling him to the ground in the middle of a street as Hubbard’s girlfriend jumps out of the car and rushes over.
The video shows Amiott bashing Hubbard’s head against the pavement several times and then punching him in the head more than a dozen times as Hubbard tries to defend himself.
‘Babe, stop,’ Hubbard’s girlfriend yells, kneeling on the road and screaming as Amiott punches him repeatedly.
The video shows the officer grabbing Hubbard’s arms and wrestling him to the ground in the middle of a street as Hubbard’s girlfriend (right) jumps out of the car and rushes over
Cellphone footage of the incident shot by a witness (above) has been viewed more than seven million times on Facebook and sparked outrage across the country
Some of the punches were thrown after Hubbard spread his arms out and appeared not to be resisting. Increasingly frantic, Hubbard’s girlfriend yells at officers that Hubbard is unarmed.
Hubbard is finally handcuffed with the help of another officer. He was taken to jail where police say he was examined and then released after being charged with resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license.
Amiott was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
Police Chief Scott Meyer revealed news of Amiott’s suspension on Monday at a City Council meeting.
Meyer says 15 days is the maximum suspension under departmental rules and that he has recommended the mayor impose an additional unpaid suspension.
Some of the punches were thrown by Amiott after Hubbard spread his arms out and appeared not to be resisting. His girlfriend was spotted kneeling on the road and screaming as Amiott punched Hubbard repeatedly
Hubbard was taken to jail where police say he was examined and then released after being charged with resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license
Amiott was hired by the Euclid Police Department in September 2014.
He was reprimanded for hitting a driver with a handgun, mishandling evidence, losing his temper in front of his commanding officer and being involved in two crashes in police vehicles, according to personnel files released earlier this month.
Before Euclid, Amiott was an officer in Mentor, east of Cleveland. Amiott resigned in April 2014 after an internal investigation concluded he had lied to other officers when explaining why he stopped a man for a suspended driver’s license.
Mentor personnel files show that Amiott was cited for two vehicle accidents, eight speeding violations and one motorcycle violation while he was on a learner’s permit before he was hired as an officer.
In his application, Amiott indicated that the ‘danger’ aspect of being an officer was one reason he was drawn to the job.