HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) — The 2020 tasing of a homeless man by a Highland Park police officer—concealed at the time by his department but later revealed by a 7 News Detroit investigation— has triggered felony charges against the former officer.
Dammeon Player was arraigned Thursday on charges of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and common law offenses—all felonies—stemming from the tasing that left a man briefly unconscious.
The charges were brought by Wayne County's Prosecutor. Player's attorney, Vassal Johnson, declined comment on the charges. A not guilty plea was entered on Player's behalf.
RELATED VIDEO: Highland Park police hid officer's first violent tasing. Years later, he was charged over another
The incident came to light last May following a 7 News Detroit investigation revealing how Player’s alleged misconduct was concealed from Warren Police officials who later hired him.
While with Warren, Player would be accused of felonious assault, also involving a Taser, when he is alleged to have used unnecessary force on a truck driver who was ultimately charged with no crimes.
The 2020 tasing
The Highland Park tasing was investigated by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office beginning last year at the request of Highland Park’s Interim Chief James McMahon.
On a rainy afternoon in May of 2020, Highland Park Public Safety Officer Dammeon Player was called to the Burger King along Woodward Avenue, responding to a call of a man loitering outside the restaurant.
Public safety officers work as both police officers and firefighters. On this day, Player was working a police shift.
VIDEO: Bodycam shows tasing incident in Highland Park
The man, who police would later suspect was homeless, ignored the officer’s commands to leave the restaurant. So from the front seat of his police car, Officer Player does what department policy says he shouldn’t: he pulls out his taser and takes aim.
The taser didn’t take effect, so Player is seen getting out of his vehicle and begins following the man, who starts to cross the street while hurling expletives.
Before long, Officer Player joins in with name calling of his own. At one point, Player calls the man a homophobic slur.
After trading insults, both men appear to walk away. But just as the standoff appears to becoming to an end, officer Player turns around and follows the man again.
The man briefly assumes a fighting stance before turning around and walking away. Then, with the man’s back facing the officer, Player deploys his taser again and then takes the man to the ground.
As Player takes the man down, he strikes his head hard on a concrete building, then lays motionless on the wet pavement.
“Yo, wake up man,” Player says as the man appears unconscious.
James McMahon, who was a sergeant with Highland Park at the time of the incident, reviewed Player’s conduct and spoke with 7 News Detroit in 2024.
“What does it say to you that officer Player tased the man while he had his back to him?” asked Channel 7’s Ross Jones.
“In this case, it wasn’t appropriate,” said McMahon, who was a sergeant with Highland Park police at the time of the incident. “The taser should not have been used in that instance.”
The man would eventually regain consciousness and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. He was charged with nothing.
Follow Our Ongoing Investigation: Shielded
An internal affairs investigation concluded that officer Player violated the department’s code of conduct and taser policy.
"It’s a scary situation, someone just hit their head,” McMahon said. “It’s not a situation where we should have been involved in that. It’s disappointing. That individual didn’t deserve that.”
In an internal memo dated July 25, 2020 sent to then-Chief Kevin Coney, McMahon wrote that Player’s misconduct “dangerously escalated the situation" and caused injury to the subject of the investigation.
“These actions could place the city in a position of civil jeopardy and should not be brushed aside lightly,” the memo said, recommending a 30-day suspension from police services, a 7-day suspension from fire services and training in de-escalation techniques.
But Player was not disciplined, McMahon said.
“The legal department just removed him from police services, but allowed him to work fire department,” McMahon said.
Significantly, the case was not sent to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for review and possible criminal charges in 2020. Information about the tasing was not shared with Warren Police when investigators performed a background check.
The 2023 tasing
Two years later, Officer Player would join the Warren Police Department. There to pin his new badge to his chest was former Highland Park Police Chief Kevin Coney.
“Hopefully,” Player said after receiving his badge, “I can represent the city well, my family well.”
RELATED: Warren officials kept criminal charges, $400k settlement against 2 cops quiet
But less than two years later, his conduct would lead to even more trouble.
On a rainy day last June, Officer Player and his partner would be involved in a traffic stop in Center Line—outside of their jurisdiction—pulling a truck driver out of his vehicle.
Player’s partner threw the man to the ground as Player tased him repeatedly.
VIDEO: Body cam shows tasing incident in Warren
The man was charged with nothing, but the officer's conduct was so egregious that the city of Warren paid out a $400,000 settlement barely a month later. Player would be charged with assault and then fired.
Last Fall, the criminal case against him was bound over to Macomb County Circuit Court.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.