DETROIT (WXYZ) — A Detroit police officer who was charged in connection to the fatal assault of a 71-year-old man earlier this year was given a personal bond on Wednesday.
Juwan Brown, 29, was charged Tuesday in the fatal assault of the 71-year-old man in September outside of Garden Bowl in Midtown Detroit.
Prosecutors say Brown was dispatched to the bowling alley on September 1. Someone had called 911 to report that Vance was being "disorderly."
Prosecutors say a "verbal confrontation" between Brown and Vance escalated, with Brown punching Vance in the face, which caused him to fall to the ground and hit his head on the pavement.
Medics took Vance to the hospital from the scene and he was pronounced dead on September 21. According to prosecutors, the Wayne County Medical Examiner determined that Vance died of blunt force trauma to the head from the punch.
“Police officers frequently deal with citizens who are disorderly and verbally unpleasant. But the evidence in this case shows that the officer allegedly was the aggressor, and his actions went criminally beyond what was necessary in this situation. This behavior cannot be tolerated from our law enforcement,” said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy in a news release.
Brown was arraigned on the charge Wednesday and given a $100,000 personal bond. He cannot have access to weapons and cannot have contact with the victim's family or witnesses in the case.
He was suspended without pay in the incident, according to our partners at Outlier Media.
He faces 15 years in prison if convicted.
