WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Warren police officer is facing charges in an excessive force incident that happened in the jail last week.
According to Police Commissioner William Dwyer, the incident happened over the course of less than a minute, and the officer was placed on administrative leave.
The officer was identified as Matthew Rodriguez and has 14 years on the force, according to Dwyer.
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said the officer is charged with assault and battery.
"There's no duty to hit anyone. There's no duty to do exactly what happened in the video," Lucido said.
Video released by Warren police shows the officer talking to the suspect, then hitting the suspect with his right hand, knocking him down, knee him against the wall and throwing him down on the ground. Other officers intervened, and then the first officer dragged him up and threw him into the holding cell.
Dwyer detailed a timeline that said the man who was assaulted was arrested at 4:53 a.m., booked at the Warren police jail at 6:03 a.m., and a jail officer took custody of the man at 6:06 a.m.
Then, Dwyer said, the first strike happened at 6:08 a.m., and other officers intervened six seconds after the first strike and got the victim into the holding cell within 45 seconds.
According to Dwyer, an internal affairs investigation was initiated at 8:10 a.m., and the officer was placed on leave at 9 a.m.
Dwyer also said he ordered the victim to be taken to the hospital, despite not requesting medical care, and the man was cleared and returned to the cell at 12:12 p.m.
"Acts of misconduct by the warren police department will not be tolerated," Dwyer said. "All acts of police misconduct merit a review and response."
The officer was identified as Matthew Rodriguez and has 14 years on the force, according to Dwyer.
"Nobody, not even a police officer on duty, is above the law," Dwyer said.
