Thursday, May 7, 2009

Seems out of Balance- OHP Officer Charged with Assault

Oklahoma Highway patrol trooper Jacob Rowland was charged with assault for repeatedly kicking a handcuffed suspect in the chest. The female suspect was charged with placing bodily waste on an officer after the trooper complained that she spat on him.
Supposedly the video from the troopers car shows him kicking her but does not show her actions. In the car while going to jail she asked why he kicked and he said she spit on him--the suspect denied having done so.
The interesting and encouraging issue here is that the complaint against the trooper was not filed by the suspect--it was filed by other troopers on the scene!!! They stepped over the blue line and did not turn their back because he was a fellow officer. Kudos to these troopers.
Under Oklahoma law, the suspect will be charged with a felony for the alleged spitting and the trooper will be charged with a misdemeanor for kicking a handcuffed suspect on the ground. That is the law.
OHP declined to release a copy of the video to the public.

No comments:

Post a Comment