After being caught on video yanking a suspect’s dreadlocks while repeatedly punching him in the head, an Iowa police officer will not be charged with assault. The suspect had already surrendered to police at the time of the beating and was laying face down on the ground.
Instead of being charged and fired, Officer Adam Wittmayer was “disciplined” by Waterloo Police chief Daniel Trelka for assaulting 24-year-old Montavis Keller after he led police on a high speed chase.
The altercation took place on April 19 after a 90 mile an hour high speed chase. Officer Wittmayer can be heard yelling, “God! F*cking moron. You’re a stupid motherf*cker, you know that?” before he punched Keller twice in the back of the head.
The Iowa attorney general’s office reviewed the tape and recommended no charges be filed.
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“Based upon this fact and my review of the entire matter, the likelihood of a Black Hawk County jury convicting Officer Wittmayer is minimal if not completely non-existent,” Assistant Attorney General Scott Brown stated in a release, adding that Keller appeared uninjured by the blows to the head.
Keller’s lawyer, Tom Frerichs, had a different opinion on the matter and has forwarded the video to the FBI for review, stating, “I can’t think of any other job in which an employee is allowed to repeatedly hit another person, pull out some of their hair and still keep their job.”
Keller, who had no priors, has been charged with four felonies, including attempting to assault a police officer, evading police and possession of 42.5 grams of marijuana with intent to deliver.
He is set to go to trial later this month.
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