Lexington officer suspended after yanking suspect out of cruiser by his legs
A Lexington police officer has been suspended for three weeks without pay after he shoved a belligerent suspect, pulled him from the back of a police cruiser by his legs and put a hand on the suspect’s throat.
In addition to the three-week suspension, officer Benjamin Fielder also received a two-day suspension after he arrested an intoxicated person on July 22 but failed to accompany the person in the ambulance to the hospital. According to documents obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader through an Open Records Act request, when the suspect arrived at the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital without a police escort, UK police and Lexington police had to be called to maintain custody of the suspect.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council approved Fielder’s suspensions at its Oct. 8 meeting.
Councilman Mark Swanson was the only council member to vote against Fielder’s suspension. Swanson has voted against most police disciplinary actions in recent months, saying he does not believe the council is given enough information to decide whether the discipline was adequate.
“We are just a rubber stamp,” Swanson said during an Oct. 13 council meeting.
Fielder’s suspensions were recommended by Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers and agreed to by Fielder, according to documents released Monday. The council tentatively agreed Oct. 13 to make some changes to the police disciplinary process, including obtaining more details about the administrative charges or allegations against the officers.
A state law — commonly called the Officers’ Bill of Rights — prohibits anyone from speaking about allegations against a police officer until after the disciplinary action is approved. That complicates what can be made part of the public record before the council approves a suspension or other disciplinary action. Firefighters have no such protection.
The two suspensions cannot be served concurrently.
On May 24, officers were called to Jaeduke Drive after a car was reported driving more than 60 mph. When officers arrived, the car was in a front yard after it had struck a curb, according to the discipline documents. The operator of the vehicle was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. The driver allegedly became verbally aggressive and insulted Fielder, the documents said.
“While the suspect was in the rear seat of the cruiser, officer Fielder shoved the subject and pulled the subject from the cruiser by the legs,” according to a summary included in a response-to-resistance report. “When the suspect was getting up, officer Fielder placed his hands on the suspect’s throat and pressed him against the cruiser before turning the suspect’s body and placing the suspect’s chest against the cruiser’s trunk.”
In other documents related to Fielder’s suspension, it was reported that the officer grabbed the subject by the throat/neck area twice and pointed his Taser at the suspect’s head and face.
The suspect had minor injuries that were treated by the fire department at the scene, according to the documents.
The incident was reported by Lt. Chris Van Brackel to the department’s public integrity unit on June 26, nearly a month after the incident, according to the documents.
In addition to the three-week suspension without pay, Fielder must also be retrained on de-escalation, use of force and conflict resolution. Fielder has been a police officer since 2012.
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 3:57 PM.
