Suspended officer had previous use of force complaints

The Euclid police officer caught on video punching a black motorist after a traffic stop has a history of complaints regarding force.

Patrol officer Michael Amiott is currently suspended for 15 days without pay after he was caught on video repeatedly punching and hitting 25-year-old Richard Hubbard III’s head on pavement after a traffic stop for a suspended driver’s license.

Among the previous incidents is a written reprimand after he used his gun as an impact weapon. The News-Herald requested and received a copy of the police report for the incident that occurred a little before 11:30 p.m. Aug. 1, 2016.

In the report, Amiott wrote that he attempted to make a traffic stop after seeing a gray Mitsubishi Galant with one headlight and an “extremely dark window tint.” As he attempted to make the stop, the vehicle “abruptly turned on its turn signal” and turned into an apartment complex. The car stopped and Amiott wrote he approached the vehicle with a driver and three passengers.

Amiott wrote that during the stop, he thought one of the passengers was making “furtive movements toward his left pant leg/pants pocket area.” He said he could not see clearly what he was doing because of the heavy tint on the window and because the window was not fully down. He went to the rear of the vehicle to call for backup.

“I felt my safety would be at risk if I attempted to sit in my car and fill out a citation at the time due to the furtive movements, a noncompliant passenger and being out numbered four to one,” he wrote in the report.

He wrote that while waiting for backup, the driver, Ravin Malone, put the vehicle into drive and began driving away at a slow speed. Amiott drew his gun “in an attempt to conduct a felony traffic stop.”

“I yelled several times for the driver to stop,” Amiott wrote. “At this time all occupants except the driver exited the vehicle with me standing within feet of the suspect vehicle. I felt they were going to assault, disarm or kill me.”

The passengers began running through the parking lot, but Malone was still seated in the car. Backup had not yet arrived, Amiott said, adding he wanted to get Malone into custody “before he could flee or in case the occupants that fled returned.”

Amiott ordered Malone out of the car, but Amiott alleges that Malone did not comply. He wrote he grabbed Malone with his left hand and began “pulling him with my firearm in my right hand.” He said he struggled and alleged Malone was reaching toward the center and passenger side of the car.

“I felt the (sic) Malone resisting and thought he was trying to gain possession of a weapon,” Amiott said. “I struck Malone in the cheek with the muzzle of my handgun as it was the target that presented itself to me at that time.”

Malone was eventually handcuffed. Amiott said Malone had a contusion under his left eye, but he did not want to go to the hospital.

On Aug. 2, 2016, after a review of the incident, a Euclid lieutenant wrote in a written reprimand there were “several performance issues that came to light regarding tactical, safety and conduct.”

“Our department does not train to use handguns as an impact weapon,” the lieutenant wrote. “Doing so presents an opportunity for the suspect to gain control of the officer’s weapon, as well as the risk of an accidental discharge. Only in extreme cases is such use justified. In this case there were other use of force options that were available including disengagement and falling back to a tactical position of cover and waiting for backup.

The written reprimand also stated that Amiott lost his temper while speaking to the lieutenant at the scene.

“You stated, ‘just read me Garrity, I heard how you are from other guys and wouldn’t have believed it, now I do,’” the lieutenant stated in the report.

(Garrity Rights protect public employees from being compelled to incriminate themselves during investigatory interviews conducted by their employer.)

The News-Herald also requested a copy of dash camera footage from the incident, but was told “the dash cam files are no longer retrievable.”

A 43-year-old Euclid resident filed a citizen complaint related to a April 1, 2017, incident, stating he felt Amiott was rude, unprofessional and alleged the officer slammed his car door, hitting his leg.

The man wrote that when he was pulled over he stopped and parked his car and “placed his hands outside the vehicle “so the officer saw I posed no threat.”

“I open my door asking why I was stopped, the officer said ‘give me your (explicative) license and close the door before I mase (sic) you,’” the man wrote in his complaint. “I said ‘mase me for what’ he said give me ‘your (explicative) I.D.’ and slammed the door on my leg.”

The complaint was found “not sustained,” according to Amiott’s personnel file. Police Chief Scott Meyer wrote that he spoke with the complainant on the phone. Meyer had “no evidence/facts to prove or disprove his claim.” The complainant said he had no injuries from the incident.

“We both agreed that everyone needs to keep a ‘cool head’ during police encounters,” Meyer wrote.

WKYC obtained body camera footage of another incident from April, where Amiott arrested a 16-yearold girl accused of being disorderly at the Euclid Public Library. The body camera footage from another officer shows Amiott (who was working security at the front door of the library) took the girl to the ground and handcuffed her. After she was handcuffed, she was taken to the ground again to retrieve her I.D. from her backpack. He restrained her by putting the his knee on her back. She was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

WKYC previously reported that Amiott is also accused of using excessive force in July against a Euclid city employee.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O’Malley told the station his office is in contact with the U.S. Department of Justice they are investigating potential civil rights abuses.

Hubbard appeared in Euclid Municipal Court Aug. 24 wearing a neck brace. His attorney asked the judge to dismiss the charges during the hearing. The judge did not immediately rule so prosecutors could have a chance to reply.

Amiott joined the Euclid Police Department about five months after the Mentor Police Department allowed him to resign rather than be fired in April 2014 for lying to other officers about why he stopped a man for a suspended license.