Charges dropped against man seen punched by Euclid officer in video

Charges have been dropped against a black motorist seen on video being punched more than a dozen times by a Euclid police officer.

Richard Hubbard III, 25, of Cleveland, was charged with resisting arrest, driving without a license and a traffic signal violation following the Aug. 12 incident. His girlfriend Yolimar Tirado also had her charges dropped.

According to court records, Special Prosecutor Sara Fagnilli filed a motion Nov. 13 to dismiss the charges. Euclid Municipal Court Judge Deborah A. LeBarron granted that dismissal the following day.

Hubbard and Tirado’s attorney, Christopher McNeal, said they’re relieved the charges have been dropped and are looking forward to heading into the holidays without the charges hanging over their heads.

McNeal said they are still investigating the facts related to a possible civil suit against the individual officers involved and the city of Euclid.

A cellphone video taken and posted to social media by a witness went viral and was viewed millions of

times and caught national attention.

The incident was recorded by police dash cam footage, which The NewsHerald obtained from the police department Aug. 14. As Hubbard gets out of the car, the officer asks him to face away and repeats the order about a second later. The situation progresses — some of which happens out of the view of the dash cam — and Hubbard and two officers go to the ground. As they are on the ground, officer Michael Amiott can be seen repeatedly punching Hubbard.

Amiott was fired Oct. 13. Shortly after the incident, Euclid Police Chief Scott

Meyer suspended Amiott without pay for 15 days and recommended that Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail suspend him for an additional 30 days, which she did Sept. 1. Amiott’s suspension was slated to end Oct. 15.

Gail, in the Oct. 13 news release, said that during Amiott’s suspension for various rule violations, her office received further complaints regarding Amiott’s professional conduct.

“After a review, I found Amiott to have violated additional departmental rules, including conduct unbecoming and courtesy, calling into serious question his suitability as a Euclid Police Officer,” she said. “As mayor and public safety director, it is my responsibility to ensure that the Euclid Police Department serves the public professionally, courteously, and conscientiously.”

Amiott has been with the Euclid Police Department since 2014. He joined the department five months after he resigned rather than be fired from the Mentor Police Department for lying about why he stopped a man for a suspended license.

His record in Euclid includes a number of use-offorce complaints. According to his personnel file, he was reprimanded in 2016 for hitting a suspect with his gun and losing his temper in front of his commanding officer.

Amiott pulled over Hubbard for passing stop bar pavement markings, which Euclid Police Captain Kevin Kelly had instructed him not to do.

“You were in attendance at a roll call that I had earlier addressed, in which I specifically said to all officers in attendance that although legally permissible, I did not want officers stopping cars for stop bar violations as the primary probable cause for a traffic stop,” Kelly wrote in an Aug. 16 letter to Amiott.

DAKE KANG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Richard Hubbard III, who was seen on video being punched by a police officer multiple times during a traffic stop, speaks to a supporter after a news conference in Euclid.