Officer suspended another 30 days

The Euclid police officer caught on video punching a black motorist after a traffic stop has been suspended without pay for an additional 30 days by Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail.

Patrol officer Michael Amiott was 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 the pavement after a traffic stop for a suspended driver’s license.

Gail said in a statement the additional 30-day suspension is the maximum discipline she can administer short of terminating employment.

“Based on additional information that has recently come to my attention, I will also be

conducting a full review of Officer Amiott’s prior conduct as a Euclid police officer to determine his suitability to return to employment by the City of Euclid,” Gail said. “The city of Euclid and Euclid Police Department remain committed to providing a safe community and treating all justly and with dignity and respect.”

Amiott has a history of use of force complaints, including being reprimanded for using his handgun as an impact weapon during in an Aug. 1, 2016, traffic stop.

“Our department does not train to use handguns

as an impact weapon,” a lieutenant said in the written reprimand in Amiott’s personnel file. “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.)

Amiott joined the Euclid 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.

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.

In his first public comments made after his arrest, Hubbard said he did not resist when Amiott ordered him to “face away,” which a police dashcam video appears to confirm. The video shows Amiott wrestling Hubbard to the ground within seconds of ordering him to “face away” after Hubbard steps out of the car.

“It all happened so fast, it was a blur, but I know I did not touch the officer,” Hubbard said.

“He had me pinned, I couldn’t move. The only thing I did was hold my hands up to deflect the punches.”