Macomb deputy charged in teen-slapping incident guilty of misdemeanor

Christina Hall

One of two Macomb County sheriff ’s deputies criminally charged after a teenage boy was slapped in the face while in their custody last year pleaded no contest and was demoted, authorities said.

Alan Weir, 50, pleaded no contest Wednesday to willful neglect of duty, a one-year misdemeanor, and was sentenced to one year of probation, with a review set for March 20, 2025, according to online records in 42-2 District Court in New Baltimore.

Weir was demoted from deputy to corrections deputy, Sheriff ’s Office spokesperson Jennifer Putney said.

Weir’s attorney, Avis Choulagh, had no comment Thursday.

Second deputy faces two charges over incident

“It is imperative that those tasked with enforcing the law adhere to the utmost standards of conduct and accountability,” County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said in a news release.

The other deputy who was accused, Derek Reed, 45, has a pretrial hearing April 18 in the same district court. He is charged with fourthdegree child abuse and willful failure to uphold the law as a public officer, both one-year misdemeanors.

Putney said Reed was terminated from the Sheriff’sOfficeOct.10.

Reed, who was a 10-year veteran with the Sheriff ’s Office, is accused of slapping the teen while he in was in their custody to be transported to the Juvenile Justice Center in Mount Clemens.

Weir had been with the Sheriff ’s Office for 16 years at the time of the incident in late August in New Haven. The Sheriff’s Office previously said it received notice from Children’s Protective Services and immediately began investigating.

‘Do you want me to slap you in the face?’

Lucido told the Free Press in September the deputies were picking up the 14-year-old boy on a probation violation. He said the boy, who he described as “fidgety,” was in the back of the patrol vehicle. Body camera video of the incident released last year under a Freedom of Information Act request showed deputies struggling with the handcuffed boy, who continually protested he had done nothing wrong and used vulgarities.

The boy was placed in the back of a sheriff’s vehicle and the door was shut. At one point, an officer opened the door and said to the boy: “Do you want me to slap you in the face? Do you want to be treated like a little bitch? ... Do you want to be treated like a child?”

The boy is heard repeatedly telling the deputy to take the handcuffs off and fight him like a man. The deputy opens and closes the door, and at one point reopens the door and the boy is dragged out of the back seat and pinned facedown on the ground. An officer is heard saying, “You need to stop this. You need to stop.” The boy complains of “police brutality.” An officer says the boy is trying to harm himself and they are trying to protect him. It sounds like the boy is crying when he is placed back into the vehicle.

Reed’s report stated they were assisting a St. Clair County juvenile probation officer to take the boy into custody. The report stated the boy was slamming his head against the patrol vehicle’s window and kicking the door.

Reed’s attorney, Marc Curtis, said in an email to the Free Press last year: “Being a law enforcement officer in today’s undisciplined society causes officers to be second-guessed for every decision they make when faced with an out-of-control individual.” He said Reed was “acting according to his training and experience” and they looked forward to “putting forth a vigorous defense demonstrating same.”