The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett cop fired for punching man files appeal
Officer wants his job back, says he followed ‘proper policy.’
A Gwinnett County police officer fired after video appeared to show him punching a man during a traffic stop will file a formal appeal to get his job back, his attorney told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“He maintains he was following proper policy,” said lawyer Mike Puglise, who represents former Gwinnett Police Sgt. Michael Bongiovanni, fired after 19 years on the force after video surfaced last week of his physical encounter with Demetrius Hollins.
Hollins, 21, was pulled over last Wednesday for not having a license plate and changing lanes multiple times without signaling, according to an incident report. Hollins refused to stop until his car eventually stalled out, the
report states.
Puglise said what looked like a punch from Hollins was actually an elbow strike, “an FBI-taught defensive tactic.”
Bongiovanni wanted to “turn (Hollins) around to see if he had a gun,” Puglise said. He had arrested Hollins in August for obstructing an officer and possessing less than one ounce of marijuana, a police report shows.
According to Bongiovanni’s report on the Aug. 2016 arrest, Hollins had a .380 gun with one bullet underneath his seat.
Puglise said he didn’t immediately recognize Hollins but added, “(Bongiovanni) did not understand the situation he was dealing with,” he said. “(Hollins) was not obeying commands.”
Hollins’ lawyer Justin Miller told The AJC that Bongiovanni also struck Hollins during that first encounter.
Last Wednesday, the suspect was handcuffed and on the ground when Master Officer Robert McDonald kicked him in the head. Both encounters were captured on video and went viral, leading Gwinnett Police Chief Butch Ayers to fire the officers almost immediately.
“They became political pawns,” Puglise said.
Bongiovanni has 15 days to file a formal appeal with the five-member Gwinnett County Merit Board. It’s unclear whether McDonald will do the same though, according to Ayers, McDonald had taken responsibility for his actions and was sorry that they occurred.
Bongiovanni offered no apologies, according to Ayers.
“It’s different out on the streets,” Ayers said Bongiovanni told him. Bongiovanni doesn’t recall saying that, Puglise said.
Both officers could face criminal charges. An internal investigation by Gwinnett police is almost complete; District Attorney Danny Porter is expected to receive their findings next week.
“In this case, what we saw on video, that punch was unreasonable and unnecessary,” Ayers said last week.
Puglise said he is confident Bongiovanni’s appeal will be successful, adding he has received numerous calls of support from colleagues in law enforcement.
“He wouldn’t have made it this far if he was a rogue officer,” Puglise said, pointing to his client’s record that includes 67 incidents involving use of force.
Bongiovanni was accused of excessive force on five separate occasions, including Wednesday’s incident, but never found guilty by Gwinnett’s internal affairs department. He also received numerous commendations from Gwinnett police, including a Purple Heart medal for pulling a family from a burning car. McDonald, in his third year with Gwinnett police, was involved in three use of force cases before last week — two of them with Bongiovanni, his supervisor. Bongiovanni told his shift commander that McDonald kicked Hollins but didn’t mention his tussle with the suspect.
“It did not dawn on him that what he did was a punishable offense,” Puglise said.
Eight plaques hang at North Springs United Methodist Church as a testament to the congregation’s record Red Cross blood donations.
Ben Willis, the drives’ organizer, knew how to sweeten the appeal for donors. Instead of giving out the standard juice and cookies, Willis had a barbecue sandwich waiting for anyone willing to roll up their sleeves and give blood.
He bought the barbecue with his own money, said the Rev. Sara Webb Phillips, pastor of the Sandy Springs church.
“He felt a passion for that because he had been injured in Vietnam at least a couple of times,” she said.
Lt. Col. Benjamin “Ben” Louis Willis (Ret.) of Sandy Springs, a decorated career military man who served as second-in-command to Gen. Colin Powell in Korea, died April 9. He was 78.
Born June 12, 1938, in the small town of Bay Minette, Ala., Willis had many passions, including his church, sports cars, the occasional fine cigar and Alabama football.
He played cornerback and lineman in high school. He also spent three years playing football at West Point, the U.S. military academy, where he also won a brigade boxing championship and graduated in 1961.
Long after he’d hung up his cleats, Willis would gather with friends in front of a bigscreen television to cheer on his beloved Crimson Tide.
In the Army, Willis was known as “Col. Ben.” His service included four tours of duty in Vietnam and a stint as a top aide to Gen. Powell. He received numerous commendations and medals, including the Bronze and Silver Stars, and retired as a lieutenant colonel. In a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gen. Powell said Willis was “a great soldier who was my second in command when I commanded an Infantry battalion in Korea in 1973.”
The general said, “He was a tough, but compassionate leader who I counted on during a difficult period when we were transitioning from the conscript to an all-volunteer Army. God rest his soul.”
Powell and Willis had not been in touch for years. But hearing of Willis’ failing health, the general recently called. Willis said they “had a good conversation,” his pastor said.
When asked what they’d spoken about, Willis gave a sly smile and said: “Wouldn’t you like to know,” she said.
Willis worked with private industry in environmental cleanup and as a private investigator after retiring from the military.
His decision to join North Springs 23 years ago was life-changing, Phillips said.
Once a member of the church, “his life just kind of turned around and he started living his life as one of service and one of God,” Phillips said.
One of the ways he expressed his faith “was his amazing care for people who would come to the church and were hungry,” she said.
He also believed strongly that the church should have at least one big event a month, whether it was a dinner, a party or reception. And in his take-charge style, he took responsibility for organizing these events.
For years, he put on a church fish fry. In preparation for the dinners, he would gather rods, reels and some of the men from the church for a fishing trip to Florida, his pastor said.
In more recent years, he came up with the idea of a Hawaiian luau complete with a whole roasted pig and his “almost famous” barbecue, she said. Longtime church member and friend Tula Burch said she has never “met a man who was more giving to people.”
She said she often spotted him slipping money to people in need. “He gave most everything he made away,” Burch said. “What a person, right?”
Willis was preceded in death by his immediate family: his parents, Ester May and Newnan F. Willis Sr., brother Newnan F. Willis and sisters Helen Willis Richardson, Jean Willis Calvert and Ann Willis.
His survivors include a large extended family of cousins, nieces and nephews.
Willis requested that memorial donations be made to North Springs United Methodist Church.