Police under fire for keeping officers’ arrest quiet

Mayor Stone says she learned of incident following media questions

The Warren Police Department is in the media glare following a television news report indicating the department’s top brass kept a $400,000 settlement quiet concerning criminal case against two police officers accused of assaulting a motorist.

A report by WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) shows officers Dammeon Player and Carlos Taylor were charged last August by the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office. A swift settlement took place about a month after the incident without a lawsuit being filed — which attorneys say is highly unusual, according to the report.

In a statement released Friday, Mayor Lori Stone said the incident happened under the previous administration and the city’s lawyers had agreed to the settlement during former Mayor Jim Fouts’ time in charge.

“To be honest, I only found out about the incident recently because of the media’s interest,” Stone said in her statement.

News of the settlement comes days after both police Commissioner William Dwyer and City Attorney Ethan Vinson were terminated from their positions in the city.

WXYZ said body camera video obtained through an unnamed source shows the officers conducted a traffic stop on a semitruck this past summer in Center Line, outside of Warren’s jurisdiction.

The driver, who does not appear to speak English as his primary language, steps out of his truck before being taken to the ground by one officer, then tased by another. The driver can be heard screaming in pain as he is tased multiple times, the TV report states.

It is not clear why the force was used, or why the man was tased.

When attorneys for the city saw the body cam footage, they were alarmed by the officers’ conduct, the station reported.

Player was charged with felonious assault, a 4-year felony, and a misdemeanor charge of public official-willful failure to uphold the law. Taylor was charged with assault and battery and public official-willful failure to uphold the law.

Both officers have been terminated from the department, the mayor’s office said Friday.

The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office did not issue a press release on the charges, as it normally does.