US police officer quits after snow stuffed into mouth of suspect
9 April 2021, 10:04
A police chief said the arrest by a white officer of the black man was textbook until snow was used.
A US police officer who stuffed snow into the mouth of a man being arrested for domestic violence has resigned, a police chief said during a news conference.
The officer, John Turnure, submitted his resignation on March 30.
FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) Akron Lodge 7 issued a statement on Thursday defending the actions of Mr Turnure, who is white, during the arrest of Charles Hicks II, who is black in the US state of Ohio.
The statement said Mr Turnure’s resignation was for “various personal and professional reasons” but it was not an admission of wrongdoing.
Hicks had alleged on Wednesday that an officer placed his knee on his neck during the arrest, but no body camera footage shows that.
An internal investigation had already been under way, as officers had previously reported that they did use force during the arrest.
“Up until the time snow was used, it was textbook,” interim Akron police chief Mike Caprez said of the arrest.
“We did everything right up to that point.”
At Thursday’s news conference, police showed reporters two body camera videos that show police interaction with Hicks.
They show the 26-year-old standing shirtless on the front porch of an Akron home on February 7.
His girlfriend had called 911 from outside the residence to say Hicks had threatened her with a knife and had mentioned a gun.
She told the dispatcher she was worried about the safety of her children, who were still inside the home.
Hicks resisted officers’ attempts to handcuff him, repeatedly telling officers to kill him before and after he was taken to the ground on the snowy front lawn.
The video from Mr Turnure’s body camera shows him forcing snow into Hicks’ mouth.
Hicks then told officers he could not breathe before they stood him up.
“We disrespected a citizen and for that I apologise,” Akron mayor Daniel Horrigan said at the news conference.
Hicks was charged with domestic violence/menacing and resisting arrest in Akron Municipal Court.
He has a court hearing on April 27.
During an interview on Wednesday with his lawyer, Eddie Sipplen, Hicks told the Akron Beacon Journal: “I just felt like they was trying to kill me.
“It was one of the scariest moments of my life.”
Mr Sipplen said he wants Mr Turnure to face criminal charges.
