Two North County, Missouri, police officers were charged in connection with a kidnapping and beating of a person who was taken into custody.
The alleged incident happened after a man was apprehended by the police officers at a Walgreens in July 2023, according to KMOV 4.
Former officer Samuel Davis of the Northwoods Police Department was charged with first-degree assault and was accused of taking the man into custody before deactivating his body camera. Davis then allegedly beat the man with a baton and left him in a field in Kinloch, Missouri.
A report from ABC alleged that Davis had broken the man’s jaw and then failed to write a report or inform dispatchers.
A witness reportedly found the man bloodied and called police.
Davis’ supervisor, Michael Hill, also of the Northwoods Police Department, is accused in court documents of making a statement to a Walgreens employee about what would happen to the victim. Hill is also accused of turning off his body camera during the incident.
Both officers were released on bail.
This incident followed a report from May 2023 of another North County police officer also being accused of kidnapping and assault.
Cpl. James Sims, an officer with the North County Police Cooperative, was accused of similar crimes in connection to incidents in November 2022 and May 2023, when he allegedly responded to a fight his brother was involved in. Sims was accused of responding to an incident outside his patrolling area.
Sims also allegedly failed to notify his dispatch that he arrived at a residence and also did not activate his body camera. When other officers arrived at the scene, they reportedly saw that Sims had handcuffed someone in front of him. Sims was accused of unlawfully handcuffing the man as well as injuring him and his brother.
KMOV 4 reported that Sims was charged with kidnapping and third-degree assault, with police records showing that the victim “had obviously been beaten.”
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