Officer's
conduct is under review, but police chief supports him
Author:
Joy Purdy
KINGSLAND,
Ga. -
A
family in Georgia claims police brutally beat a loved one during his arrest
last month, handcuffing him and then using a Taser on him.
But
the Kingsland Police Department said 27-year-old Centauris Simon struggled with
police, even after being handcuffed.
Simon's
family was so angry that family members planned a march to coincide with
Kingsland's City Council meeting Monday night, walking from the site of Simon's
run-in with Kingsland police to the public council meeting at City Hall.
Next
week, the police department's use of force board will review the case and
determine whether Officer Douglas Wellner used excessive force.
Mary
Matthews said Wellner stunned her her nephew with a Taser in the head and body
several times while he was handcuffed.
“The
way he was treated was unjustified and if we continue to let this happen in our
community it will continue to happen,” Matthews said.
She
and the group addressed the city council on Monday during its regular meeting.
“I
stand before you tonight not to condone my nephew's behavior but to ask that
the behavior of Officer Wellner is investigated,” Matthews said to the council.
Kingsland
Police Chief Darryl Griffis said Simon's arrest didn't go down that way, and he
said he's given Simon's family proof of that.
“They
have all the material that I have as of today regarding the investigation,”
Griffis said. “That's including the investigative file as well as three in-car
videos and audio footage of the incident.”
Griffis
said the story Matthews and others told council members was not a complete
account.
He
said Simon fought with Wellner and at one point, was on top of the officer,
even biting him.
“He
was resistant throughout the whole face of this whole ordeal,” Griffis said.
“When he ran, Officer Wellner pursued him for basically three city blocks. Mr.
Simon tried to further escape by jumping into the open door of a civilian car.
“He
was bitten twice. The defendant picked him up and slammed him down on the
ground. He had bruises across the waistline where his gun belt rides on his
waistline, and he was bruised there. And he has a few injuries about his face.”
Griffis
said Kingsland police had been looking for Simon for about a year on arrest
warrants for eight separate felony counts. He said his own preliminary finding
is that Wellner did not violate any policy of procedure.