Joseph Bologna, ex-Philadelphia police staff inspector, not guilty of 2020 assault of protester
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A jury found Joseph Bologna, a former staff inspector with the Philadelphia Police Department, not guilty in less than 30 minutes, Wednesday of striking a Temple University student with a metal baton during a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020.
Bologna was acquitted of possession of simple assault and possessing an instrument of crime, according to court documents.
Court documents show aggravated assault charges were previously dismissed.
Bologna was arrested in June 2020 after video circulated online showing a Philadelphia police officer in a white shirt hitting a protester with a baton near his head during protests near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City.
Bologna was later identified as the officer in the video. The victim was identified as Evan Gorski.
A municipal judge dismissed the initial simple assault and other charges in January 2021. The charges were later refiled a month later.
In November 2022, prosecutors sought to have a felony aggravated assault charge reinstated.
FOP Lodge #5 President Roosevelt Poplar said the union will begin the process of reinstating Bologna to Philadelphia PD.
"A jury of Joe Bologna's peers listened intently to the evidence presented at trial and rendered a fair and just verdict," Poplar said in a statement.