Lancaster Police Chief Placed On Administrative Leave
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LANCASTER (CBS11) — The Lancaster police chief is on leave and the department is under review after a police stop the city manager calls "disturbing."
Dash cam video shows Lt. Michael Fine stopping a man walking down the 900 block of Pleasant Run Road at 4 a.m. on August 17th. In the video, Fine can be heard telling another officer he stopped to talk to the man, identified as Alexander Tucker, after seeing him walk by wearing a dark hoodie.
Fine asked Tucker to put his hands on the car. The video shows him struggle briefly trying to pull Tucker's arm behind his back and then hit Tucker on the back of the head.
A minute later, Fine appears to deploy his Taser against Tucker's back, as Tucker screams.
"The images in the video are disturbing enough that the city would want to take a more pro-active approach in having the matter investigated," said city manager Opal Mauldin-Robertson.
Mauldin-Robertson said police internal affairs investigated both the lieutenant's reason for the stop and his use of force.
In the video, Tucker can be heard off-camera questioning why he's being arrested.
"I just told you, resisting arrest, detention," Fine says.
"Resisting what? What was I getting arrested for in the first place?" Tucker says.
"I was detaining you. You were resisting me," Fine says.
"You were detaining me for what?" Tucker says.
According to the city, internal affairs investigators initially expressed concerns about why Tucker was stopped. After consulting with the Texas Rangers and the Dallas County DA's office, though, they cleared Fine of any wrongdoing.
However, three days before that investigation was considered complete, the city says Police Chief Cheryl Wilson allowed Fine to return to duty. As a result, the city placed her on administrative leave with pay.
The FBI, the Texas Rangers and a second police department are now reviewing the initial police stop and the internal affairs investigation that was conducted into it.
Mauldin-Robertson said the city wants to address "questions and concerns regarding the completeness and independent review of this matter."
Efforts to reach Chief Wilson or Alexander Tucker have been unsuccessful.
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