Friday, May 10, 2002
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Friday, May 10, 2002 |
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Source: Top sheriff's official suspended; FBI investigating arrest of armed robbery suspect By JOHN
MUNFORD
A top official at the Fayette County Sheriff's Department has been suspended for "mishandling evidence" relating to an internal investigation, The Citizen has confirmed. Maj. Ken Rose was suspended from the department recently, according to an official close to the investigation. Details of the suspension were unavailable at press time Thursday afternoon because Sheriff's Department officials were unavailable for comment. The evidence in question is a videotape that depicts a sheriff's deputy using force to subdue an armed robbery suspect who led police on a chase through Fayetteville, the official confirmed, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have already reviewed a copy of the tape, the source confirmed. The FBI is seeking the medical records of the suspect as part of its investigation, the source added. The physical force used by the deputy was appropriate and no action was taken against him, Maj. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department said last week. The deputy told officials that the use of force was appropriate because the suspect, Melvin Mitchell, 22, refused to reveal his hands, which could have been holding a weapon at the time, Jordan has said previously. Rose heads the patrol division at the Sheriff's Department. It is unclear if his duty status will change once his suspension ends. An attorney for Mitchell, who was later charged with murder because his vehicle struck and killed another motorist, claimed police brutally beat him while making the arrest. "Look at his face," attorney Dwight Thomas told a throng of reporters and television cameras after a recent hearing in Fayette County Magistrate Court.
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