Angela Townsend and Gabriel Baird
Plain Dealer Reporters
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Cleveland police officer is facing a felony charge over accusations he used excessive force on a suspect.
It is the first time anyone at the department can remember a Cleveland police officer facing criminal charges in such a case.
John Browning, a 15-year department veteran, surrendered to authorities on Monday and was released after posting bond.
Today, Browning, 43, will appear in court on a charge of felonious assault against Michael Fykes of Arlington, Texas.
A surveillance tape made June 30 at the Holiday Inn Express on Euclid Avenue showed Browning repeatedly striking Fykes, who was handcuffed, with an ASP baton - a collapsible tactical baton - and hitting Fykes once in the face with the baton.
“There’s no question about it, that the particular video is vitally important” to the four-month investigation launched by the Police Department after Fykes’ arrest, said Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath.
The results of that investigation led to the city prosecutor’s office filing charges against Browning, who has been on administrative leave since the incident.
He will be suspended without pay during a pre-disciplinary conference scheduled for Wednesday, McGrath said.
According to the original report of Fykes’ arrest and other information from the department, the incident happened this way:
Browning and his partner, Patrolman Francis Santell, responded to a call of an intoxicated man causing a disturbance at the hotel.
When the officers arrived, Fykes was passed out near the elevators on the sixth floor. As the officers approached him, Fykes became belligerent and resisted. Browning used pepper spray on Fykes, who continued to scuffle with the officers, even after being handcuffed.
After Fykes began kicking Browning, the officer “tried to strike the male in the thigh” with his baton but “inadvertently struck [Fykes] in the mouth area.”
Use of excessive force by police officers is not tolerated, McGrath said at a news conference Monday. Any time a police officer uses deadly or nondeadly force, it is investigated, McGrath said.
Hitting the head with an ob ject constitutes a use of deadly force.
Fykes was treated for his injuries and released the same day. He was charged with assault, according to court records. The outcome of the case could not be determined Monday.
Browning could not be reached for comment.
Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, called Browning a “fine officer” Monday and urged the public to keep an open mind.
“The wheels of politics are in motion here,” said Loomis. Browning’s arrest is an opportunity for politicians and McGrath to “reach out and say, Hey, look what a good job we’re doing of policing ourselves,’ ” Loomis said.
Last February, Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration revamped the department’s policy on using force, adding to it -- among other things -- language that “excessive force shall not be tolerated.”
Many officers will contend that this had already existed in the rules but was not spelled out explicitly.
According to police records, Browning reported using nondeadly force 21 times between Jan. 1, 2003, and Sept. 9, 2006, the most recent date for which police data is available. This is more than all but 15 of the department’s nearly 1,600 officers.
None of the uses of nondeadly force involved an ASP baton. Browning used bodily force in all of them except once, when he used pepper spray.
In the same period, seven complaints were filed against Browning with the Office of Professional Standards. This is more than all but six other officers.
All of the complaints were either withdrawn, closed or determined to be unfounded except one. One of the allegations of bad demeanor was sustained, but the record also says it was voluntarily withdrawn by the person who complained.
There is no indication that he was disciplined on any case during this period.
Copyright 2007 The Cleveland Plain Dealer