Kevin Mayhood
The Columbus Dispatch
Copyright 2006 The Columbus Dispatch
All Rights Reserved
A special prosecutor has decided to drop two counts of assault against a Columbus police officer who was accused of assaulting a prisoner in January.
Former Pickerington prosecutor Robert Mapes was hired to handle the case because the city expected to be sued over the incident. Mapes told Municipal Court Judge Anne Taylor yesterday that he chose to drop the charges against Officer Bridget Kimbrough because he didn’t have proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Kimbrough didn’t oppose the dismissal and agreed to pay court costs of $381.
Kimbrough, 42, has been with the Division for four years. She was charged with two counts of assault after police accused her of slapping and choking Sarah Kroger in an elevator at police headquarters on Jan. 22. Police also said she pushed Kroger into a wall and bench in a waiting room.
Kroger, who had been arrested for drunken driving, was to testify in a jury trial that was expected to start this week. Her attorney, David Goldstein, opposed the dismissal. “They had a videotape; they had two of them,” Goldstein said.
He said Kroger was handcuffed and she and Kimbrough were arguing when Kimbrough attacked her. Kroger, he said, would not sit down and experts expected to testify differed on whether Kimbrough used excessive force to handle her.
Kimbrough’s attorney, John Waddy, said one of the tapes to be used as evidence distorted what took place. The tape was from a motion-sensitive camera that made actions seem sudden instead of recording them over time, he told the court.
Kimbrough has been working a desk job since the charges. Goldstein said that he and Kroger are discussing whether to file a civil suit against Kimbrough and the city.
September 26, 2006