WASHINGTON — The D.C. Police Department has reinstated two officers who received presidential pardons after being convicted in connection with the 2020 death of Karon Hylton-Brown, who crashed while fleeing police on a moped, WUSA reported.
Officer Terence Sutton and Lt. Andrew Zabavsky were granted full pardons by President Donald Trump in January. Sutton, previously sentenced to five years in prison for second-degree murder and reckless driving, has been reinstated but will not return to patrol duties immediately, according to the report. Zabavsky was also reinstated this week.
Sutton pursued Hylton-Brown for riding a moped on the sidewalk without a helmet; in doing so, he violated D.C. police policy, which prohibits pursuits for minor traffic infractions, according to the report.
Prosecutors argued that Sutton acted recklessly and that he and Zabavsky tried to cover up details of the incident. Sutton’s defense maintained that Hylton-Brown had been flagged earlier in the day for suspicious behavior and that officers believed he was armed and dangerous.
In January, Trump issued pardons for both officers, stating that they had been unfairly prosecuted. The pardons effectively dismissed their convictions, as their appeals were still pending at the time, according to the report.
