Three Knoxville police officers are under criminal investigation in the alleged beating of a handcuffed homeless man, officials confirmed Monday.
Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said both an Internal Affairs and criminal probe are under way in the Feb. 9 incident in North Knoxville. Three Knoxville Police Department officers -- Ty Compton, Jeremy Jinnett and Chris Whitfield -- are the target of those probes and have been taken off patrol and placed in the agency's teleserve unit, which takes police reports over the phone.
"I had a community complaint that came directly to me," Rausch said. "We immediately opened up an Internal Affairs investigation. Since looking at the incident (on in-cruiser camera video and audio), we have also opened up a criminal probe."
Knoxville attorney Cullen Wojcik confirmed Monday his client, Michael Allen Mallicoat, was hospitalized as a result of injuries sustained in the incident. Documents obtained by the News Sentinel show Mallicoat, 30, suffered serious injuries, including broken ribs and a possible concussion.
The incident began just before noon on Feb. 9 near the intersection of Grainger and Luttrell avenues. Court records show KPD officers Haley Starr and Cynthia Demarcus were dispatched to that neighborhood on a report that Mallicoat, who is homeless and mentally ill, was being drunk and rowdy as he walked along the residential street.
"When officers attempted to place him in handcuffs, he attempted to pull away repeatedly," Demarcus wrote in warrants.
As the two officers struggled with Mallicoat, Starr was knocked down and injured, according to initial radio reports. However, the warrants filed against Mallicoat make no mention of an assault on Starr nor is he charged with assault.
A 911 recording shows the two officers, clearly out of breath, calling for back up.
"We've go him down," one of the officers said on the tape. "We just need a car here to help us handcuff him."
The pair of officers next report "the suspect is in custody" and they both are "Code J," police speak for OK. A dispatcher informs other responding officers to "stand down."
It's not clear from the 911 recording if Compton, Jinnett and Whitfield were already on the scene when those radio transmissions were made.
Witnesses have told KPD's Internal Affairs Unit that Mallicoat was handcuffed with help from arriving officers, which Rausch confirmed included Compton, Jinnett and Whitfield. Mallicoat was placed on the ground. At some point, his ankles were tied together, according to records.
Compton, Jinnett and Whitfield are accused of surrounding the handcuffed and bound Mallicoat and repeatedly kicking him. The trio also allegedly bashed Mallicoat's head into the cruiser and slammed his body onto the sidewalk.
Photographs taken by witnesses and obtained by the News Sentinel show a pool of blood on the sidewalk and nearby grass. Other photographs show officers surrounding Mallicoat as he laid on the ground, an ambulance at the ready but no treatment being delivered.
Radio transmissions show he was eventually transported to an area hospital. Wojcik would not say how many days Mallicoat spent in the hospital.
He is currently in the Knox County Jail on a violation of probation warrant in a marijuana possession case.
KPD's Demarcus and Starr also have charged Mallicoat with public intoxication, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He is not charged with assaulting Starr, who authorities have said was treated for minor injuries.
Rausch said Starr and Demarcus are not under probe at this point.
"When we watched the video, the actions (of Compton, Jinnett and Whitfield) were the most questionable," Rausch said.
Rausch said once the internal affairs and criminal probes are completed, "we will turn it over to" the Knox County District Attorney's Office for review to determine if charges should be filed.
Copyright 2013 - The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
