Ohio officer fired after driving teen's face into concrete

David Rees, Mark Feuerborn and Anna Hoffman

7 hours ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus police officer is out of a job thanks to his actions caught on body camera during the arrest of a 14-year-old boy.

In a document dated Tuesday, the Columbus police chief and public safety director decided to fire Officer Donovan Bever. They accused him of violating the division's rules of conduct, witnessing abusive or violent behavior and violating its use of force policy.

The document details several examples of Bever's conduct during the arrest of a 14-year-old boy on February 19 as the reason for his termination:

• During the teen's arrest, Bever grabbed him by his dreadlocks and “forcefully slammed his head/face into a concrete walkway.” The facts of the case did not justify the use of force as “objectively reasonable,” according to the document.
• Bever “forcefully pushed” the teen’s face into the concrete sidewalk.
• Bever took a phone charger and another unidentified object from the teen's pockets during a search, then threw them at him and hit him in the face.
• After handcuffing the teen, Bever told him, “You move, I’ll break your face.”
• After getting the teen to stand up, Bever then escorted him by his dreadlocks to a police van.
• While conducting another search of the teen, Bever “aggressively struck him in the groin” with his hand.

The officer was one of two to be fired within a week. In another case, Chief Elaine Bryant decided to fire Officer Robert Spann after she said he engaged in “excessive” sexual acts with a store employee while performing special duties in the Kroger area.

Bryant spoke with NBC4 after the firings, describing her emotions after viewing Bever's body camera video.

“It makes me angry. I'm disappointed. I'm mad. I'm frustrated because that's not what we stand for and there was absolutely no reason or justification to treat a 14-year-old or anyone else like that,” Bryant said.

Public Safety Director Kate Pishotti also released a statement Friday afternoon, saying the 14-year-old “deserved better.”

“Officer Bever’s actions were unacceptable and, with respect to his employment,
indefensible,” Pishotti wrote. “What I saw on this video and read in this investigation was totally
inconsistent with the values ​​of the Columbus Division of Police.

Video from the same Feb. 19 arrest showed Bever conducting a traffic stop with another officer for a pedestrian in the roadway while patrolling in Linden. Around 4 p.m., they rushed at two 14-year-old boys they had seen earlier. When the police approached the two teenagers, they fled.

“They were walking down the street, doing what kids do,” Bryant said.

The second officer got out of the police car in the apartment complex and ran toward the boys, while Bever drove the car to another area. When the second police officer spotted the two teenagers across the lawn, he stood back and pointed his firearm at the boys and shouted “Drop on the ground right now.”

Continuing to advance on the two men, the second officer yelled, “Get down or I'll shoot you.” He then strained his voice to shout “Down” several times. The teenagers followed the police officer's instructions. He then approached and began handcuffing one of the boys while he was face down on the ground.

As the second officer began to arrest the first teen, Bever caught up with the group. Bever's body camera recorded him running toward the other teen, grabbing the boy's dreadlocks and pushing him face-first into the sidewalk. Bever continued to pull on the teen's dreadlocks to guide him, while Bever used his other hand to handcuff the boy.

The footage showed Bever continually pushing the boy's face into the ground, while the teen repeated “I'm sorry” several times. One of the teens can also be heard repeating “I obey, I obey.”

Bryant watched the body camera video with NBC4 after deciding to fire Bever, describing those actions as those that led to Bever's firing.

“At that point, as a result of excessive force, the head was forced into the ground,” Bryant said. “There were objects thrown in the young man's face and then you'll see him get up and escort him to the cart by his hair.”

When Bever then rolled the teen onto his back, he was heard saying: “You move, I'll smash your face.” » Searching the teen's pockets, he pulled out a phone charger and another unidentified object and threw them in the 14-year-old's face. After forcefully rolling the teen onto his other side, the teen was visibly bleeding from the mouth.

Bever then took the teen into a police van for another search, holding him by his dreadlocks. Once there, Bever could be heard asking the teenager, “Do you have AIDS?” »

Bever was relieved of duty the day after his arrest, but was not fired until months later. Bryant said the division spoke with the 14-year-old's grandmother, his legal guardian, after the incident.

“They were disappointed by the officers' actions, but they were relieved and happy with the quick action the department and the director of public safety took to resolve this issue,” Bryant said.