Former Minnesota cop Derek Chauvin could face a whole new set of charges as the DoJ began investigating one of his 2017 arrests.
The disgraced police officer has been booked into a maximum-security prison pending sentencing after he was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter, second-degree unintentional murder, and third-degree murder following George Floyd’s death.
Now, the Department of Justice is also investigating one of Chauvin’s older arrests to determine if he used excessive force and whether he should face federal charges over the 2017 event, ABC News reported.
Back in 2017, the former cop reportedly struck a 14-year-old Black boy with a flashlight before kneeling on him for almost 17 minutes.
The incident unfolded after the mother of the boy called the police saying she was assaulted by her teen son and daughter. After the cops arrived at the family home, they found the boy lying on the floor. In less than a minute after the 14-year-old refused to stand up and obey commands, Chauvin allegedly grabbed and struck him before applying neck restraint that caused him to faint.
As of this writing, the DoJ probe remains ongoing, whereas the Minneapolis Police Department was already briefed on the matter. Though Chauvin never faced any charges over the 2017 arrest, he could now see charges against him pile up should the DoJ rule to pursue the case against him.
Though state prosecutors requested the judge to allow them to mention Chauvin’s prior job incident in the court, the judge banned them from speaking about the 2017 arrest in Chauvin’s recent trial.
“As was true with the conduct with George Floyd, Chauvin rapidly escalated his use of force for a relatively minor offense. Just like with Floyd, Chauvin used an unreasonable amount of force without regard for the need for that level of force or the victim’s well-being,” the prosecutors noted in court papers.
Chauvin’s defense, however, argued that the ex-cop was acting according to the MPD policy, prompting the judge to ban the prosecutors from mentioning that 2017 arrest to the jury.
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