A federal grand jury has charged a former Franklin Township police officer with using unreasonable force and obstructing justice.
The federal, criminal civil rights indictment against 49-year-old Robert Wells of Pataskala stems from a May 1st arrest. A video showed Wells kicking the head of a suspect already handcuffed and lying on the ground. Wells resigned about a week later after township trustees put him on administrative leave.
“When a police officer wantingly uses excessive force against a citizen, obviously it hurts that particular citizen but more than that, it hurts the public and other police officers,” said Benjamin Glassman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. “999 out of a thousand police officers are out there every day doing a difficult job discharging their duties honorably. When there’s a police officer out there as is alleged in this case who purposefully uses excessive force to accomplish an arrest, it undermines trust between the public and all of the police officers out there doing a difficult job every day.”
Glassman says the federal investigation also found that Wells made false and misleading statements in his official police report. Wells faces up to 30 years in prison.
