Editor’s note — The video’s 2:40 mark is where the juvenile’s vehicle strikes the sheriff’s department cruiser and the 4:30 mark is where the juvenile crashes.
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The Berkeley County prosecutor’s office released dashcam video showing West Virginia State Police troopers allegedly using excessive force during a 2018 arrest.
Authorities had withheld the video pending the outcome of the investigation. This week, one of two troopers fired in January was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury.
The video is from the dashcam of a Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department cruiser. There is no audio.
The grand jury named Michael Kennedy, 29, of Morgantown, in a single count indictment for depriving the rights of the 16-year-old boy he arrested.
A news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Bill Powell said Kennedy is accused of using excessive force resulting in bodily injury in the Nov. 19. 2018 arrest.
The FBI became part of the investigation a few weeks after initial information surfaced about the arrest.
Kennedy and Trooper First Class Derek Walker were fired by state police on Jan. 18. They had previously been suspended without pay.
The video opens with a sheriff’s deputy cruiser on patrol. Approximately 2:40 into the video, the dashcam shakes, indicating the cruiser was struck from behind. A chase follows until the juvenile runs off the road at approximately the 4:30 mark of the video.
Berkeley County prosecuting attorney Catie Wilkes-Delligatti said the video shows Berkeley County Sheriff’s Deputy C.S. Merson approaching the vehicle with Trooper Walker behind him. Merson breaks the window out of the vehicle because the door handle was broken in the accident and the door would not open. Merson and Walker pull the juvenile driver from the vehicle through the window.
Trooper Kennedy next approaches followed by Deputy Austin Ennis.
The video then shows the police trying to handcuff the suspect. At one point, Trooper Kennedy begins kicking the suspect. Eventually they subdue him, but then Kennedy approaches the suspect and repeatedly strikes him in the face. Later, after the suspect is on his feet, Kennedy tosses him to the ground.
Berkeley County deputies Merson and Ennis were fired by Sheriff Curtis Keller in January. The deputies remain off the job while their cases are reviewed by disciplinary panels.
ACLU-WV Legal Director Loree Stark called the video shocking but all too familiar.
“Law enforcement has a constitutional responsibility to avoid excessive force, and it is crucial for videos like this to come to light so that offending parties will be held accountable,” Stark said in a statement released Thursday evening. “Law enforcement agencies across the state must take internal review and initiative to prevent the horrific and often violent abuses of power that occur when that power goes unchecked.”
Kennedy will make an initial appearance before a federal magistrate in the near future followed by a preliminary hearing and the setting of a trial date.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is taking part in the investigation.