Two Warren police officers charged with assault in 2023 traffic stop
WARREN, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Two Warren police officers were fired and are now facing charges for assaulting a truck driver during a traffic stop in Centerline back in July 2023.
The charges and the incident have only been made public recently.
The Macomb County Sheriff's Office investigated the incident back in July 2023 and recently released a bodycam and dashcam video of the assault.
According to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office, Dammeon Player, 50, was charged in August with felonious assault, a four-year felony, and willful failure to uphold the law while a public official, a one-year misdemeanor.
According to an emailed press release, a second officer, Carlos Taylor, 28, was charged in August with willful failure to uphold the law while a public official and assault and battery, a 93-day misdemeanor.
Both are scheduled to appear in a 37th District Court in Warren on Wednesday.
CBS Detroit reached out to Warren Mayor Lori Stone for comment, and she responded with this emailed statement:
"In response to inquiries about a police misconduct matter from August 2023, the case was resolved after the two Warren officers involved faced criminal charges and were fired from the Warren Police Department. This happened under the previous administration. The City's lawyers also agreed to a settlement with the victim that was authorized by the previous administration. To be honest, I only found out about the incident recently because of the media's interest. Public safety is a priority for the community of Warren. Warren's Police Department is respected for their commitment to protect and serve. I was advised that upon review, this situation was identified as a case of police misconduct by a supervisor in the department, at which point the investigation was turned over to the Macomb County Sheriff's Department, which is consistent with how it should be handled. I appreciate the clear message that failure to live up to the highest standards of conduct is unacceptable and will be addressed swiftly and appropriately. As shocking as this incident was, I want the citizens of Warren to remember that this incident is an incredibly rare and isolated example of improper police conduct by the Warren Police Department.
"This administration will continue to take steps to ensure that the Warren Polidce Department, under its new leadership, stays at the forefront of recruiting and training so its employees uphold the highest expectations and integrity as they are doing their best work serving our great City."
The prosecutor's office issued the following statement on the delay in releasing information to the public:
"Our office has published and emailed 300 press releases since I've been here. As you know, I take public corruption and transparency seriously. We have brought charges against more police officers and more public officials than any prior Macomb County prosecutor in the same time period. This includes 8 separate cases where police officers were charged with a crime. Our process for press releases is to post them on the prosecutor's website and to email them from Constant Contact, two separate steps. Thanks to your diligent questioning, I asked our Communications Director for a review. We found the following: Out of 300 press releases prepared, 8 of them involved police officers who were charged with crimes. All 8 of the police officer press releases were published on the office website.
"7 of the 8 police officer press releases were also emailed. This one should have been put on the Web page at the time and emailed but was not. Our best determination is that our Communications Director published it to the Web in February. After our initial discussion, our Communications Director found that this particular press release was published on the same page as it is now, but it was in the July 2023 section, so she moved it to the August 2023 section on the same page. This one was not posted in the same manner as the others. It was inadvertent because 7 other press releases involving police officers were posted and emailed, including one from the same police agency, as were at least 6 others involving public officials or public employees, and several hundred other press releases. We reached out to the Macomb County IT Department to get verification of when this item was posted on the county Web page, which is separate from Constant Contact. The IT Dept. confirmed that as of Wednesday, February 28, 2024 it appeared on the Website. The IT Department is looking into whether they can determine the exact Website posting date from their vendor, which I will provide to you if we can get it. This press release is published and appears on the same page as other press releases, with the August press releases, and not with the July press releases. I remain committed to transparency and pursuing public corruption."
