The Columbus Division of Police has released dash camera video, audio recordings and other materials related to a 2012 use of force incident involving Officer Adam Coy.
Coy was recently fired by the city following the fatal shooting of Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man who was shot while visiting a home on Oberlin Drive on December 22 where he was an expected guest.
Coy was accused of using excessive force during an October 2012 incident involving a Dublin man suspected of drunk driving.
The incident cost the city $45,000 as part of a legal settlement and led to Coy receiving a 160-hour suspension, according to city records reviewed by 10 Investigates.
The newly released dashcam video and audio recordings with internal affairs investigators offer new insight into Coy’s decision to use force during a DUI traffic stop on October 16, 2012.
In the dash camera video, Coy can be seen talking to a driver who Coy suspects to be intoxicated and is later arrested.
But prior to the man’s arrest, Coy walks the man back to his police cruiser before performing a field sobriety test on the man.
As the man leans up against the cruiser and Coy attempts to effect an arrest and handcuff the man, Coy slams the man’s head into the hood of the police cruiser at least four times, according to internal affairs investigators.
Coy told internal affairs that he felt the man tense up and was unsure what may happen. He also spoke of how he was having trouble with his radio and fellow officers were unaware of his whereabouts during the initial portion of the traffic stop.
At one point, Coy is asked to explain his use of force and why he took the man to the ground and later used “two elbow strikes” to help re-secure the handcuffs.
“He’s bigger than me. He’s stronger than me. Things aren’t – he’s not cooperating. I can feel him tensing. I don’t want to get into a position – action beats reaction. I don’t want to get into a position where I am on the lower side of this. And still, nobody knows where I’m at,” Coy said.
In the audio of his interview with internal affairs investigators, the questioning officers repeatedly remark to Coy how it does not appear that the man was resisting.
The investigator then asks Coy: “Ok, uh, so you took a handcuffed prisoner facedown into the pavement because you thought he was going to have the leverage to take you down?
Coy responded by saying:
“He’s bigger than me, stronger than me. When he wrapped my leg, I take him onto the ground. Yes.”
On Monday, the Fraternal Order of Police filed a grievance with the city in response to its handling of Coy’s firing – alleging the city violated several portions of the police union’s contract. FOP Lodge #9 President Keith Ferrell told reporters Chief Thomas Quinlan’s decision to forgo a hearing in front of his office was part of the complaints the FOP would lodge in its grievance.
On Christmas Eve, two days after Coy fatally shot Andre Hill, Quinlan released a video statement saying that he had seen all he needed to see and was immediately recommending that Coy be terminated for his use of deadly force, his failure to render aid to Andre Hill and his failure to initially turn on his body-worn camera.
The FOP also sent a letter Monday noting that he would begin the arbitration process after request a time extension from the city. Ferrell later told reporters that the police union still wasn’t sure if the case would be go through with arbitration but that they couldn’t make that determination yet without weighing all the facts.
Both a criminal and internal investigations stemming from Hill’s death are ongoing.