Jury acquits former officer

Associated Press

TOLEDO

A federal court jury has acquitted a former northern Ohio police officer of charges related to allegations of using excessive force and writing a false report about the incident.

The Blade reported that the jury in Toledo reached its verdict Thursday on deprivation of rights, making a false report and witness tampering charges in a case filed against former Put-in-Bay officer El’Shawn Williams.

An indictment accused Williams, of Brooklyn, Ohio, of injuring a man by punching and striking him multiple times in the head and body in August 2017. It also alleged Williams wrote a report minimizing how much force he used and failed to disclose striking the man after he’d been restrained by another officer.

Defense attorney Kevin Spellacy said after the verdict that Williams’ tactics were reasonable.