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Indicted on six counts of civil rights violations, obstruction of justice, and firearms offenses, a former Michigan police officer pleaded guilty Friday to using excessive force against a civilian arrestee and violating the arrestee’s civil rights. According to the plea agreement, the officer admitted to pistol-whipping two separate motorists in the same night.
On June 22, 2014, Hamtramck Police Officer Ryan McInerney and another officer were in pursuit of a red Honda when McInerney hit the vehicle with his patrol car. Although the suspect placed both of his empty hands out the driver’s window in an act of surrender, McInerney fired at him before pistol-whipping the suspect and placing him under arrest according to a lawsuit filed in 2016.
On Friday, McInerney pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge for use of excessive force. The former officer confessed to pulling over a motorist on June 22, 2014, and ordering the driver to put his hands in the air. Although the motorist complied and did not present a danger, McInerney pistol-whipped him several times in the face, resulting in broken facial bones.
McInerney also admitted that he wrote a false report claiming that he used his fist instead of his pistol when striking the motorist. Later that same night, he pistol-whipped a second motorist during a different arrest which resulted in breaking the suspect’s teeth.
