The officer, 55-year-old Kevin Brown, was reprimanded three times by Cincinnati police Chief Eliot Isaac after Donesha Gowdy was shocked Aug. 6 by the policeman, who was off-duty working security at a Kroger supermarket at the time, after she was suspected of shoplifting a backpack full of food, WLWT reported.
The 90-pound girl, who is 4 feet, 11 inches, was hit in the back by the Taser barbs, and she fell to the ground without breaking her fall, Al Gerhardstein, the attorney for the family, told WXIX.
The Taser barbs hit the 90-pound, 4-foot-11 inch tall girl in the back, and she fell to the ground without breaking her fall, according to an attorney for her family, Al Gerhardstein.
According to WLWT, Brown is heard on body camera footage saying, "You know what, sweetheart? This is why there aren't any grocery stores in the black community, because of all of this going on."
Both Brown and Gowdy are black, the television station reported.
Sgt. Dan Hils, president of Cincinnati’s police union, says the FBI’s involvement surprised him.
"I am shocked," Hils told WXIX. "This is over the top. There has never been any information that there was anything questionable about this incident. We are still arbitrating over the department discipline."
Theft and obstruction against the girl were dropped, and the city of Cincinnati and Kroger reached a $240,000 settlement with her family, WCPO reported.
Brown was suspended for seven days. An internal investigation by police concluded that the use of a stun gun was not warranted, WLWT reported
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