LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- A Grand Jury has indicted two Gwinnett officers for a 2017 traffic stop that showed them beating and kicking a man – even after he had surrendered.
It was an apparent case of excessive police force - two Gwinnett County officers caught on tape accused of beating and kicking a driver even though he surrendered and was handcuffed.
The Gwinnett County Grand Jury saw two videos of the traffic stop from April of the previous year.
One shows the driver with his hands up. But then, Gwinnett County Police Sgt. Mike Bongiovanni appears to punch him in the face.
The other video from a few minutes later shows the driver on the ground and handcuffed and Officer Robert McDonald kicking him in the head.
Both officers are also accused of pointing a gun at the driver, Demetrius Hollins, even though Hollins was in handcuffs.
The Grand Jury indicted the two officers on felony charges of aggravated assault, and violation of their oaths of offices as well as misdemeanor battery charges.
There’s been no comment from the district attorney’s office but the attorney for Bongiovanni, Mike Puglise, said Bongiovanni did not strike the driver but was turning him around to handcuff him. Puglise said Bongiovanni did not point a gun at the driver or lie to investigators.
The attorney for McDonald is Walt Britt. He’s challenging the constitutionality of the Grand Jury proceedings, in this case, to try to get the indictment thrown out.
