Suspect Refuses To Get Into Patrol Car, State Trooper Tenderizes Him A Bit, Cop Now Suspended

SAGINAW, Mich. (WJRT) - A Michigan State Police trooper has been suspended and an independent investigation is under way after a cell phone video shows the trooper punching a suspect who was handcuffed.

Michigan State Police say they learned about what happened only after a video made it to social media. The Saginaw NAACP is praising the public for bringing these incidents out in the open.

"You have to appreciate the fact that citizens in the community are not going to stand for it and they are going to use their cell phones and other instruments to actually capture some of these incidents," said Saginaw NAACP President Terry Pruitt.

The Facebook video was recorded Monday during a traffic stop in Saginaw. It shows a trooper, who has worked on the department for four years, repeatedly punch a man as other troopers and Saginaw Police Department officers attempted to put him in a patrol car.

Michigan State Police say the incident started with a traffic stop, where a man was arrested for operating under the influence.

"I think that thing that disturbed me, seeing an officer hit a handcuffed individual," Pruitt said.

He said the actions of the trooper, who now has been suspended, highlight the need for more training.

"I have to be careful about making any judgements about that except to say as a lay person, seeing that it seems to me that de-escalation and some of the things that we have talked about are in play, that would have been a way to coax this individual into the car," Pruitt said.