DENVER (AP) - A suburban Denver police officer has been fired for repeatedly using a Taser and punching a man who was resisting arrest.
Aurora police announced the termination of Officer Robert Rosen Thursday for violating several of the department’s policies, including not turning on his body camera, not trying to deescalate the situation and failing to document the justification for the force he used against the man on Aug. 10, 2020, at a supermarket. Prosecutors also investigated the incident, recorded by another officer’s camera, but did not bring criminal charges, police said.
Rosen could not be located for comment and it was not known if he has a lawyer. He has the right to appeal.
Rosen was called to help another officer because the man, suspected of trespassing, was passively resisting by keeping his arms underneath him while lying on his stomach on the ground, the department said.
When Rosen arrived, he briefly tried to pull the man’s arm out without giving any verbal orders and then escalated the situation by punching him in the ribs multiple times, police said. He then deployed a Taser five times using it for a total of 27 seconds over two minutes, police said.
The man suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital to be evaluated, police said.
The firing came two days after the Aurora Civil Service Commission upheld the firings of three officers over photos taken at the memorial to Elijah McClain, a Black man who died after being confronted and getting into a struggle with police. One of the photos showed officers re-enacting a neck hold like the one used against the 23-year-old Black man in August 2019.
In the announcement about Rosen’s firing, Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said that members of the department have been working to rebuild the community’s trust and Rosen’s actions were “in direct contradiction to those efforts.”
“The poor decisions he made that day do not meet the high standards that the community and I expect from my officers,” she said.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.