From [HERE] A white Delaware officer seen on surveillance footage appearing to slam a suspect’s head against plexiglass has been indicted on multiple charges, including two felonies, officials announced Monday.

The state’s Department of Justice’s Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust secured the indictment against former Wilmington Police Officer Samuel Waters, 27, Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced in a news release.

Waters faces charges in two cases that occurred last September, according to the eight-count indictment. One of the excessive force incidents came to the department’s attention after the surveillance video went viral, according to the AG release.

The footage allegedly shows Waters at a store on September 21 forcing a man’s head to strike a plexiglass window several times during an arrest, according to the indictment.

The victim “was injured, suffering lacerations and bruising to their face,” according to the indictment.

The victim, identified as Dwayne Brown in a civil lawsuit he filed against Waters in October, alleges Waters never identified himself verbally as a police officer and had used a racial slur while striking him. Waters is White, Brown’s lawsuit states. It alleges excessive force, assault, battery, racial discrimination and recklessness.

Brown, a 44-year-old Black man, was “in fear for his life” during the arrest, according to the lawsuit, which seeks an award of compensatory and punitive damages.

According to the indictment:

DEFENDANT wrote a warrant against VICTIM TWO and swore an oath that the information contained within that warrant was truthful. DEFENDANT indicated in the warrant that he “immediately recognized” VICTIM TWO from “numerous law enforcement actions/shared intelligence from other officers.” DEFENDANT later admitted he was not familiar with VICTIM TWO and did not know VICTIM TWO by name. DEFENDANT, on or about the 21st day of September, 2021, in the County of New Castle, State of Delaware, did swear falsely in a written instrument for which an oath is required by law with the intent to mislead a public servant in the performance of official functions and such statement was material to the action, proceeding or matter involved.

In regards to the Tampering with Public Records charge,

DEFENDANT wrote and filed a police report describing the incident. Police reports are filed in the Law Enforcement Investigative Support System (“LEISS”) and constitute the records of a public office or a public servant.

DEFENDANT wrote in his report that he “immediately recognized” VICTIM TWO from “numerous law enforcement actions/shared intelligence from other officers.” DEFENDANT later admitted he was not familiar with VICTIM TWO, and did not know VICTIM TWO by name.

DEFENDANT indicated in his report that he “was forced to escalate his control tactics in order to immediately secure [VICTIM TWO] and stop him from reaching for his waistband.” He further indicated that he “grabbed [VICTIM TWO]’s Left Trapezius and stepped forward” causing a “sudden loss of mobility/change in forward momentum” resulting in VICTIM TWO’s “face/chest to make contact” with the wall.

DEFENDANT’s description of the use of force is inconsistent with the video surveillance which depicts DEFENDANT pushing the back of VICTIM TWO’s neck and head into the plexiglass window.

DEFENDANT, on or about the 21st day of September, 2021, in the County of New Castle, State of Delaware, did with intent to defraud and knowing that he did not have the authority of anyone entitled to grant it, knowingly made a false entry in any record or other written instrument filed with, deposited in or otherwise constituting a record of a public office or public servant.

The other incident involving Waters occurred on September 12, according to the indictment.

In that situation, while responding to a domestic violence incident, Waters allegedly used his nightstick to repeatedly apply downward force on a suspect’s neck, according to the indictment. The person “suffered injuries to their face, including lacerations and bruising,” it said.

The tactic allegedly used by Waters is not taught to Wilmington Police Department officers, according to the department’s use of force instructor, and is considered “lethal force,” according to the indictment.

Waters was no longer with the department as of January, a WPD spokesperson told Delaware Online/The News Journal at the time.

Waters faces multiple charges over the two incidents, including felony tampering with public records and felony second-degree perjury, plus misdemeanor charges of assault in the third degree, official misconduct, and falsifying a business record, according to the indictment. The charges collectively carry a potential maximum 13-year sentence, according to the attorney general’s office.

“The evidence in this case shows a clear and disturbing pattern of violence and deception,” Jennings said in a statement. “The defendant repeatedly abused a position of trust and authority and then subsequently lied about it. We don’t tolerate this kind of misconduct by anyone – let alone from someone who swore an oath to protect his community – and we will prosecute his crimes to the fullest extent of the law.”