Prosecutor: 2 people facing charges for falsely accusing Burton police officer of stealing

GENESEE CO., Mich. (WNEM) - Two people are each facing a charge of falsely reporting a felony after they accused a Burton police officer of stealing from them, the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office said.

The prosecutor’s office said a 23-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, both of Flint, are each facing a charge of false report of a felony after they filed formal complaints with the Burton Police Department, accusing an officer of stealing $120 during a traffic stop.

Investigative reports state that the Flint man was driving the Flint woman’s car, and she was riding as a passenger on Feb. 20 in Burton when he was pulled over for speeding.

During the stop, it was determined that the vehicle’s registration had expired, it didn’t have insurance, the windows had an illegal dark tint, and the driver was driving with a suspended license, which is a misdemeanor, the prosecutor’s office said.

The officer’s body cam footage showed the officer ask the driver to get out of the vehicle. He then handcuffed the driver for the misdemeanor, patted him down, and put him in the back of the patrol car while the officer ran his name and wrote him a ticket.

The body cam footage then showed the officer let the driver out of the patrol car, unhandcuff him, and explain that the vehicle violations would go against him because he was driving, even though the car belonged to the passenger. The officer then told the driver he would work with him in court regarding the speeding ticket if he worked with the car’s owner to get the vehicle in compliance with registration laws. The officer also indicated he wouldn’t pursue a misdemeanor charge against the driver for driving with a suspended license.

The prosecutor’s office said the officer then told the passenger that she would have to take over driving since she had a valid license.

About a half an hour after the traffic stop, Burton police were alerted to a Facebook post made by the passenger, which stated that she and her cousin had been pulled over. The post claimed the officer had pulled the driver out of the car and took $120 out of his pocket and that the officer said the money was in lieu of taking him to jail. The prosecutor’s office said the passenger also included the officer’s name and badge number in the post.

The prosecutor’s office said this post was shared more than 200 times within the first half hour and had over 100 comments, many of which were threats against the officer or pictures of the officer’s face that people had pulled from online. People continued to share and comment on the post throughout the day, and the passenger posted again, saying the officer should be charged with armed robbery and fired.

The officer was called into the police chief’s office as part of an investigation into the claims, and the officer denied the accusations. His body cam footage from the traffic stop was downloaded as part of a conduct investigation.

Later that same day, the passenger called the Burton Police Department and said she wanted to file a complaint. The police chief arranged for both the driver and the passenger to come to the police department to discuss the allegations. They were given official citizen complaint forms, and before they filled them out, they were given the following warning:

I hereby acknowledge that I have read and/or been advised of the following part of ordinance 67C section 10-10 (False reports to police) and recognize that I may be prosecuted for knowingly giving false information to police in this matter. It shall be unlawful for any person to give any information, knowing it to be false, to any member of the police of the city while in performance of his/her official duties.

The prosecutor’s office said both stated that they understood the warning, and they both filled out the forms with their allegations that the officer had stolen $120 during the traffic stop and that the officer was rude to them.

After the forms were filled out, the police chief and other officers told the pair that the Facebook post was putting the officer in harm’s way due to threatening messages.

Officers then showed the two the body cam footage, which did not show the officer taking any money from the driver, the prosecutor’s office said, adding the video showed the driver being patted down in full view of the passenger, who could be seen watching.

The footage also contradicted the complaints that the officer seemed very angry and rude because the video showed the officer being very composed and polite, the prosecutor’s office said.

After the police department’s investigation was complete, they presented their findings to the prosecutor’s office, and the charges against the driver and the passenger were authorized.

False report of a felony is a felony itself, punishable by up to four years in prison.

The Burton Police Department posted the body cam footage of the traffic stop on its Facebook page on Feb. 20, the same day of the incident.

Arraignment dates for the suspects have not yet been scheduled.

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