INDIANA
A 41-year-old cop admitted to punching a handcuffed victim in the face, as multiple officers attempted to intervene, according to officials.
Theodore Robert, 41, a former police officer with the South Bend, Indiana, Police Department plead guilty today in federal court to violating the civil rights of an arrestee, officials
“When police officers violate the laws they swear to uphold, it threatens the credibility of our criminal justice system,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute and hold accountable those officers who violate the constitutional rights of people in their custody.”
Sentencing is set for May 19. Robert is facing up to 10 years in prison, according to officials.
During his guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein of Indiana, Robert admitted that he punched a handcuffed victim in the face, as multiple officers attempted to intervene.
Robert also admitted that, prior to punching the victim in the face, he forcefully pushed the victim into a wall and pressed his arm against the victim’s head and throat.
Robert’s actions caused the victim to suffer a laceration above the eye. According to information presented in court, the incident occurred at the St. Joseph County Jail in South Bend and was recorded by the jail’s surveillance cameras.
The FBI investigated this case.