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INKSTER, Mich. (AP) — Two police officers have been suspended without pay after the videotaped beating of a black man during a January traffic stop in suburban Detroit, it was announced Tuesday.
Inkster police Officer Chuck Randazzo was suspended for 15 days and Sgt. Shawn Kritzer was suspended for 30 days, WXYZ-TV reported (http://bit.ly/1KKqFqG ). Union representative Al Lewis said that Randazzo was told his suspension was for excessive force and bringing the department disrepute. Kritzer was suspended for improperly administering medical attention to Floyd Dent.
Officer William Melendez was fired last month and charged with assault. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Footage from a police dashboard camera showed the 57-year-old Dent being pulled from his car and repeatedly punched in the head. The beating wasn't publicly known until WDIV-TV aired the video (http://bit.ly/1KKzIIi ) in March.
Also Tuesday, Inkster officials announced that the Detroit suburb had named Joe Thomas as interim police chief. Thomas replaces Vicki Yost, who resigned April 22, two days after Melendez was charged.
Thomas has spent three decades in law enforcement and is a former police chief of Southfield in suburban Detroit's Oakland County.
"We're in very good hands with him at the helm," said city manager Richard Marsh Jr.
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Information from: WXYZ-TV, http://www.wxyz.com
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