Officer involved in violent arrest of William McNeil in Jacksonville won't face criminal charges: Prosecutors
A Jacksonville, Florida, sheriff's deputy seen on video striking a motorist in the face during an arrest that began with a traffic stop will not face criminal charges in connection with the Feb. 19 incident, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
The announcement, in the case involving 22-year-old William McNeil Jr., came in an 16-page memo released by the state attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit Court, which serves Clay, Duval, and Nassau counties in Florida.
"The State Attorney's Office has reviewed this matter to determine whether any of Officer [D.] Bowers' actions constitute a crime. We conclude they do not," the memo stated.
"Officer Bowers conducted a lawful traffic stop and gave McNeil 12 individual lawful commands, which McNeil refused to obey. Repeatedly requesting a supervisor and arguing the merits of the traffic stop did not absolve McNeil from following lawful orders," the memo continues. "McNeil's refusal to provide his identification, registration, and proof of insurance, followed by his refusal to exit the SUV, show his hands, and obey the officers' orders, created a dangerous situation for all involved."
McNeil's arrest by Jacksonville sheriff's deputies was captured in a viral cellphone video that McNeil recorded. Following the release of that video, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office launched an investigation into the arrest and released body camera footage from three separate officers of the incident.
The announcement that the Bowers will not be charged comes more than three weeks after Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters announced during a press conference that "the State Attorney's Office has determined that none of the involved officers violated criminal law."
At the time, the state attorney's office told ABC News that its memo on McNeil was not complete. It is unclear when the decision not to charge the officers was made. ABC News reached out to the state attorney's office and the sheriff's office for additional comment.
McNeil's attorneys, Ben Crump and Harry Daniels, criticized the state attorney's decision not to press charges in a statement on Wednesday and called on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the incident.
"Frankly, we expected nothing less especially after Sheriff Waters announced their conclusions more than three weeks before the report was issued," the statement said. "Since they are unwilling to seek justice, we will have to request that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate this incident and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office."
McNeil was pulled over by a sheriff's deputy at 4:15 p.m. local time on Feb. 19 for allegedly not having his headlights on due to "inclement weather" and not wearing a seat belt, according to a police report obtained by ABC News.
In the cellphone and body camera videos, sheriff's deputies are seen beating McNeil during the traffic stop after he repeatedly questioned why he was being pulled over and refused to exit his vehicle.
McNeil told ABC News in an interview that aired on ABC News Live Prime on July 23 that he feared for his life.
"I was scared, frightened. I grew up being told that officers protect us, but that wasn't the case," McNeil said.
The state attorney's memo characterized what appeared to be a punch to McNeil's face that was captured by the cellphone video as a "a one-time, open-handed strike to McNeil's face."
The memo stated the move "had a legitimate tactical purpose — to get McNeil out of the SUV and to show his hands, which McNeil did after the strike."
"Officer Bowers' second strike occurred during McNeil's arrest and was in response to McNeil's physical resistance to the arrest," the memo stated.
Authorities later said they found marijuana in McNeil's pocket, a large sporting knife on the vehicle's floorboards and drug paraphernalia in the center console.
McNeil's attorneys, Crump and Daniels, said that prosecutors never interviewed McNeil about the incident and criticized Bowers for not mentioning the "punch" to McNeil's face in his police report, which was reviewed by ABC News.
"Let's be clear, the State Attorney's Office never interviewed William McNeil. They did, however, try to excuse the fact that Officer Bowers failed to disclose his unlawful 'distractionary strike,'" Daniels and Crump said. "They also tried to decriminalize Officer Bowers punching Mr. McNeil outside the vehicle and completely failed to mention the officers slamming Mr. McNeil's face into the asphalt while he was under control and in custody."
Waters said during the July 21 press conference that the deputies' actions are now being examined in an "administrative review," which will determine if the deputies "violated [Jacksonville Sheriff's Office] policy."
"Pending the outcome of this administrative review, Officer Bowers has been stripped of his law enforcement authority," Waters said. It is unclear if other deputies involved in the arrest have been placed on administrative leave.
"I will neither defend nor commend officer Bowers' response to resistance until all the facts are known and the investigation is completed," Waters said.
It is unclear if Bowers has retained an attorney. Asked about the status of the investigation and Bowers' employment status, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office told ABC News on Wednesday that the "internal investigation continues and we will have no further comment."
