JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The first hit to 22-year-old William McNeil Jr’s face during his controversial traffic stop and arrest in February is notably absent from any police reports filed about the incident.
The open-handed blow delivered by JSO Officer Donald Bowers is clearly visible in the cell phone video shot on McNeil’s phone, but it can’t be seen on the police body cam video.
WATCH: Jacksonville Sheriff releases officer body-cam video from viral traffic stop video
On Monday, just days following the release of the footage shot on McNeil’s phone, Sheriff T.K. Waters announced Bowers has been stripped of his policing authority pending the results of an ongoing internal investigation.
He suggested if McNeil had filed an official complaint, the agency would have looked into the arrest earlier.
“We’d have been all over it had that been the case, but he did not,” said Waters during the Monday press conference.
Despite clear mention of a second hit to McNeil’s face during the struggle that ensued after he was pulled from his car by officers, there is no mention of the initial smack he received from Officer Bowers on the arrest report Bowers wrote.
There is also no mention of the smack in the incident report or the response to resisting report approved by JSO supervisors after the incident.
“I can imagine that they had no reason to believe that there was any misconduct. They do now,” said Professor Dennis Kenney with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Kennedy said he believes Officer Bowers’ initial hit to McNeil’s face could qualify as criminal battery.
But the State Attorney’s Office determined Bowers had not committed a crime within days of McNeil’s arrest video going viral.
It’s unclear whether the State Attorney considered that video during its review or if it solely relied on the official reports.
“And frankly, I think they probably should have interviewed the young man that was involved as well. If you’re investigating a potential crime, then the potential witness or the potential victim has a right to be heard,” said Kennedy.
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McNeil was told by officers he was under arrest for resisting and was commanded to step out of the vehicle several times leading up to the smack.
FOP Lodge 5-30 President Randy Reaves argued the smack thrown by Bowers is a technique sometimes used by officers in situations where a suspect has to be pulled from a vehicle.
“You’ve got to put your head and torso in that vehicle and when you do that you are vulnerable. So, distraction techniques are used and one of them is the open hand shove to the face,” said Reaves.
In both of Bowers’ reports, he also claims McNeil had reached for a knife found on the floor of his car.
But that detail is not included in the other response to resistance report filed by a second responding officer.
Video available of the incident also does not seem to show McNeil making any clear reach towards the car floor.
When asked about that detail, Sheriff T.K. Waters suggested it is possible officer Bowers witnessed something that was not visible in the available footage of the arrest.
“I’m not trying this case in front of the public. I’m trying to give the public the information in context of what happened,” said Waters. ”No one saw his hands at that point. Don’t know what happened from there, but that’s part of the investigative process.”
While Reaves could not comment directly on this case, he told Action News Jax if an internal investigation determines an officer intentionally omitted or skewed details in an official report, that could be cause for discipline.
“They would have to find that out. They would find that out through the evidence and also find that out through interviews and that’s just all part of the process,” said Reaves.
Action News Jax has reached out to the State Attorney’s Office asking whether it reviewed McNeil’s cell phone video when determining whether the responding officers violated criminal law.
We’re still waiting to hear back.
As a result of the February arrest, McNeil was charged with several offenses including marijuana possession, resisting without violence, and driving with a suspended license.
He was adjudicated guilty for the resisting and suspended license charges, but the other charges were dropped.
Since releasing the footage of his arrest, McNeil has retained high-profile civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels.
The legal team is planning a press conference Wednesday morning to address recent developments in the case.
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