Today the trial starts for a Prince George’s County Police Officer indicted by a grand jury in March for assaulting a male suspect in October of 2018. The incident happened outside of a Temple Hills CVS.

Cpl. Stephen Downey is accused of repeatedly hit the suspect in the face as he sat handcuffed and belted in a seat inside of a police cruiser. Downey was turned in by he fellow officers. Prince George’s County Chief of Police Hank Stawinski praised the officers and said that his department has “a healthy culture of accountability.”

Downy has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the trail. Stawinski says after the trail Downey will go through the administrative process would could lead to his termination.

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