89 cases involving Georgia cops fired for punching, stomping black driver are dropped
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sgt. Michael Bongiovanni, left, and Master Police Officer Robert McDonald were fired.
Shortly after two Georgia officers were fired for punching and stomping a black driver during a traffic stop -- in an encounter captured on video -- the Gwinnett County Solicitor General dismissed 89 cases related to those officers.
Solicitor General Rosanna Szabo said she would drop the cases involving former Master Officer Robert McDonald and former Sgt. Michael Bongiovanni over issues of credibility, Fox 5 reported.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“When police officers betray the public’s trust and confidence, justice demands that all those cases that depend on their credibility be dismissed without delay,” Szabo's office announced in a statement.
The officers were either a principal officer or a necessary witness in the cases, AJC.com reported.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}McDonald and Bongiovanni were fired Thursday after two videos showed them assaulting Demetrius Bryan Hollins during a traffic stop. Bongiovanni filed an incident report on the stop, but did not mention punching or kicking Hollins.
Bongiovanni said in the report that he initiated a traffic stop on Wednesday after Hollins changed lanes three times without signaling.
The officer called backup when Hollins yelled: "I need to call my mom."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The report claimed Hollins put his hands up as Bongiovanni pulled him from the car. Bongiovanni then turned Hollins, and tried to pin him between the door and the car. Hollins refused to put his hands behind his back and actively resisted, the report said.
The videos, however, contradicted the incident report. It showed Hollins exiting the car with both hands up, and Bongiovanni hitting him in the face as Hollins stands with his hands still up. McDonald was then seen stomping on Hollins' head in a second video.
“The revelations uncovered in this entire investigation are shocking,” police department spokesman Cpl. Deon Washington said in a news release.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We are fortunate that this second video was found, and we were able to move swiftly to terminate the supervisor who lied and stepped outside his training and state law.”
Police records also revealed the officers had arrested Hollins in a traffic stop eight months earlier for a similar reason.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.