Dover Police Cpl. Thomas Webster turned himself in Monday on charges stemming from an arrest he made in 2013. The Delaware Attorney General says Webster kicked the suspect in the head during the arrest resulting in a broken jaw and loss of consciousness.
The attorney for a Dover Police officer is blasting prosecutors' efforts to continue to pursue assault charges against him after a grand jury declined last year to indict him.
Cpl. Thomas Webster was arrested and released on bond Monday after a second grand jury indicted him on assault.
“As the subject was in the process of getting on the ground he was kicked in the head once by Webster rendering him unconscious,” read a release from Dover Police. “After this occurred the subject was placed in handcuffs and taken into custody. This incident was captured on video by a Dover Police Department in car camera system.”
Webster was placed on leave after reportedly kicking Lateef Dickerson, a suspect in a fight, breaking his jaw and rendering him unconscious on Aug. 24, 2013.
But a grand jury declined to indict Webster in March 2014, and the U.S. Attorney's Office found no civil rights violation.
The ACLU subsequently sued Dover police on Dickerson's behalf.
A spokesman for Attorney General Matt Denn says Denn, who took office in January, reviewed the case and thought it should be presented to a grand jury again.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Webster posted $5,000 bond after surrendering Monday to face the second-degree assault charge. Upon learning about his arrest, the department placed Webster on unpaid leave. The veteran officer had been back on the force since June.
