Two Gwinnett County Police Department Officers were fired after using excessive force on a stopped motorist. Demetrius Hollins, 21, was the stopped motorist who was assaulted.
The two officers who were fired were Officer Robert McDonald and Sargent Michael Bongiavonni. Cell phone videos captured Bongiovonni punching Hollins during a traffic stop while Hollins had his hands up. Another video showed McDonald kicking Hollins in the head while he lay on the ground handcuffed.
Gwinnett County Police Chief Butch Ayers acted swiftly once the videos surfaced and fired Officer McDonald and Officer Bongiavonni. Bongiavonni had claimed that Hollins resisted arrest, but this explanation was not enough to save his job. Officer Bongiavonni had been with Gwinnett County Police Department for 19 years.
Pictures taken of Hollins at the jail show him with a bloody face.
A little known fact about Gwinnett County Police Department is that the vast majority of its cars do not contain the dash cam video equipment recorders that have become standard in most jurisdictions. In this case, it was lucky that the misconduct was caught by cell phone cameras or it could have gone unpunished. Undoubtedly, this case will cause criminal defense lawyers and citizens to redouble their calls for Gwinnett County Police Department to install dash cameras in all cars.
