Another police officer has gotten away with harming an unarmed Black person. According to reports by the Seattle Times, King County prosecutor Dan Satterberg decided not charge Adley Shepherd for punching a handcuffed Black woman in the face.
In June, Adley arrested Miyekko Durden-Bosely, 23, who was intoxicated. According to the officer, Durden-Bosely began verbally attacking him as he placed handcuffs on her wrists. While putting her in the car, Adley claims that Durden-Bosely kicked him. He then punched the young woman and fractured her orbital socket.
The incident was recorded on a dash-cam video, but it’s not clear if Durden-Bosely kicked Adley. After punching Durden-Bosely, Adley could be heard saying, “she kicked me.”
However, there were no bruises on him after the incident. Medical records also concluded that Adley did not show an “obvious injury” after claiming to be attacked.
The incident was investigated by the Washington State Patrol and they found Adley’s actions inappropriate and that he inflicted unnecessary injuries to Durden-Bosely.
But the prosecutor decided to go against the findings by the Washington State Patrol. District Attorney Satterberg said that his office concluded that Adley’s use of force was not criminal.
Adley could still be disciplined by the Seattle Police Department, which could choose to suspend or fire him for his actions. However, he will not face criminal charges on a state level.
Acting U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes said her office will look into the matter and possibly charge Adley with a civil rights violation on the federal level.
