Two Toledo police officers, including one disciplined in the high-profile case involving Olympic boxer Oshae Jones last year, are under internal investigation related to a tense January traffic stop where two women were wrestled to the ground and handcuffed, officials confirmed Tuesday.
The investigation centers on a 3:30 a.m. stop on New Year's Day near the corner of Central Avenue and Maplewood Avenue. Police said the women were pulled over after driving through an accident scene and nearly striking a tow truck. Video shows the car narrowly missing the truck.
The stop appeared to escalate quickly, according to dashcam and body camera footage. The officers immediately opened the car doors and told the women to get out. Obscenities were yelled, including by the officers, Adam Hobbs and Ashlyn Pluff. The car's driver, Melvena Keith, 26, and passenger, Kaylynn Smart, 24, were eventually handcuffed on the ground after apparent scuffles with the officers.
In one video, Officer Hobbs is seen twice punching and once using his knee to strike Ms. Smart on the ground, while Officer Pluff later punches Ms. Keith at least five times. A police report stated they were techniques necessary for the officers to gain control of the situation. Lt. Paul Davis, a department spokesman, said the internal investigation was ongoing and that both officers remained on the job as usual.
The encounter and internal investigation was first reported by The Blade’s media partner WTVG-TV, Channel 13.
The department previously reprimanded Officer Pluff for her conduct during the July arrest of Ms. Jones, an Olympic bronze medalist from Toledo. The officer violated a section of police department rules on demeanor, documents said. The officer was also investigated for striking Ms. Jones in the side of the head during the arrest, but was exonerated of that charge following the internal probe.
The women face several misdemeanors related to the incident. But a grand jury declined to indict the women for assaulting an officer, which would have been a felony, and also declined to indict Ms. Smart on a felony harassment charge related to spitting on an officer. An attorney for Ms. Keith declined to comment. An attorney for Ms. Smart did not respond to a message seeking comment.
The videos show Officer Hobbs pull Ms. Smart out of the car after she doesn't comply with his initial order and instead looks at her phone.
"Why you opening the door like that?" Ms. Smart says.
"You went through an accident scene and you just [inaudible] another car. Shut your mouth," Officer Hobbs replies.
"No you shut your mouth!" she says as the officer orders her out of the car.
"What the [expletive] is wrong with you, huh? When I say get out of the car..." Officer Hobbs says as he pulls her out, before Officer Pluff comes to help out and both officers seek to restrain the woman on the ground. Officer Hobbs then knees and punches her in the side.
The driver, Ms. Keith, then walks around the back of the car and appears to start filming the altercation on the ground with Ms. Smart. "Back the [expletive] up" the officers yell at Ms. Keith as they struggle with Ms. Smart.
As Ms. Keith takes several steps back, Officer Pluff seeks to arrest her. "Stop [expletive] pulling away. Stop turning around!" the officer states, before grabbing the woman's hair and trying to bring her to the ground. On the ground, the officer punches Ms. Keith at least five times.
Another video shows Ms. Smart moments later sitting in the back seat of the police cruiser talking and yelling, including insults and obscenities directed at officers. It appears she is trying to yell at them outside. "He done bruised my face up, smashed me...Is this meant to be OK? How is he allowed to be working?" she says, referring to Officer Hobbs.
Later she says, "What is this? For riding through an accident? Is no one going to get TPD under control?"
The police report for the stop says the women almost struck the tow truck at the accident scene “head on.” It also says Officer Pluff observed the “strong smell of intoxicants” and saw an open bottle of tequila in the car.
The report says Ms. Smart was pulling away and resisting, and a “balance displacement and takedown technique” was used to get on the ground. It says she struck Officer Hobbs on the nose and cheek with her fist. He also reported she spit food on him and bit his finger.
The report adds that Ms. Keith disobeyed an order to stay inside the car and “obstructed with the arrest” of Ms. Smart. Officer Pluff, the report says, used “hair/head control techniques” and other takedown techniques. She punched Ms. Keith, the report says, because the woman was grabbing her “weapon hand,” and she was seeking to free herself.
Other than the incident with the boxer, Officer Pluff, 30, who was hired in 2015, also received a verbal reprimand for a Feb. 2 incident, records show, related to her demeanor when interacting with a suspect. A report said she had used profanity at the man and made a derogatory statement about his appearance. She was urged to "remain calm and composed when attempting to control a situation" even when dealing with agitated, challenging individuals.
She has also been commended for her quick action to save a man who was overdosing, per her employment file.
Officer Hobbs, 37, hired in 2016, received a verbal reprimand for not following proper policy during a Sept. 30 police chase. And he received a written and verbal reprimand for mishandling a suspicious person call in February, 2020, releasing a suspect and turning off his body camera when he should not have.
He has been commended for helping quickly find an endangered child, and rapidly finding and arresting suspects in several other cases.
First Published May 2, 2023, 5:58 p.m.
