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Phoenix Police Officer to be Fired Over Controversial Shoplifting Stop

The decision comes after cell phone video was released showing an officer sweeping the leg of a handcuffed man, later identified as Dravon Ames.

October 22, 2019
1 min to read


Phoenix police Chief Jeri Williams says she intends to fire Officer Christopher Meyer following an internal investigation into a use-of-force incident earlier this year that got national attention.

In June, the Phoenix Police Department opened an investigation into some of its officers and how they handled the shoplifting-theft incident involving 22-year-old Dravon Ames.

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The decision comes after cell phone video was released showing an officer sweeping the leg of a handcuffed man, later identified as Ames, ABC 15 reports.

Shortly after, Ames' leg is swept and another officer approaches the vehicle the suspect was in, and points a gun at the backseat. That's when a woman and her two daughters open the door and walk out.

Both Ames and the woman were handcuffed and detained, but neither was arrested.

A family spokesperson says the two were considered shoplifting suspects, stemming from their daughter taking a doll from a dollar store.

A second officer involved in the incident has been given a written reprimand after the investigations.

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