A Birmingham police officer has been arrested in the assault of a 110-pound female city jail prisoner.
Stephon Green, a 25-year-old South Precinct officer, is charged with second-degree assault, which is a felony. The incident happened while Green was on duty, police officials announced Wednesday.
Police supervisors received a use of force complaint on Aug. 1, 2019 involving Green while on duty. The officer was assigned to transport a female prisoner from the Birmingham City Jail to the hospital for evaluation that night. After arriving at the hospital, supervisors received information of an altercation between the officer and prisoner.
Supervisors arrived to find that the prisoner had sustained serious injuries to the face while in the custody of Green. After learning of the allegations, the officer was immediately placed on administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation, said spokesman Sgt. Johnny Williams.
Following the completion of the investigation and confirmation of the warrant, the information was forwarded to the Birmingham Police Department Crime Reduction Team. Green was taken into custody Thursday morning by members of the Birmingham Police Department Crime Reduction Team and transported to the Jefferson County Jail. He remains held on $15,000 bond.
Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith on Wednesday afternoon said the officer punched the female inmate twice in the face and one in the chest after she threw footwear at him. The chief also released a photo of the inmate’s injured eye.
Green joined the force on April 18, 2016. After graduation from the police academy, Green was assigned to the Patrol Division at the South Precinct. He is on administrative leave without pay pending a hearing.
The officer’s attorney, Scott Morro, said it’s a shame his client was arrested. "Stephon Green is an excellent officer,'' Morro said. The attorney said the alleged victim in the case was in jail for being violent in court. Though she was handcuffed to a gurney, she was verbally threatening Green and kicking him when he used force to stop her.
"This is a non-criminal case and the City of Birmingham is making it a criminal case,'' Morro said. “He used force in his capacity of a police officer. The officers in the field ought to be scared to death that this is happening. That is the crime here.”
"It’s dangerous to treat your officers that way,'' he said. “They are going to stop working if they’re scared to do their job.”
"I’m disappointed, and afraid for the current police officers,'' said Morro, who was formerly a Birmingham police officer. “This officer is a good officer.”
Green is at least the fourth Birmingham police officer arrested this year.
Last month. Officer Keith Buchanan was charged with criminal mischief, false reporting and discharging a firearm in city limits stemming from the July 21 incident near Tarrant. Buchanan, authorities said, staged an incident in which he said he was fired on during a traffic stop near Tarrant.
In April, Officer Devin Carlisle was arrested on a first-degree sexual abuse by force charge. A complaint was received on Jan. 7, 2019 with allegations of misconduct by the officer while on duty. After learning of the allegations, the officer was immediately placed on administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation. The warrant was obtained by the Birmingham Police Department’s Special Victims Unit.
Also in April, a Birmingham police officer was arrested on charges he was improperly using a law-enforcement-only computer system for personal reasons. Zarion Quanshay Brison-Headen, 25, is charged with four felony counts of computer tampering. The case was investigated by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s State Bureau of Investigation, along with Birmingham police.
“The Birmingham Police Department will continue to conduct thorough and complete investigations with a high ethical standard even when those standards must be applied to one of our own,’’ Smith said. “We will continue to uphold our motto to protect, respect and serve citizens in the community and those that are in our custody.”