AG Nessel files appeal seeking to reinstate criminal charges against MSP Trooper, Saginaw PD officers.





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*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:*
December 13, 2024




*Media Contact:*
Danny Wimmer <[email protected]>






AG Nessel Appeals Dismissal of Neglect of Duty Charges Against MSP Trooper, Saginaw Police Officers

*LANSING* – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed an appeal in the 10th Circuit Court in Saginaw County seeking to reinstate criminal charges against Michigan State Police (MSP) Trooper Zachary Tebedo and Saginaw Police Officers Jordan Engelhart and Dominic Vasquez. The Attorney General charged each with one count of Willful Neglect of Duty in August of 2022. Last month, Judge Sara Spencer-Noggle in the 70th District Court in Saginaw dismissed the charges, ruling the officers’ failure to intervene in the use of excessive force by another officer against a handcuffed man in their custody did not constitute Willful Neglect of Duty. 

“When these officers took the victim into their custody, they assumed a duty and obligation to keep him safe from further harm, and that includes further harm perpetrated by a fellow officer,” said Nessel. “The district court judge ruled these officers did not have a legal duty to intervene in the criminal use of excessive force by another officer against a handcuffed man in their custody, and we plainly disagree. We stand by these charges, that this was willful neglect of duty, and look forward to making our case in the Circuit Court that they were correctly filed.” 

Following a traffic stop in March of 2022, an MSP Trooper assaulted a Saginaw man, punching him in the head while handcuffed and knocking him unconscious. Emergency medical services were called to evaluate the man and then left the scene. The same Trooper again assaulted the man while attempting to secure him in the back of an MSP vehicle. During both assaults, Trooper Tebedo and Officers Engelhart and Vasquez were present on the scene, and failed to intervene in the assaults. The Attorney General argued in her brief opposing dismissal that Trooper “Tebedo and Officers Engelhart and Vasquez had a duty based on the U.S. Constitution as well as the Michigan Constitution to protect” the victim “from further harm while he was handcuffed and in their custody.”  

“At a minimum the allegations and the law cited by the People raise a question of fact for a jury of the officer’s peers to decide whether they have committed the crime of Willful Neglect of Duty,” the brief concluded. 

*"Please note:"*" A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The Department does not provide booking photos."

 

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