A violent power-tripping cop from Michigan who spent years abusing residents whereas receiving promotions was fired final week after the most recent lawsuit towards him resulted in a million-dollar settlement for a Black man he had tasered repeatedly throughout a site visitors cease in 2024.
“You’re shedding your job, bro!” mentioned Drakkar Williams after he had been tasered for greater than 40 seconds.
“I’m not shedding something,” responded Melvindale Police Lt. Matthew Furman.
However lower than two years after his abusive arrest, Williams was confirmed appropriate, native media reported.
Furman can be dealing with felony fees stemming from the incident, together with two others. He’s additionally dealing with one other pending lawsuit from a kind of felony instances from a Black lady named Alicia Prepare dinner, who was pulled out of her automotive and tasered when she took too lengthy to supply her identification in 2024.
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Furman’s felony trial is scheduled for April, the place he’s dealing with three felonious counts of official misconduct, two counts of felonious assault, and three counts of misdemeanor assault and battery, which may ship him to jail for a few years.
If convicted, his 14-year profession of abusing residents and destroying lives — whereas producing a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} for town by impounding vehicles — will come to a well-deserved finish.
However Furman has pleaded not responsible and seems assured he’ll win since he has just about gotten away with the abuse for therefore lengthy, regardless that a lot of it was documented by his personal physique digital camera. The police union has additionally filed a grievance towards the police chief, accusing him of terminating Furman with out due course of.
David Robinson, the lawyer representing Williams and Prepare dinner, describes Furman as a “racist and a corrupt cop having a fame for being extremely abusive and overly aggressive,” within the lawsuit that was simply settled for one million {dollars}.
The seven-figure settlement led Melvindale’s insurance coverage firm to drop town as a shopper, citing too many lawsuits towards it. Now town is scrambling to discover a new insurance coverage firm, in accordance with native media.
“It’s fairly important,” Robinson mentioned. “The truth that town is not going to have a provider to guard it from its personal workers, frankly, places the burden and the monetary duty again on town. They turn out to be self-insured.”
Watch the video of Williams’ arrest under.
‘You’re Going to Lose Your Badge’
Williams’ arrest passed off on July 20, 2024, after Furman pulled him over for driving round barricades in his neighborhood. Within the automotive with Williams was his girlfriend, sitting within the passenger seat, and two young children within the again seat.
Nonetheless, the video exhibits Williams supplied Furman with a pretend identify after telling the cop he didn’t have any identification on him, apparently as a result of he had a warrant for his arrest.
The video exhibits Williams asking for a supervisor after Furman started escalating his tone in his traditional condescending method, however Furman responded by telling him he was the highest-ranked cop beneath the chief.
After one other cop arrives, Furman orders Williams to step out of the automotive, which he does. Furman then orders him to put his palms on the automotive’s roof, which he additionally does.
However then Furman orders him to put his palms behind his again whereas Williams is telling the second cop, who’s holding his arms in place, that the roof is scorching and burning his palms.
“Palms behind your again, interlace your fingers,” Furman orders as Williams is debating with the second cop, tasering him inside seconds, by no means even giving him an opportunity to conform.
Furman tasered Williams repeatedly for 40 seconds whereas ordering him to “cease shifting” because the Black man’s physique was convulsing from the electrical shocks.
“You’re going to search out out,” Williams tells Furman after he’s handcuffed and sitting on the bottom.
“You simply came upon, didn’t you?” Furman responds.
“You’re going to lose your badge,” Williams tells Furman as he’s sitting handcuffed on the again of a firetruck.
“I ain’t going to lose sh_t, however you’re going to lose your freedom since you’re going to jail, motherf_cker,” Furman responds.
“I’ve heard that one million occasions, dude, you need to be a punk?” Furman taunts Williams about telling him he’ll lose his badge.
“I swear to god, my lawyer goes to handle you,” Williams says.
“We’ll see you then,” replies Furman, clearly not realizing simply how proper Williams turned out to be about Furman shedding his job.
‘Your Conduct Warrants Termination’
At one level, whereas sitting on the again of the fireplace truck in handcuffs, Williams stands however makes no threatening transfer, however Furman grabs him by the hair, forcing him to sit down again down once more.
“Sit the f_ck down,” Furman says whereas pulling his hair.
Robinson, the lawyer, described Furman’s lies in his lawsuit as follows.
In an effort to cowl up for his unlawful actions Furman drafted a fictionalized model of the occasions in his report.
Furman first claimed in his report that Plaintiff grabbed his taser 2 occasions. It is a lie.
Second, Furman claimed in his report he noticed the Plaintiff’s “proper arm reducing towards the entrance of seat.” Once more, that is belied by the physique cam footage.
Third, Furman then claims the Plaintiff refused to place his palms on the roof. That is yet one more lie.
Fourth, Furman claims when tasering Plaintiff Plaintiff is scuffling with him and Rahman. That is one other lie designed to try to cowl up his unlawful use of the taser.
As soon as once more Furman claims Plaintiff grabbed his taser. That is belied by the physique cam.
Fifth, Furman admits to grabbing Plaintiff’s hair however fails to memorialize how he banged Plaintiff’s head into the again of the fireplace truck.
It is a willful omission figuring out such use of drive to be completely unjustified. As depicted on Furman’s physique cam when Furman is pounding Plaintiff’s head into the again of the fireplace truck Paintiff is contained and handcuffed along with his palms behind his again.
Furman, who has been described by native media as “Melvindale’s most polarizing police officer,” has claimed up to now that he’s simply “proactive” to justify his abuse.
However Wayne County prosecutors view his proactive fashion of policing as acts of felony exercise in describing the costs towards him.
In 2018, former Melvindale Police Chief Chad Hayes filed a lawsuit, accusing Furman of participating in “repeated incidents of police brutality.”
The previous chief additionally accused Furman of towing an extreme variety of vehicles so as to increase income for town, claiming the rogue cop was answerable for 80 p.c of all impounded vehicles, producing $500,000 in income.
However Hayes claimed he was fired for making an attempt to maintain Furman’s aggressive actions in verify, regardless that he was awarded an undisclosed settlement.
Nonetheless, now that town’s insurance coverage firm has dropped them as a shopper, town of Melvindale not views Furman as a revenue-generating asset.
“I’m scripting this letter to tell you that I’ve made the choice to terminate your employment from the Metropolis of Melvindale Police Division,” Chief Chris Egan wrote in a letter dated Feb. 11, in accordance with native media.
“It’s with out query that your conduct warrants termination for trigger.”
