Mayor disappointed officer reinstated after kicking suspect in head
Columbus police officer Zachary Rosen has been suspended for 24 hours after a review of video that showed him kicking a suspect during an arrest. (WSYX/WTTE)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) — The mayor of Columbus said it was the wrong decision to reinstate a Columbus police officer who was fired after he was caught on video kicking a man in the head during an arrest.
An arbitrator ruled Officer Zachary Rosen will be reinstated. Columbus Police officials said Rosen will be back in Zone 4 on the 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. shift. He said Zone 4 includes the precinct were the incident occurred.
Mayor Andrew Ginther said he was "disappointed by the aribtrator's decision."
The firing of Rosen led the Fraternal Order of Police to take a "no-confidence" vote in Ginther. But Ginther today played down any rift between the officers and the city administration.
"I don't believe there is a rift," Ginther said. "We're in ongoing communicaiton and dialogue."
"There's always going to be natural tension between law enforcement and civilian oversight," he said.
After the kicking incident, the man who was being arrested was later accused of spitting on an officer.
DeMarko Anderson, 27, was taken into custody earlier last month after people reported a man was wandering around North High Street near the Ohio State campus, hitting strangers and claiming he had a gun.
"He made threats, being very confrontational," said one witness who did not want to be identified. "He was literally bothering people on High Street, hitting people as they came out of the bar."
As for Rosen's reinstatement, the Fraternal Order of Police stood by him.
Jason Pappas, president of FOP Capital City Lodge #9, slammed the decision to fire Rosen last July.
"This union will not tolerate our brothers and sisters being used as political pawns or scapegoats,” said Pappas.
ABC 6/FOX 28 will continue to update this developing story.
Full text of the decision below:
