Douglasville’s police chief will cooperate fully with an independent investigation of tactics used by his department, and he expects to be cleared, his lawyer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Friday afternoon.
But attorney Lance LoRusso said the Douglasville City Council didn’t have to suspend chief Chris Womack in order to launch a probe.
“It could have been done while the chief was still working,” LoRusso said.
By a 6-1 vote Thursday, Womack was suspended with pay pending the investigation until June 25.
Efforts to reach some council members for comment on the vote were unsuccessful Friday.
The investigation is to look into whether excessive force was used during an arrest that followed a recent high speed chase.
Morris Tommy Slaughter was chased by police until he crashed along I-20 in Douglasville on March 2, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Slaughter is in jail and facing charges including obstruction or hindering law enforcement, fleeing/attempting to elude an officer, possession of marijuana, driving while license suspended, and reckless driving.
Slaughter’s fiance told Channel 2 that he ran from police after dropping a bag of marijuana.
“I understand that he ran,” Lakesha Weaver said, “but that still don’t give you no right to beat a person the way they did. Plus, he was in handcuffs _ what could he do in handcuffs?”
Womack was involved in the chase, according to court records, but a representative of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said he was not the officer being investigated for use of excessive force, according to Channel 2.
The investigation was turned over last week to the Fulton County district attorney’s office, Channel 2 reported.
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