Officer Gets Desk Duty for Combative Suspect Encounter

SPOKANE (AP) — A Spokane Police officer has finished a year on desk duty after body camera footage showed what Police Chief Craig Meidl called an "atrocious" encounter with a suspect in the back seat of his car.

The Spokesman-Review reported Tuesday that Officer Chris McMurtrey received increased supervision and extra training and returned to patrol two weeks ago.

The incident happened January 2016 when McMurtrey responded to a domestic violence call.

Meidl says McMurtrey chased the suspect who was tackled and had Tasers used on him because officers feared he had a gun. McMurtrey then had a prolonged, profanity-laced exchange with the suspect as he drove the man to jail, stopping once to open the back door and confront the suspect.

McMurtrey has also been removed from the department's SWAT team. He apologized in a letter to his supervisors.