Grand jury: Dover police officer assaulted suspect

ByRANDALL CHASE AP logo
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
VIDEO: Dover police officer charged with felony assault
A grand jury in Delaware has formally charged a Dover police officer with felony assault.

DOVER, Del. -- The attorney for a Dover police officer is blasting prosecutors' efforts to continue to pursue assault charges against him after a grand jury declined last year to indict him.

Cpl. Thomas Webster was arrested and released on bond Monday after a second grand jury indicted him on assault.

Webster was placed on leave in 2013 after reportedly kicking Lateef Dickerson, a suspect in a fight, breaking his jaw and rendering him unconscious.

But a grand jury declined to indict Webster in March 2014, and the U.S. Attorney's Office found no civil rights violation.

The ACLU subsequently sued Dover police on Dickerson's behalf.

A spokesman for Attorney General Matt Denn says Denn, who took office in January, reviewed the case and thought it should be presented to a grand jury again.

Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.