(Reuters) – Two Louisiana State Police officers involved in a violent May 2019 arrest of a Black man who died as he was removed from the scene in an ambulance will be fired from the force, CNN reported on Tuesday.
CNN cited two unnamed sources close to the investigation and said that the officers would be terminated “soon.” Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.
Ronald Greene, 49, died on his way to a hospital shortly after midnight on May 10, 2019.
His death further fueled a national debate over police brutality, especially against Black men, after the Associated Press obtained and released police bodycam video of officers punching and dragging him. One officer shocked him with a stun gun.
On Friday, state law enforcement officials released additional footage of the incident that shows Greene leading police on a high-speed chase, then crashing his car.
“It’s unfortunate that the path to get here has taken so long,” Colonel Lamar Davis of the state police said in releasing the additional videotape. “But we cannot comment on any conduct of the officers involved, and we cannot offer specifics of the investigation.”
An autopsy showed that Green had alcohol and cocaine in his system and suffered multiple injuries from the crash as well as injuries from a physical struggle.
Greene’s family members have sued police for wrongful death. The case is also the subject of a federal civil rights investigation.
Of the troopers involved, DaKota DeMoss has been notified that the department intends to fire him and he remains on leave pending another excessive use of force case, police have said.
Another of the officers, Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth, died in an unrelated car crash in September.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
