2 Hyattsville Police Officers Under Investigation For Excessive Force During Arrests

Both officers have been suspended with pay
Maureen Umeh
My Fox DC
Jul. 17, 2010

HYATTSVILLE, Md. - The Hyattsville Police Department has suspended two officers and is investigating allegations of excessive force during arrests. The two separate incidents involve two separate officers.

One of the incidents happened on March 20, 2010. Officer Trevor Hodges is alleged to have used excessive force while arresting a subject along the 2900 block of Hamilton Street in Hyattsville.

The second incident happened on July 3 and involves Corporal Stephen Bachert. He is also accused of using excessive force while making an arrest at the Mall at Prince Georges.

In both cases, other officers blew the whistle.

"In these incidents, it's our own officers bringing it to our attention, which sort of I think, is a strong message about the integrity of the vast majority of officers in our agency,” said Hyattsville Police Chief Douglas Holland.

Corporal Bachert has been accused of using excessive force before. In October 2009, a 16-year-old said he threw her to the ground and slammed her face into a police cruiser. An internal and criminal investigation was conducted, and Bachert was cleared of any wrongdoing.

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