At the beginning of the week, the Tarrant County DA's office announced that it will not be pursuing criminal charges against Hurst police officer Disraeli Arnold for his conduct during the November arrest of 17-year-old Andrew Rodriguez on a four-year-old trespassing warrant.
Arnold, you'll recall, delivered a flying knee to Rodriguez head as he was held by another officer, then screaming profanity-laced threats like "Move and fuckin' die!" and "Move so I can fuck you up!" He had choice words as well for Rodriguez' friend, who was standing nearby videotaping the whole thing.
As video of the incident spread, the Hurst Police Department noted on it's Facebook page that "this is not behavior that the City of Hurst and the Hurst Police Department promotes or condones in any way" and announced that Arnold was suspended pending the conclusion of an internal affairs investigation.
That investigation wrapped up yesterday, and the verdict is that, while Arnold's use of force "was reasonable based upon his perception when he arrived to assist Officer Jiminez," his other behavior -- being disrespectful to a citizen, using profanity in the performance of official duties, conducting himself "in a manner which brought discredit to himself and the Hurst Police Department -- was not.
Arnold was suspended indefinitely without pay for violating department policy, Hurst PD announced today on its Facebook page.
