Second Police Officer Disciplined in Cheek-Biting Incident

   A second Fort Wayne Police officer has been disciplined in connection with a cheek-biting incident in September.

   FOX Fort Wayne has learned that Officer James Arnold served a three-day suspension for not telling that his partner un-handcuffed a man, resulting in the man biting the officer on the cheek.

   In September, Arnold and his partner, Officer Derrick Demorest, arrived at a southeast Fort Wayne home. Inside, they found several people, including an agitated man. They handcuffed him for their own protection, but the man challenged police to let him out, which they did. That resulted in the man biting Demorest on the cheek.

   Demorest later confessed his mistake, and was suspended for five days without pay. But his partner, Officer Arnold, never reported it. When that became clear, Arnold was suspended for three days without pay.

   “The difference in the penalties were that Officer Demorest is the one that physically un-handcuffed this individual, not Officer Arnold,” said Police Chief Rusty York.

   York says Arnold reported a scuffle, but not that the man was un-handcuffed.

   “We hold officers to a high standard. If something didn't happen exactly the way it should, we need to know about it,” said York.

   Officer Arnold joined Fort Wayne Police at the end of October 2007. Other than a few car wrecks, his official record is fairly clean.

   “This was the first violation in fact—you know, rule violation—other than the driving incident that he's had,” said York.

   Arnold's suspension will be officially announced at the next Board of Public Safety meeting in January.