COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The police officer at the center of a controversial video that went viral last month and caused a public relations nightmare for the City of Coldwater is no longer with the Coldwater Police Department.
Coldwater City Manager Keith Baker said in a two sentence statement on Friday night that Lewis Eastmead was no longer employed by the City of Coldwater.
He did not say if Eastmead was terminated or if he resigned. All Baker said was that Eastmead was no longer employed by the city as of January 12th, 2018 and that as a result of ongoing litigation, no further comment will be made at this time.
Former Coldwater resident Tiffany McNeil filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and the police department last month over an incident at the Branch County Jail in July of 2017.
McNeil claims Eastmead slammed her to the floor of a secure entrance while she was handcuffed. She says she was knocked unconscious and bloodied by the officers actions. The jail’s security camera recorded the incident which has been downloaded to You Tube.
Besides excessive force, McNeil is claiming police lied about the incident in their reports. McNeil was brought to the jail following a domestic incident with her husband in which she consumed alcohol.
When the shocking video was released to the public, many took to social media demanding that Eastmead and other officers be fired for what happened.
