Source: Photo: (gorodenkoff/getty images)
INDIANAPOLIS — A police sergeant working for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is heading to federal prison.
Earlier this year, Officer Eric Huxley pled guilty to excessive force charges. It was September of 2021 when two officers, including Huxley, approached Jermaine Vaughn on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis.
The officers had detained Vaughn, who was placed in handcuffs and laid down on the ground. He was supposed to be arrested for disorderly conduct.
At that point, Huxley is seen on police body-camera footage stomping on Vaughn’s face.
Friday, Eric Huxley was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, with six months on house arrest and another eighteen months on probation afterwards.
“This sentence holds a former police officer accountable for abusing his authority when he violently assaulted a homeless man who posed no threat,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in a press release. “The Justice Department is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting law enforcement officials who violate federal civil rights laws.”
Huxley has not been fired yet. He’s still suspended without pay, says IMPD Public Affairs:
“IMPD is aware that today Eric Huxley was sentenced on federal charges. This investigation was the culmination of an internal use of force investigation and criminal investigation. When Chief Randal Taylor learned the facts of this incident, he ordered an immediate review by the Special Investigations Unit and by Internal Affairs. Huxley remains suspended without pay. Chief Taylor has asked the Civilian Police Merit Board to terminate Huxley’s employment with the IMPD. His recommendation is still pending a determination by the board, which will happen after the criminal process is complete. A criminal case remains open with the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.”
The FBI’s Indianapolis field office investigated the Huxley case.
