A Wilmington police officer seen on social media repeatedly slamming a man’s head during an arrest inside a Southbridge convenience store last year is no longer with the department.
“I can confirm that he [Samuel Waters] is no longer a member of our department,” Wilmington Police Department spokesman David Karas said on Thursday. “That is now effective as of January 5.”
The department would not say under what circumstance Waters is no longer with the department, but multiple officials, including one with direct knowledge of the situation, told Delaware Online/The News Journal that Waters was terminated.
ORIGINAL STORY:Federal lawsuit claims Wilmington officer used ‘excessive force’ when slamming man’s head
Messages to Waters’ attorney have not been returned.
Waters, who had been on the force for three years, was placed on administrative duty even before video of the Sept. 21 incident went viral. The department’s Office of Professional Standards immediately launched an investigation.
The status of that investigation was not made clear.
The police department did not issue a public release about the incident, the arrest of the suspect whose head was slammed or the investigation launched by the department until a Delaware Online/The News Journal reporter asked about the incident in September.
Since then, a federal lawsuit has been filed against Waters claiming he used excessive force and a racial slur when arresting the suspect, Dwayne Brown.
The lawsuit, filed in October by the Jacobs & Crumplar Law Firm, claims Waters called the suspect the N-word.
The suit, which is still pending, seeks compensatory and punitive damages and claims that the victim suffered serious physical and emotional injuries.
In October, civil rights activists called for Waters’ firing and arrest.
Members of the Delaware NAACP also sought the resignation of Wilmington Police Chief Robert J. Tracy and a federal investigation of the Wilmington Police Department and other police agencies that have continuously mistreated people of color in Delaware.
CALL FOR ARREST AND DISMISSAL:‘Straw that broke the camel’s back,’ activists say as calls for Wilmington officer’s arrest grow
The activists and Brown’s lawyers have urged the department to release Waters’ body camera footage.
The incident was also captured on the store’s surveillance video and shared widely on social media.
The video shows the suspect inside 3C’s Food Market in Southbridge ready to leave when he stops to let a man on crutches enter. The suspect then appears to start speaking to someone off-camera.
That’s when the officer appears in the frame.
The officer grabs Brown’s right wrist and begins to turn him, putting his right hand on plexiglass near the cashier. Brown, who is turning his head over his right shoulder, can be seen saying something to the officer.
As the officer has the man turned toward the plexiglass, the officer then grabs his left wrist and, with his body, slams him into the plexiglass. This, according to the lawsuit, occurred despite the suspect not being “combative, physically aggressive, actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.”
The officer then takes his left hand and grabs the back of the man’s head, banging it twice against the plexiglass before taking him down. Both the officer and Brown then disappear from view.
The lawsuit claims Waters never identified himself as a police officer and that he did not give a warning that use of force would be used as the department’s directive requires.
According to the lawsuit, the suspect was taken outside the store where Waters continued to use excessive force. During this time, the man feared he would be killed, according to the lawsuit.
The officer said in court documents that Brown has a “no contact” order prohibiting him from being on New Castle Avenue, the street on which 3C’s is located. The no-contact order stems from a May incident in which the man was charged with possession of marijuana and a controlled substance.
That case is pending in Superior Court.
After his September arrest, he was charged with two counts of harassment, resisting arrest, breach of release and possession of marijuana. He was released on $4,100 unsecured bail.
That matter is also pending in Superior Court.
Reporter Xerxes Wilson contributed to this story.
Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.
