Police officer who punched woman outside McDonald’s is due in court next week

VANDALIA — The Butler Twp. police sergeant who punched a woman outside a McDonald’s in the township in January, while trying to take her into custody, has a date in criminal court next week.

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Sgt. Todd Stanley, charged with misdemeanor assault stemming from the incident, is to be arraigned in Vandalia Municipal Court on April 20, according to online court records. The case was filed April 5.

News Center 7 has reached out to court administrators for the documents related to the charge.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations, which was called in to take over the investigation from Butler Twp. police, “filed charges in Vandalia Municipal Court at the direction of our office’s Special Prosecutor [sic], who was appointed to handle the case,” Steve Irwin, press secretary to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

“We do not have any further comment on the pending matter,” he said.

Also Thursday afternoon, Butler Twp. Police Chief John Porter told News Center 7 that Sgt. Stanley remains on administrative leave as the Department of Justice investigation is not complete and the Butler Twp. Police Department internal investigation is ongoing.

“We can provide no further comment due to the ongoing investigations,” Chief Porter said of the Jan. 16 incident.

A bystander’s video showed an officer punching a woman multiple times during an arrest at a McDonalds on York Commons Boulevard on the afternoon of Jan. 16.

Porter confirmed the video and identified the officers involved in the call as Sgt. Stanley and Officer Tim Zellers. Stanley has been with the department 22 1/2 years, while Zellers has been with the department for 2 1/2 years. Neither officer had any previous reprimands in their files, according to Porter.

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News Center 7 is following the Stanley case and will update this story with details as we learn more.

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