May 9, 2014

Arkansas Police Chief Indicted for Violating Civil Rights of Resident

HARRISON—Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Daniel Sutterfield, chief of the Bull Shoals Police Department in Bull Shoals, Arkansas, was indicted on a charge related to his use of excessive force in the arrest of a Bull Shoals resident.

Sutterfield was charged with one count of deprivation of rights for using excessive force by kicking, stomping, and using a Taser again a resident under arrest, as well as striking the resident with the butt of a shotgun, all after the resident was handcuffed.

If convicted, Daniel Sutterfield faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the excessive force charge.

The case is being investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyra Jenner from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas and Trial Attorney Cindy Chung from the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

The charge set forth in an indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.