Former Des Moines Police Officer Sentenced for Excessive Use of Force and Obstruction of Justice
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 13, 2012 |
DES MOINES, IA—On Wednesday, December 12, 2012, former Des Moines Police Department Officer Mersed Dautovic was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release, for violating a person’s civil rights through the use of excessive force and obstruction of justice, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt.
On August 8, 2012, a jury found that Dautovic violated a citizen’s civil rights by beating him during a traffic stop. The jury specifically found that Dautovic used a dangerous weapon, an ASP baton, and caused serious bodily injury. The jury also found that Dautovic obstructed justice by falsifying a written statement about the incident.
This case was investigated by the Des Moines Resident Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was jointly prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.