Former Town Creek Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Assaulting an Arrestee

WASHINGTON—Brandon Shane Mundy, a former police officer of numerous law enforcement agencies, the most recent being the Town Creek, Alabama Police Department, pleaded guilty today to violating the civil rights of a man during the course of an arrest. According to information presented to the court, on November 22, 2009, Mundy was involved in a vehicle pursuit and fired shots at a man’s vehicle before later ramming it and causing it to wreck in a ditch. While another police officer reached the man and placed him under arrest without resistance, Mundy ran up and unjustifiably and repeatedly beat the man in the head with an object that was either a baton or a flashlight causing the man to suffer physical injury. After Mundy lost control of the object, Mundy continued to strike the man in the head with his fist.

“The use of excessive force cannot be tolerated,” said Roy L. Austin Jr., Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The vast majority of police officers do an outstanding job in protecting both the community and the rights of the accused, even in stressful situations. But when police officers use excessive force to punish arrestees, they will be held accountable.”

“Police officers who abuse their power in order to assault citizens undermine the system of constitutional government they are sworn to uphold,” said Joyce White Vance, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. “As the plea in this case shows, my office will work closely with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to aggressively enforce the laws that prohibit police misconduct.”

Mundy faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

This case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Holt of the Northern District of Alabama and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Daniel H. Weiss.