A Detroit firefighter learned a valuable lesson in June after officers responded to a neighbor’s complaint.
In body cam video captured at the scene, Firefighter Michael Cretu is seen initially non-confrontational with officers, but the situation escalated quickly when Cretu advances toward one officer. When the officer places his hand out to keep space between himself and Cretu, the firefighter grabs the officer’s wrist and an altercation ensues.
“It quickly escalated into a — the suspect, the neighbor grabbing our officer’s wrist, and it ended up being an arrest incident,” Capt. Robert Nenciarini with the Livonia Police Department explains on WNEM News. “I would have preferred that they deescalated it a little bit, but overall, they didn’t have too much of a choice when he grabbed their wrist. You shouldn’t grab the wrist of an officer. When you do that, there’s going to be problems.”
WNEM News reports Cretu became hostile toward officers and he would not follow their orders.
Cretu was initially charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer, but after Wayne County prosecutors watched the body cam video, they determined it was more appropriate to make a plea offer to misdemeanor disorderly conduct, according to FOX News.
With Cretu’s plea of no contest to the misdemeanor charge, some are questioning his wife’s involvement in the case. According to FOX News reports she works at the prosecutor’s office.
Officials there tell FOX News she only works in the warrants division, and she didn’t start working there until after the charges were filed.
“At the time of the no contest plea, the judge made sure with the prosecutor the police officers also agreed to the dismissal of the felony charges,” Cretu’s attorney told FOX News. “To say that the videos from the body cams paints the Livonia Police Department in a bad light is an understatement.”
FOX News reports Cretu was sentenced to one-year probation and community service, along with about a $1,300 fine.
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