Put-in-Bay Cop Attacked Man In Custody, Prosecutors Say

PUT-In-BAY, OH -- A police officer at the Lake Erie entertainment mecca Put-In-Bay is facing federal criminal charges for an alleged attack on a man he had taken into custody. Officer El’Shawn Williams punched the man multiple times in the face and body while in custody, prosecutors said in an unsealed indictment.

Williams assaulted the man and then wrote fake reports and made false statements to try and cover up the attack, the unsealed indictment says. Prosecutors say that Williams wrote a report that minimized how much force had been used against the man in custody. He also did not state that he hit the arrested man while he was restrained by another officer, records show.

An Ottawa County detective investigated the incident. The indictment said Williams lied to that detective and denied punching the victim, denied hitting him in the face, and denied hitting him while he was being restrained by another officer.

If Williams is convicted, he could face 10 years of imprisonment for use of excessive force and up to 20 years of imprisonment for each obstruction charge.

The investigation into Williams was led by both the Cleveland Division of the FBI and the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Freeman of the Northern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Dana Mulhauser of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

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