BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont State Police trooper accused of punching a handcuffed suspect multiple times in the head during a struggle has pleaded not guilty to simple assault.
Robert Zink, 39, of Arlington, Vermont, was arraigned Monday, according to the Vermont attorney general’s office. Zink’s attorney, David Sleigh, said last week that what Zink did “in no way, shape or form constitutes criminal conduct.”
The investigation into Zink’s use of force began after another trooper raised concerns about it. Zink’s use of force happened after the suspect had driven off the road, was suspected of drunken driving and was combative with troopers who tried to take him into custody Feb. 23 at a Shaftsbury home, state police said.
The suspect was resisting arrest, “but the strikes do not appear to be in response to (the suspect’s) actions,” police said.
Zink got intertwined with the suspect after Zink, another trooper and the suspect fell on the ice as the suspect struggled while being led to a police cruiser, according to a police affidavit, the Bennington Banner reported.
Zink could not get free because the suspect had locked legs with him, and he heard another trooper say the suspect was trying to get his stun gun, the affidavit said.
Zink punched the suspect in the leg and buttocks to try to get him to release his legs, the affidavit states. He said that he was too close to use his taser, and that he and another trooper would have gotten sprayed if he used pepper spray so he decided that blows to the head were needed, the affidavit states. Video shows Zink hitting the suspect in the back of the head four times.
One of the other troopers said in an interview with investigators that he thought the blows to Campbell’s leg “were reasonable, but he did not think the strikes to Campbell’s head were justified.”
Sleigh said the suspect was repeatedly violent, noncompliant and was striking out at the state troopers.
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