Former Missouri Police Officer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Assaulting Handcuffed Man

ST. LOUIS - A former Northwoods, Missouri police officer was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for the assault of a handcuffed man in 2023.

Jurors in April found Samuel Davis, 28, guilty of one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, one count of witness tampering by way of misleading conduct for making a misleading statement to a police dispatcher and one count of falsifying records in a federal investigation for turning off his body-worn camera.

"Today's sentence reflects the seriousness of the defendant's crime," said Harmeet K. Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division. "Law enforcement officers are given immense public trust to discharge their vital duties. We will hold accountable those who violate that trust and abuse their authority."

"Civil rights crimes by police erode the public's trust in law enforcement," said U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus. "We will continue to hold law enforcement officers to high standards and protect the civil rights of all people."

"Samuel Davis flagrantly violated the law he swore to uphold. The victim complied with officers' commands and was already in handcuffs, yet Davis still chose to beat and tase him," said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. "Every law enforcement officer has a duty to enforce the law while safeguarding the constitutional rights and dignity of every person. Davis' actions betrayed that responsibility and undermined the public trust that officers work tirelessly to earn. That is why the FBI remains steadfast in investigating allegations of excessive force and holding those who abuse their authority accountable."

Northwoods police were called to a Walgreens store on the evening of July 4, 2023, about C.G., a man accused of shoplifting and trespassing and someone known to Davis. Davis handcuffed C.G., who was compliant and cooperative, and then placed him in Davis' police vehicle. Evidence and testimony at the trial showed that instead of taking him to jail, Davis turned off his body worn camera, drove C.G. to an empty field in a desolate area of Kinloch, pepper-sprayed him in the eyes, threw him to the ground and struck him repeatedly in the body and face with his metal baton, breaking his jaw and causing him extreme pain. When Davis spotted a passerby, he shocked the victim with a Taser and threatened to kill him if he returned to Northwoods. He then falsely told his dispatcher that C.G. was not present when he arrived at the Walgreens. When the passerby returned, she found C.G., bloodied and crying out for help.

Davis beat C.G. because he wanted to scare him and ensure that he would not return to Northwoods, a sentencing memorandum filed by the U.S. Attorney's office says. The victim was smaller and weaker than Davis, was left in an isolated area and had no cell phone or way to call for help after the beating. Davis "hurt him with almost every tool at his disposal," then lied to the dispatcher, supervisors, investigators and the jury about the attack, Trial Attorney Taylor Payne of the Civil Rights Division's Criminal Section said in court.

The FBI and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug for the Eastern District of Missouri and Trial Attorney Taylor Payne of the Civil Rights Division's Criminal Section prosecuted the case.