FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia jury has acquitted a police officer charged with misdemeanor assault after firing a stun gun at a Black man who’d been acting erratically.
Fairfax County Police Officer Tyler Timberlake was charged with assault in June 2020 after bodycam video showed him arriving and quickly firing his stun gun at the man after other officers had spent several minutes trying to persuade him to get into an ambulance to go to a detox center.
The jury’s verdict Friday came after just a few hours of deliberation.
Authorities said La Monta Gladney had PCP in his system and Timberlake’s lawyer said expert testimony showed that people high on PCP can quickly become violent.
