Cop boots pregnant woman in stomach; Dept. says it's fine
Published: 10 May, 2012, 23:42
Edited: 10 May, 2012, 23:42


A rogue cop from the DeKalb County Police Department in the state of
Georgia is in the news for the third time in only seven months. Officer
Jerad Wheeler is now being investigated after kicking a pregnant woman
in the stomach.
No charges have been filed against Officer Wheeler for kicking Raven
Dozier in the abdomen after the cop responded to a call involving a
child custody issue, reports local television station WSBTV News. Dozier
says she was trying to calm her brother down during police questioning
after a police officer used a Taser gun on her sibling. After her
brother was shot, Ms. Dozier says she started crying and questioning the
officer over his actions. That’s when Wheeler is reported to have gotten
violent.
"I think he really just didn't want me asking him any questions,
questioning him, and when I did question him is when he kicked me,"
Dozier tells the station.
Ms. Dozier was just shy of nine months pregnant during the incident. She
underwent an emergency c-section procedure two weeks after and gave
birth to a healthy baby boy, Levii. Now more than four months after
being assaulted by the officer, Dozier is still demanding justice.
According to the Dekalb County Police Department, Officer Wheeler was in
the right.
Despite being only days away from her due date, Officer Wheeler says he
could not tell that Ms. Dozier was pregnant during the incident.
Regardless, he explains in the official police report that accompanied
the incident that he used "a front push kick to the abdomen, as he was
taught to do at the academy” because she “approached him aggressively.”
A police report was filed because officers charged Ms. Dozier for
obstruction during the altercation. Prosecutors have since dropped the
charge.
A public profile exists on Facebook for a Jerad Wheeler from Atlanta,
Georgia that lists his employer as Dekalb County Police Department.
Among Wheeler’s listed activities are grappling, training, weight
lifting and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
According to the Facebook page for Jerad Wheeler, one of his favorite
quotes is "Weapons give me a semi.”
Four months after the incident, WSBTV confirms that Officer Wheeler is
under a criminal probe for the incident. When Ms. Dozier initially filed
a complaint, however, the police department dismissed her allegations,
refused an investigation and OK’d the officer’s actions. At least four
supervisors and an internal affairs detective subsequently approved of
Wheeler’s actions and agreed that the attack was within the department’s
use of force policy.
“What kind of a human being kicks a pregnant woman? I mean, forget
whether or not it is a police officer that is supposedly protecting
people," Dozier's attorney, Mark Bullma, tells WSBTV News.
"He was not, he had no reason to do that, and for a higher authority to
say that he is OK, his boss is wrong too," Dozier adds.
"I believe that something should be done. Men go to jail every day for
hitting women and it's not OK just because he is a police officer.”
A call placed by RT America with the Dekalb County Police Department
inquiring if Officer Wheeler is currently receiving pay was not
returned. WSBTV reports that a police representative declined to comment
with them as well regarding how the department was handling the officer.
What has been revealed, however, is more shocking news about the
officer's sordid past, including events from only the last few months.
In September, a 53-year old woman said the officer twisted her arm and
slammed her into a cop car for seemingly no reason. This January,
Wheeler responded to a 911 call by arriving at the wrong address, then
shooting a leashed dog that was inside the incorrect home’s garage. He
was exonerated of both crimes.
"It's showing that there is an ongoing pattern and practice of
attempting to clear officers of clearly illegal, unconstitutional, and
improper conduct," Bullman adds.