- Documents from a Covington Police Internal Affairs investigation shows why Specialist Zachary Stayton was suspended.
- Documents lay out how and why Stayton was exonerated for one use of force, violated policy on another and how he engaged in “unbecoming conduct” of an officer.
Last week, Covington Police Chief Justin Wietholter addressed the Covington Board of Commissioners to inform them that officer Zachary Stayton, filmed repeatedly punching a protester during a chaotic encounter with demonstrators on the Roebling Bridge in July, would be placed on a 30-day unpaid suspension.
The address was short, both in terms of time and detail, but LINK nky has since examined the full internal affairs investigation into the police’s actions.
Although Stayton has been disciplined, it wasn’t due to the actions that have drawn a lot of attention to him, i.e., the punching of protestor Brandon Hill. In fact, the investigation found his actions against Hill were “to be within policy and current departmental practice,” according to Sergeant Jeff Cook, who’s responsible for training at the department…