Metro officer faces termination

Keith Paul

Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2001 | 9:41 a.m.

A Metro Police officer could be fired for using excessive force after he used a plastic tube to pry open a man's mouth.

Officer William Butler was disciplined twice before for inappropriate use of force prior to the incident with the man, Undersheriff Richard Winget said.

Sheriff Jerry Keller last week approved the recommendation by Butler's superiors that the officer be fired and forwarded the case to a pre-termination board, which will conduct a hearing and make its final recommendation to the sheriff.

The board can recommend Butler's firing or a lesser punishment, but Keller has the final say regarding disciplinary action. Any decision can be appealed by Butler.

An internal affairs investigation determined Butler used force and an unlawful search of a man by using a plastic tube to pry open the man's mouth on July 16. The man's throat was injured during the altercation, and he was taken to University Medical Center for treatment, police said.

"When you have an intrusive search, you need to have a search warrant," Undersheriff Richard Winget said.

The man was apparently stopped while walking in the 300 block of Cincinnati Avenue near Tam Drive near the Stratosphere. Butler apparently believed the man hid something in his mouth and demanded that the man open it. When the man refused to open his mouth, Butler is accused of using a plastic tube, which officers use to hold hypodermic needles as evidence, to pry open the man's mouth, police said.

Apparently nothing was found in the man's mouth, and he was only given a ticket for jaywalking, police said.

Butler, who has been with Metro since June 1989, is on leave with pay pending the outcome of the pre-termination's board recommendation and Keller's decision. Butler could not be reached for comment this morning.

Details of the two prior incidents of use of force, for which Butler was disciplined, were not available this morning.