Cop Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges Of Beating Suspect Because He Waved At Him

Pennsylvania  – Redstone Township Officer Norman Howard, a violent cop who loves to beat defenseless girlfriends and suspects, is finally off the force. At least twice over the past few years, Officer Howard has been charged with domestic violence after beating two separate girlfriends. Of course, as I see far too often, those charges were dropped.

However, his intimidation and threat tactics didn’t work on an earlier victim. Back in 2013, Officer Howard was following a car that 25-year-old David Novotney was a passenger in. Once he had pulled into their driveway, Officer Howard began driving away.  At that time, Mr. Novoteny got out of the vehicle and waved to the officer as he left.

For an unknown reason, Officer Howard stopped and activated his emergency lights and siren. Without provocation, he approached Novoteny, slammed him to the ground, and began beating him.

According to WTAE, Officer Howard was charged with one felony civil rights charge, carrying up to 10 years in prison, and a related charge that he falsified a police report about the incident. Unfortunately, prosecutors allowed Officer Norman Howard to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge in lieu of the felony charge, with the stipulation that he could never be a police officer again.

As part of the plea, Officer Howard admitted to beating the man without provocation and lying on official records to cover up his criminal actions. He faces up to one year in jail during his sentencing hearing scheduled for January.

Officer Norman’s History of Domestic Violence

In September 2014, Officer Howard was arrested for domestic violence after allegedly beating his girlfriend. Police said Howard’s girlfriend had a broken front tooth and a bite mark on her shoulder after the two had been in a ‘argument’. Those charges were dropped, allegedly after the woman refused to go forward with the charges.

In a similar incident in 2010, Howard was arrested following a domestic dispute with a girlfriend and was charged with simple assault and harassment, but the charges were later dismissed.

Typically, women who are victims of domestic abuse at the hands of law enforcement officers, are intimidated into dropping the charges or changing their stories. After all, who are you going to call when the police are the ones violating your rights? Numerous studies show that being married or dating an officer increases your changes of being a victim of domestic violence.

(Editors note: This isn’t even the first time someone has been beaten for simply waving at a cop.)

Cop Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges Of Beating Suspect Because He Waved At Him is a post from Cop Block – Badges Don’t Grant Extra Rights