JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. — Jeffersontown Police Chief Rick Sanders has apologized after he said an officer acted on wrong information when he charged an innocent bystander during an incident outside of McDonald's last month.
"I stand here today number one trying to explain trying why we were there, why we did what we did, and secondly to stand up and fess up and say we should have done better," Sanders said.
J-Town police found themselves in the thick of a multi-state investigation for check fraud at the end of November. Sanders said officers were called to a bank and a McDonald's because two suspects were cashing the bad checks. Both of those men were arrested without incident.
Amid the investigation, Officer Manny Cruz walked up to Joseph Bennet, who was recording the arrests on his cell phone. In a now viral video, Cruz accused him of being "involved" in the scheme.
"I wasn't involved in it," Bennet told WHAS11 last month.
Bennet said he was recording cell phone video of the officers making an arrest for what he described as accountability purposes.
Sanders clarified that Bennet was not approached because he was recording video, but because someone told the officer Bennet was involved in the check cashing scheme.
"There's just a lot of information going to the CFO, to the banker, to the dispatcher, to the officers that are responding to the run," Sanders said.
At the scene, Bennet was charged with menacing and resisting arrest. Sanders said those charges have since been dropped.
"We could have done better and hopefully we will do better in the future," Sanders said.
The chief said any criminal misconduct has been ruled out, but they are cooperating with the county attorney and FBI Civil Rights Task force to ensure policy was followed. Cruz has been on paid leave as the investigation continues.
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