BENTON A former Marion police officer accused of kicking a handcuffed suspect has agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of deprivation of rights as part of a plea agreement earlier this month.
In an agreement with the civil rights division of the U.S Department of Justice, Dustin Lingle admitted to kicking a suspect in the buttocks without legal justification while “acting under color of law as a po-lice officer for the Marion Police Department,” according to court documents,
The kick came when the suspect had his hands cuffed behind his back and was lying face-down on the holding area floor of the Marion police station on Feb. 10. 2013.
“By kicking (the suspect) in the buttocks without legal justification, defendant Lingle willfully de-prived (the suspect) of his constitutional right not to be subjected to unreasonable use of force by a police officer,” according to the documents.
Lingle, who resigned from the police department shortly after the incident, will be sentenced Nov. 22 in federal court in Benton.
Maximum penalty for a class A misdemeanor is not more than one year im-prisonment, a $100,000 fine or both.
Also as part of the agreement, Lingle will not seek or accept any law enforcement employment for a period of five years from the entry of his guilty plea.
Lingle could not be reached for comment and his attorney Daniel Kay had no comment on the agree-ment.
A former Marion police officer who stepped down from the department after kicking a handcuffed suspect in February 2013 has been recommended for a government job: that of 911 coordinator in Johnson County.
But some in the county are questioning that decision.
Dustin Lingle, 39, pleaded guilty in August of that year to one misdemeanor count of deprivation of rights as part of a plea agreement.
In an agreement with the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Lingle admitted to kicking a suspect in the buttocks without legal justification in the role of a police officer, court records show.
Lingle kicked the suspect as he was handcuffed behind his back, lying belly-down on the holding area floor of the police department.
In December, the Johnson County Emergency Telephone System Board voted without dissent to hire Lingle at a starting pay of roughly $30,000, said Chairman Norman Lee of Simpson, a retired law enforcement official.
Lee said Lingle scored the best among six candidates who applied for the job between a written test and verbal interview. Lingle was upfront with board members about his history with the Marion Police Department, from which he resigned shortly after the incident, Lee said.
“The board is well aware of what happened on that day,” Lee said. “It’s a one-person office. The sheriff hires and is in charge of dispatchers. The coordinator is merely in charge of seeing that the 911 system is running.”
Lee said the job was offered to Lingle, and he accepted it. But then questions were raised about whether the 911 system board had the final authority to hire the coordinator, or whether that authority rested with the three-member Johnston County Board.
Lee said it was his understanding that Johnson County State’s Attorney Tambra Cain was researching which body has final say on the decision.
Meanwhile, the Johnson County board, which is scheduled to meet at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Vienna, has listed under new business “911 Coordinator Position Hire Approval.”
Newly elected Sheriff Charles Harner, also a member of the 911 board, said that Lingle’s misdemeanor conviction gives him pause. Harner said he was not involved in his interview, nor at the meeting when the vote was taken to hire Lingle.
Regardless, Fred Meyer, of Vienna, who sits on both boards, said the hiring is uncertain at this point. Meyer said he voted in favor of hiring Lingle, but didn’t have all the details the 2013 incident at the time of his vote. Meyer said he was not part of the interview process and was acting upon the recommendation of other 911 board members.
“Somebody mentioned something about some problems, but didn’t go into detail,” he said. “The person that recommended him said that he had learned his lesson. That was all that was said.”
Meyer added that he’s heard from a number of concerned citizens regarding the choice, saying, “I’ve gotten quite a bit of flack over it.”
Lingle was sentenced to two years probation for the kicking incident. Special conditions of his supervision included a requirement that he spend four weekends in a county jail, prohibited him from seeking employment in law enforcement while on probation, and required he undergo a mental health assessment and comply with treatment, records show.
Some board members said it’s time to let Lingle move past his mistake.
Floyd Koehler, who lives just outside of Vienna and is a 911 board member, said that because Lingle was upfront about his employment record, and because he tested the highest of the candidates, “I don’t have any reason not to have confidence in his ability to do the job.”
Wendi Bailey, Johnson County Ambulance director and 911 board member, said Lingle’s history is “not something that needs to be published in the paper.”
“I don’t feel that is pertinent in this. I feel that we are not here to judge people. He was the best candidate for the position,” she said.
Bailey said Lingle’s breadth of experience in public safety will serve the county well as it transitions along with 14 others to a next-generation 911 system. It is anticipated that the new state-of-the-art system would accept other forms of communication such as text messages and streaming video, as well as connect local counties more effectively to assist one another during major disasters.
Johnson County’s current 911 coordinator, James Cuff, has announced his intention to retire on July 31, and Bailey said the board thought it was wise to bring in Lingle in advance of his departure as a transitional period.
Bailey said that Lingle, in addition to working as a police officer, has also worked on an ambulance and as a dispatcher. She believed him to be currently employed by the Goreville Fire Department, though an individual there said Lingle had not worked there for “years and years.”
Lee, the board chairman, said it was his understanding that Lingle was employed by a relative in trucking, though he couldn’t be sure.
