A Mount Vernon Police Department Sergeant, Mario Stewart, has been sentenced to six months in prison for the use of excessive force against an individual during a mental health crisis, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced. The sentencing, handed down by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas, also includes six months of home confinement following Stewart’s prison term, according to a press release provided by the Justice Department.
The incident, which occurred on March 26, 2019, involved Stewart and six other officers of the MVPD, tasked with responding to mental health crises. In an effort to transport the individual for medical assistance, the officers restrained the person, who was unnamed, handcuffing his hands behind his back and placing his legs in a restraint bag. When the person held on to one of a straps, Stewart directed him to release it and subsequently deployed his taser seven times, causing bodily injury and pain to the victim.
"New Yorkers depend daily on the women and men of law enforcement," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton stated. "We trust them to keep us safe, to act in line with their training, and to respect our individual rights. When a law enforcement officer breaches that trust, we are all affected." Clayton praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their investigative efforts and acknowledged the assistance of the Westchester County District Attorney's Office and the MVPD with the investigation.
In his statement during the sentencing, Judge Karas expressed the necessity of the prison term to reinforce the message that law enforcement officers must "yield to authority, and where the line is clear, you cannot cross it." He further emphasized that "The people of Mount Vernon have to know that they will not be themselves victims of their law enforcement officers," underlining the importance of maintaining public trust in the police force, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Adelsberg and Jared Hoffman from the Office’s Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division were in charge of the prosecution. Their work, along with Stewart’s indictment, contributed to the sentencing that aims to uphold civil rights and ensure accountability within law enforcement ranks.
