AUSTIN, Texas — Two former Austin Police Department officers who were found not guilty for their actions stemming from a downtown shooting are seeking reinstatement to the force.
A week-long arbitration began Monday for Robert Pfaff and Donald Petraitis, who were accused of excessive force and lying about it in official reports.
City attorneys who are fighting their reinstatement showed body camera video from officers at the 2018 scene downtown. It showed a witness to a shooting being shocked with a Taser while he was kneeling with his hands in the air.
Pfaff and Petraitis wrote in reports that Quentin Perkins appeared to be about to flee.
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Their attorneys have argued that they didn't remember what happened accurately but didn't intend to falsify their reports.
They argue that the officers were aware that their actions are constantly recorded and realize that they would not have been able to fabricate an account unnoticed.
City officials said that although the officers were found not guilty in December on charges that included evidence tampering and assault, Police Chief Brian Manley determined that they violated multiple department violations – a different standard than jurors considered in a criminal trial.
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