A federal grand jury in Shreveport, Louisiana, returned an indictment charging a former Shreveport police officer with assaulting an arrestee in Caddo Parish.
According to court documents, on Aug. 5, 2019, defendant Dylan Hudson, 34, while acting in his official capacity as an officer of the Shreveport Police Department, used unreasonable force against an arrestee by punching him in the face and head, kneeing him in the stomach, tasing him in the neck and head, pistol-whipping him in the head, slamming his head into the ground, and kicking him in the face. The indictment further alleges that Hudson’s assault caused bodily injury to the arrestee, and that the assault involved the use of dangerous weapons (a Taser, a pistol, and a shod foot).
The one-count indictment charges Hudson with willfully depriving an individual of his right to be free from the use of unreasonable force during an arrest.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook for the Western District of Louisiana and FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Daniel R. Genck made the announcement.
If convicted, Hudson faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case is being investigated by the FBI New Orleans Field Office and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Thomas Johnson of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Mudrick of the Western District of Louisiana.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.