A Hartford police officer is going to trial on charges of misconduct and assault and battery. The office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says 31-year-old Matthew Mistretta was arraigned in May in 7th District Court of Van Buren County. He was charged after a review by the AG’s Public Integrity Unit. It says bystanders watched last August as Mistretta conducted a traffic stop on a truck that was speeding and being driven erratically. Video showed Mistretta removing a man from the truck, shoving him into the side of the truck to handcuff him, and then slamming him onto the hood of the patrol car. Mistretta then took the man to the ground and knelt on him. The driver never resisted. Mistretta will be back in court on September 20. Nessel says her office will “hold public servants accountable who fail to uphold the integrity of their oath to protect and serve.” Mistretta could be sentenced to five years in prison if found guilty on the charge of misconduct in office by a public official.
