Following an altercation over a slice of cheese on Monday, a cellphone video showed Butler Township police Sgt. Todd Stanley repeatedly struck Latinka Hancock in the face, leaving her with a bleeding lip. Hancock, a Black woman, declined to identify herself when being questioned which led to the violent incident.
Dispute Turns Violent
Monday’s incident happened before 5:00 p.m. when a McDonald’s was contacted to report a disturbance, Sgt. Todd Stanley and officer Tim Zellers were there. Following a disagreement with an employee, the staff asked that the woman, Latinka Hancock, be officially removed from the premises for trespassing.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Chief John Porter stated that the officers repeatedly demanded that Hancock provide identification before issuing a trespass notice. The chief claimed that when Hancock resisted being arrested, the police tried to take her into custody. According to footage from Sgt. Stanley’s police body camera, Hancock was hit during the arrest.
When the video was played during the conference, Hancock explained that she disagreed with a worker because the sandwich she ordered did not contain the extra cheese she had paid for on her burger. However, Stanley warned Hancock that she was acting disruptive because she was shouting at the officers, a source posted.
According to the police, Hancock was detained and accused of failing to provide identification and resisting arrest. She was also given tickets for operating a vehicle while suspended and having an open container of alcohol nearby.
Officers are Put on Leave and Suspended
Wright and Hancock were joined by Derrick Foward, president of the Dayton Unit NAACP, who said that a Taser was also pointed at Hancock’s face during the news conference. He demanded the dismissal of Stanley and the suspension of Zellers.
In a briefing, Butler Township Police Chief Jim Porter stated that Stanley was placed on leave due to the incident’s negative publicity to finish this with the least amount of interruption. Porter noted that Zellers had not been put on leave
Hancock’s lawyer, Michael Wright, stated during a press conference that the event shouldn’t have happened and that McDonald’s should be “ashamed” for calling the police. He also criticized how the policemen handled the matter.
