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Jeff Bonar: Flagstaff Officer Caught In Viral Video Punching Woman In Face Resigns Moments Before Getting Fired

By Janice Malcolm
Published on: 03:24 PST, Jan 5, 2017

Jeff Bonar, a Flagstaff police officer who was caught on tape viciously punching a woman in the face during an arrest in November, has resigned. The video went viral after being widely circulated on social media and on Wednesday, Bonar’s resignation came after the department recommended that he be fired.

The investigation into the incident involving the Flagstaff Arizona police officer had just concluded, and the findings made known to the department just one day before Bonar decided to resign. The Northern Arizona University Police Department had been responsible for the investigation into Bonar and sent their recommendation to the Mohave County Attorney’s Office. The office will review the investigation and then determine whether or not Bonar should face criminal charges for punching the woman.

Back in November Jeff Bonar had gone to the home of 31-year-old Marissa Morris to ensure that she and her boyfriend were complying with an eviction notice peacefully. Morris had previously had warrants for her arrest in non-violent cases, and according to the Arizona Daily Sun, Bonar recognized her from those and his attempt to arrest her for these is what led to the punching in the face.

Morris is said to have been resisting arrest before the two started struggling. The video of the incident showed that during the struggle the officer deliberately delivering a vicious punch to the woman’s face. Marissa Morris had been protesting with the officer that she had no outstanding arrests and afterward it was discovered that her warrant had actually been resolved over a month earlier.

Marissa’s boyfriend, Jimmy Sedillo had been videoing the altercation with Officer Bonar when he punched her in the face. In the background of the viral video, someone can be heard chastising the officer saying, “you can’t hit a girl like that” after he was seen punching Morris.

Officer Jeff Bonar argued that he had been kicked in the groin during the struggle and was reacting. However, the video did not show this and the other police officer present, Coconino County Sheriff’s Deputy Joel Winchester, reported that he never saw such a kick. Bonar was placed on immediate paid administrative leave by the Flagstaff police, and an investigation was launched.

The subsequent report written by Sergeant Mike O’Hagan from the NAU Police Department said that Marissa Morris, had not been showing “active aggression” or “aggravated active aggression” when she was initially being detained.

“It does not appear that the level of force used in this case is reasonable, or immediately necessary to make the arrest. Since Officer Bonar’s first closed fist strike does not come immediately after an aggressive action of Morris, it is not timely, nor is it appropriate for the situation.”

Flagstaff Police Chief Kevin Treadway said that their internal affairs investigation had also found that there were six policy violations against Jeff Bonar, the majority of which involved excessive use of force. The officer had also not turned on his body camera before approaching a suspect.

The recommendation from the disciplinary board was that Bonar be fired from the department, and he was called in to face Treadway yesterday to receive his marching orders. However, before the department could fire him, Bonar submitted his resignation. Treadway advised the public of the department’s decision to fire Bonar and his pre-emptive resignation during a press conference which was held on Wednesday. The Daily Mail reported that the police chief reiterated that ‘Bonar’s conduct is not reflective of the way we police this community.’

Treadway did also go on to say that the situation could have been diffused if the officer had listened when Morris said she had no warrants but added that Morris was also “uncooperative” and should have provided her name and date of birth to be run in the computer system to verify the warrant information.

Prosecutors are currently reviewing whether or not charges should be brought against both Jeff Bonar and Marissa Morris, who was arrested for resisting arrest and assault, based on the findings of the Northern Arizona University Police Department.

[Featured Image by Phase4Studios/Shutterstock]

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