(WWJ) -- A former police officer in southwest Michigan will soon head to court after a judge ruled Thursday there is enough evidence to send him to trial for misconduct and assault and battery stemming from an alleged assault during a traffic stop last summer.
Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday Matthew Mistretta’s case was bound over to circuit court. The former Hartford, Mich., officer was arraigned back in May in Van Buren County on two counts of assault and battery, a 93-day misdemeanor and one count of misconduct in office by a public official, a five-year felony.
Mistretta, 31, was charged as a result of several investigations conducted by Nessel’s Public Integrity Unit, stemming from the incident last August that was recorded by a bystander.
Mistretta conducted a traffic stop on a truck that was speeding and being driven erratically before video shows him removing the male driver 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 proceeded to take the individual to the ground and knelt on him in a similar manner to the George Floyd murder,” Nessel’s office said.
The man never resisted arrest at any point during the duration of the video, and a passenger in the truck reported hearing the driver tell Mistretta he couldn’t breathe.
"My office will continue to hold public servants accountable who fail to uphold the integrity of their oath to protect and serve,” Nessel said in a press release.
Mistretta’s next court appearance is set for Sept. 20 before Judge Kathleen Brickley.