Officer Matthew Belver had a history of challenging people he arrested to fights. In October 2009, multiple suspects accused Belver of roughing them up after he offered to let them go if they could beat him in a fight. He was fired in 2009, but an arbitrator reduced the termination to two 30-day suspensions (a ‘last chance’ agreement) and reinstated him. In August 2015, Belver was captured on video removing a handcuffed prisoner’s cuffs and threatening to beat the man once freed, after the prisoner questioned his arrest. Chief William McManus fired Belver in 2016 for that incident, but in 2017 an arbitrator overturned the firing and reinstated Belver with a 45-day suspension.
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