Police officer who slammed young woman to the ground in viral video is exonerated

In a video seen and debated around the world, Colorado police officer Randy Klamser slammed college student Michaella Surat onto the ground as he arrested her in April.

She landed on her face. The brief clip shocked people who criticized the officer for being too aggressive.

Surat, a 22-year-old student at Colorado State University, told “Good Morning America” that it felt like “all my bones were shattering in my face … and I was so humiliated and everyone was watching me.”

On Thursday, Klamser returned to full duty after being cleared of doing anything wrong during that arrest, reports The Coloradan in Fort Collins.

Klamser was placed on paid administrative leave on April 13 in response to “the general climate created by the public response to this incident,” police said at the time.

He “has been exonerated,” and did not violate any city or department rules or regulations, said a statement from the city posted Thursday on the Facebook page of the Fort Collins Police Services.

An internal investigation involved interviews with four officers who witnessed the incident and three citizens who saw it, the statement said.

Several body-mounted camera videos were reviewed, as well as surveillance camera footage from businesses in the area.

Surat “was offered the opportunity to submit a statement but declined to do so,” the city’s statement said.

On April 6, Fort Collins police responded to reports of a disturbance between two men near a bar. One of the men was Surat’s boyfriend.

While officers were talking to employees about the fight Surat shoulder-checked a bouncer and an officer while trying to pull her boyfriend away from the scene, police told the Denver Post.

“I found out my boyfriend got kicked out of the bar and so I went outside just to see what happened — and then the altercation happened and one thing led to another and it just escalated,” she told ABC.

She was charged with third-degree assault and obstructing a police officer, both misdemeanors. The arrest affidavit says she grabbed an officer by the throat, “causing pain.”

A disposition hearing is scheduled for June 14.

When the video began raising an outcry around the world, Fort Collins police chief John Hutto issued a statement promising the incident would be “thoroughly investigated” and cautioning people that the video only showed a small snippet of what happened that day.

“As with most events of this type, the short, publicly-available video does not have the context or content of the full event,” he said in his statement.

“Additionally, rarely in use of force situations is there agreement from all the parties involved as to the appropriateness, efficacy, or necessity of its use.”

Police plan to hold public conversations about existing procedures and the community’s thoughts on the arrest.

The police chief resigned last month in the midst of the turmoil caused by the Surat arrest and other recent officer-involved controversies.

This story was originally published June 2, 2017 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Police officer who slammed young woman to the ground in viral video is exonerated."