MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Green Bay police officer was charged Wednesday with felony misconduct in office after he struck a man with his car in 2021 following a traffic stop.
The Brown County District Attorney’s Office also charged Green Bay Officer Matthew Knutson, a 13-year veteran of the department, with negligent operation of a vehicle, a misdemeanor, stemming from the incident. Knutson, 40, has been on paid administrative leave since October pending the investigation.
According to the complaint, Knutson conducted a traffic stop after a vehicle appeared to fail to yield the right of way. The officer’s dash cam and body camera video of the incident played at a press conference Tuesday shows the driver of the car stop running as Knutson gives chase in his patrol car and another officer gives chase on foot.
Knutson’s squad car then hits the man and knocks him to the ground where he is later arrested by officers.
Knutson said in his incident report that the fleeing driver ran “right in front of me” and inadvertently hit him with his patrol car, which he said was going less than 5 mph (8 kph ).
But the complaint alleges that video evidence does not show the man running directly in front of Knutson’s squad car.
“We take all allegations of misconduct by Green Bay police officers seriously, and I am committed to dealing with them in an objective, thorough and fair manner for all involved,” said Police Chief Green Bay’s Chris Davis said in a statement.
Davis did not say at the press conference whether the man hit by the squad car was injured. The complaint says the man complained of pain in his legs after being hit by the car.
The charge of misconduct in office is punishable by up to 3.5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The other charge carries a maximum penalty of nine months in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Knutson had previously been suspended for 30 days in 2018 after an internal investigation determined he sent “inappropriate” messages from computers used by officers and was slow to cooperate with an investigation into separate harassment allegations involving other officers .
Knutson did not have an attorney listed in the online court database. He is scheduled to make a first appearance on May 17.
