TOLEDO, Ohio — A Toledo police officer involved in the arrest of Olympic boxer Oshae Jones was given a verbal reprimand for multiple comments she made during the incident.
Records obtained by WTOL 11 show Officer Ashlyn Pluff was issued the reprimand on Nov. 18 for violating the "demeanor" section of the Toledo Police Department Manual. The department determined she made a "derogatory comment" to a woman holding a small child and criticized her parenting, and used profanity directed at Jones while trying to take her into custody.
The incident happened July 31 as officers attempted to break up a large gathering at Jones' home. In August, Toledo police released body camera video from the incident.
The officer can be heard telling Jones to "Shut the f*** up" and "Stop f***ing moving," as she puts handcuffs on Jones. Jones can be heard asking the officer to stop cussing at her.
Jones also can be heard multiple times complaining that the officer hit her in the face. The officer can be seen on the video hitting Jones in the head, which led to a charge of "unnecessary use of physical control techniques."
No discipline was handed down for the physical contact with Jones, whom police claim was resisting arrest. The force was found by police to be justified.
Officer Pluff was ordered to "familiarize" herself with the appropriate section of the manual and told future violations of the section could result in an "ascending level of discipline."
"As police officers, we are held to a higher standard and expected to maintain professionalism," the reprimand states. "Therefore as an officer, it is important that you make the effort to remain calm and composed when attempting to control a situation and are confronted with such an individual. Failing to do so reflects negatively on you as an officer, on the department as a whole and can have the unintended effect of exacerbating an already volatile situation."
Jones is facing misdemeanor charges from a July 31 incident when Toledo police responded to a large gathering at her residence about 4 a.m. She was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing official business and failure to disperse.
She is awaiting a jury trial Feb. 21 on those charges.
Jones and her lawyers, Sean Walton and N. John Bey, posted a video last August to Facebook, in which Bey offered Jones' perspective of the incident and issued a request for the city of Toledo drop all charges and take action within one week.
"Ms. Jones was asleep in her bed and she heard pounding on her door as the police attempted to kick it in," Bey said. "When she came downstairs she simply asked for a badge number. When that happened, she was assaulted, she was handcuffed and her life was changed."
Jones won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
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