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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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An Asheville Police Department officer has been placed on administrative leave and may be the source of a leaked video showing another officer beating a restrained man, a local talk radio show host reports.

Pete Kaliner hosts a weekday talk show on WWNC, an AM station at 570 on the dial. Kaliner tweeted on Friday that Asheville Police Department Capt. Stony Gonce had been placed on leave:

Capt. Stoney Gonce put on “paid investigative leave” today. I’ve been told by two different sources that his office has been sealed, as well.

Kaliner said the move may be connected to the publication of police body cam video on Wednesday by the Asheville Citizen-Times. Kaliner tweeted:

It’s believed that it’s related to the leak of the body cam footage to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

The newspaper obtained the video, which is not considered public record under North Carolina law, and published it alongside a story putting it in context. The video shows Asheville Police Department Officer Chris Hickman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgjp9a_0oMU

 

Asheville television station WLOS confirmed the action on Friday. Christina Hallingse, Asheville police’s public information officer, told WLOS that Gonce had been placed on paid investigative suspension.

Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper and Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams suggested on Friday that an investigation into who leaked the body cam video may be in order.

Gonce joined the Asheville Police Department in 1998 and has served as the district traffic officer in West District, patrol sergeant, traffic safety unit supervisor, district commander and acting district commander in criminal investigations, according to this press release. He was promoted to captain in 2013.

In 2014, a jury found that Gonce and two other police officers acted without malice back in 2007 when they fired more than two dozen shots at a car and injured a passenger as they pursued the driver, according to a Citizen-Times report.

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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