Last week, following a six-day trial, a Bethel jury found 39-year-old Jonathan Murphy guilty of Assault in the fourth degree, providing false information implicating another in a crime, and tampering with public records in the second degree.
The case stems from a Dec. 23, 2023, incident when Murphy was an officer with the Bethel Police Department and was assisting in a traffic stop related to a report of a stolen vehicle.
Body-worn camera footage showed Murphy and another officer approach the driver of the vehicle, Bethel resident Bernard Mael, and order him to put his hands up. Mael complied by putting his hands in the air. Murphy then attempted to forcibly remove Mael from the vehicle and struck Mael twice in the face. Mael then drove away.
According to a report from the Alaska Dept. of Law, upon returning to his vehicle, Murphy used his radio to tell officers that Mael had attempted to hit him with a vehicle and suggested felony assault charges.
After a brief low-speed chase, officers forced Mael off the road into a snowbank, the Dept. of Law report noted. Murphy and other officers then surrounded the vehicle on foot, and, before giving any verbal commands, broke the windows of the vehicle, deployed pepper spray, and deployed tasers on Mael.
Body-worn camera video shows Mael moved further into the interior of the vehicle, away from officers, as he attempted to remove the taser strings.
After resigning from the Bethel Police Department in Jan. 2024, Murphy worked briefly for the Sitka Police Department and currently serves as the Chief of Police in Harrison, Arkansas.
During this time, Murphy grabbed ahold of Mael by his clothing through the driver’s side window, and with his right fist, began striking Mael in the head multiple times in rapid succession, the Dept. of Law stated. Murphy delivered approximately 15 closed-hand strikes to Mael’s head in less than ten seconds. In response, Mael put his forearms and wrists over his face, attempting to block the strikes, however, Murphy grabbed Mael’s wrists and pulled them away from Mael’s face. Murphy used his left hand to hold Mael’s left wrist away from his face, while he simultaneously used his right fist to deliver approximately six additional closed-hand strikes to Mael’s head. The body-worn camera footage showed Murphy punching Mael in the face over 20 times in rapid succession.
After aiding in removing Mael from the car, Murphy told fellow officers that Mael had hit him with the vehicle. Murphy later wrote in his police report: “I continued to try to get Mael out of the vehicle in which point I felt something hard hit me in the back. Which would later be determined as the B pillar on the driver’s door.”
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Officer Murphy’s report also stated that Mael had tried to run over him with the vehicle: “[Mael] attempted to … run me over.” In his report, Officer Murphy additionally implied he was dragged or pulled by the vehicle, writing that he had back pain that was “… a result of Mael driving off with me …” Murphy then approved language in an affidavit stating that Mael struck him in the back with a vehicle, and supported charging Mael with third degree assault.
Body-worn camera footage, however, captured the entire encounter between Murphy and Mael, and did not show Mael attempt to strike Murphy with a vehicle. It also did not show any part of the vehicle striking Murphy on any part of his body at any time during the incident. Murphy never leaned into the driver’s side door such that the B-pillar or any other part of the vehicle could have collided with his back. The body-worn camera footage also did not show Murphy being dragged or pulled by the vehicle at any time.
After resigning from the Bethel Police Department at the outset of this investigation in Jan. 2024, Murphy worked briefly for the Sitka Police Department and currently serves as the Chief of Police at the Diamond City Police Department in Harrison, Arkansas.
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 19, when Murphy faces a maximum sentence of 3 years in confinement.
