A former D.C. Metro Transit Police Department officer has been sentenced to a year in prison for beating an unarmed rider with a metal baton in 2018.
Andra Vance, 48, was sentenced Wednesday to one year and one day in prison, plus a year of supervised release, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
“This sentencing should make clear that officers who abuse their authority will be held accountable, regardless of whether their actions occur on public streets or inside public transit systems,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a statement.
U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves said in a statement, “This violent, brutal beating of a citizen by someone cloaked in police powers deserves significant punishment and condemnation.”
Prosecutors had asked for a much stiffer sentence of nine to 10 years in prison, while Vance’s defense attorney requested probation.
“Vance’s shame and guilt and past 5 years of suffering is far more severe punishment than any jail time the Court could impose. At this point, the only thing that incarceration would accomplish would be removing a father and husband away from a home that greatly needs him,” lawyers for Vance said in court documents.
Vance went to trial in November 2022 and was convicted of one count of deprivation of rights.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that a man tried to use an invalid SmarTrip card to access a train at the Anacostia Metro station on Feb. 16, 2018.
Metro workers confiscated the card and the man became angry, complaining to Vance before walking away from the fare gate and Vance, according to a news release. He shortly returned.
Vance then struck the man in the head with a metal baton, according to court documents.
The man fled but Vance gave chase, continuing to swing the baton at D.C.’s head and neck, court documents state.
“MTPD strongly condemns the actions of any officer who abuses their authority in the use of excessive force. This case is an aberration against the good MTPD officers who keep the system safe for our customers and employees every day,” said MTPD Chief Michael Anzallo.
In their defense of Vance, lawyers cited the case of Prince George’s County Cpl. Darryl Wormuth, who was given 45 days in prison for the assault of a teenager in custody.
“In the Wormuth case, the prosecution asked for one year in jail as opposed to the 10 years the prosecution is asking for in the instant matter,” Vance’s lawyers argued in court documents. “The Wormuth case, in addition to the others provided, show how arbitrary and inconsistent the government’s current sentencing recommendation is and for these reasons, its recommendation should not be considered seriously.”
Prosecutors argued the severity of the victim’s injuries amounted to “serious bodily injury,” justifying a harsher sentence. The prosecution cited medical records that show “the victim’s head pain from the assault persisted in the days following the assault and that he went to the hospital’s emergency department for additional treatment,” according to court documents.
Another officer who witnessed the assault helped to handcuff the assault victim, but testified that the man was not a threat to Vance nor anyone else at the Anacostia Metro Station when Vance hit him in the head.
“What happened is disgraceful, which is why we immediately relieved the former officer of his duties and investigated,” Anzallo said.
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