Green Bay Police Officer Matthew Knutson appears in court May 17, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Green Bay police officer accused of hitting a suspect with his squad vehicle wants criminal charges thrown out.
Matthew Knutson, 40, is charged with negligent operation of a vehicle and misconduct in office. The charges stemmed from an internal police department investigation into a November 2021 incident. Police said they didn’t know the suspect was hit with the vehicle until October 2022.
Comparing body cam and dash cam video to Knutson’s official reports, police said their investigation uncovered problems with how Knutson’s patrol vehicle hit the suspect during a foot chase, forcing the suspect to the ground.
Brown County District Attorney David Lasee filed the formal charges in April.
In the motion filed Thursday, Knutson’s attorneys assert that he was not driving negligently, as he was traveling at less than 5 mph when the suspect was struck and that the suspect immediately got up and continued running.
They instead say the suspect was to blame for the situation:
As demonstrated in the [criminal] complaint, [suspect] fled from Knutson in a vehicle, [suspect] fled from Knutson on foot, [suspect] fled from Officer Ainsworth on foot, [suspect] refused all lawful commands from Officer Ainsworth, [suspect] refused to take his hands out of pockets (signaling he may have a weapon), Officer Ainsworth attempted to subdue [suspect] with a taser but that failed, and [suspect] continued to flee and ignore all lawful commands when Knutson arrived in his squad as backup. If any risk of death or great bodily harm existed, it was created by the conduct of [suspect], not by Knutson.
The motion also asks for the misconduct in office charge to be dismissed. It says that Knutson in fact did report hitting the suspect, and that Knutson’s initial report was based on his memory of the incident and would naturally differ slightly from what dash and body camera videos showed.
Prosecutors have not filed a response to the motion. Online court records do not list a future court date.
The charges filed against the suspect for the 2021 incident — resisting arrest and operating with a revoked license — were eventually dismissed as a part of a plea bargain which resulted in convictions in other cases, according to District Attorney David Lasee.
Knutson was previously suspended for 30 days in 2018 following an investigation into bullying and harassment within the police department.
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