Matthews PD sergeant choked handcuffed man. Town kept the video secret.

MATTHEWS, N.C. (WBTV) – The Matthews town manager is answering questions from WBTV, explaining why the town took steps to withhold video of a police sergeant choking a man while his hands were cuffed behind his back.

Video obtained by WBTV shows Sgt. Joshua Burnett choking Aaron Butler late on the evening of Jan. 11, 2021.

Butler was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct and was on a stretcher inside the Matthews PD holding facility at the time of the video.

Three other Matthews PD officers were gathered around Butler when the video shows Burnett lunged toward Butler, screamed in his face, and then grabbed his throat and pushed him back.

The video shows another officer on scene pull Burnett away.

WBTV has been investigating this incident for months, as leaders with the Town of Matthews have worked to keep the video footage secret.

Video showing Burnett choking Butler while his hands were cuffed behind his back is only coming to light now after a whistleblower leaked video of the incident to WBTV.

Matthews refused to release full versions of body camera video from the four officers on scene, despite the fact that the town successfully petitioned a judge for the release of the video in October 2022.

After WBTV began asking about this incident, the Town of Matthews hired a private attorney—Daniel Peterson with the law firm Parker Poe—to ask a judge to amend the order releasing the video to include a clause that would allow the town to refuse to publicly release the video.

The town also hired Peterson to defend a public records lawsuit brought by WBTV seeking the video that is in the town’s possession and other records related to the incident.

Burnett was fired in December 2022, according to a termination letter released by the Town of Matthews in response to a request for personnel records from WBTV.

According to the letter, Burnett was fired after private investigators with the company US-ISS, hired by the town to probe this incident and others within the police department, determined he lied about his use of force.

Burnett addressed both the incident and his firing in an emailed statement:

“While I deeply regret the events of that evening, my intent was to keep Mr. Butler from coming up and falling off the stretcher. While I reacted in an attempt to diffuse the situation, I never intended to apply force, harm, or injury to Mr. Butler. Since this incident, I have worked to equip myself with better ways of resolving situations. The loss of a job that I cared deeply for has been a tremendous loss over the last few years.”

Although Burnett was fired from the town, leaders never formally referred the matter to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney for further investigation, Town Manager Becky Hawke confirmed to WBTV.

Hawke defended the town’s handling of the incident and decision to keep Burnett’s use of force secret in an interview with WBTV.

“The video that we watched it clearly showed that there was a notable violation of our use of force policy. It was absolutely outside of our expectations for our employees,” Hawke said.

“But what I was also very pleased to see was the immediate intervention by a corporal as well as the other officers that were there, who deescalated the situation within a matter of seconds and they were able to bring it to a halt. And, so, while the violation absolutely needed to be addressed, there was also a lot of positive behavior from our other officers who were there that, you know, made this better than it could have possibly been otherwise.”

Hawke skirted answering the question of whether the public deserved to know about the use of force incident after it happened three years ago or any time since. A WBTV reporter asked the question three times but could never get an answer.

“We are here talking about it today,” Hawke said. “So this isn’t a matter of hiding. This isn’t a matter of not telling the public. This was a personnel matter. It was handled and we’re here now.”

Hawke said she has full confidence in the newly hired police chief and every officer currently on the Matthews PD force.

But Hawke refused to answer multiple questions from a WBTV reporter about why none of the other three officers who witnessed the use of force documented the force in their initial narrative of Butler’s arrest.

Records show that two of the other three officers remain employed with the Matthews PD.

Additionally, the town has refused to release the report prepared by the private investigative firm detailing the findings of its investigation into the use of force incident involving Butler and other matters the firm was hired to probe.

It’s not clear how much the private attorney is costing taxpayers, as the town has refused to produce records detailing his hourly rate.

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