CLEVELAND, Ohio – A routine traffic stop in downtown Cleveland last December resulted in a Cuyahoga County deputy slamming an unarmed motorist to the pavement, pointing a gun at his face and threatening him, body camera footage obtained by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer shows.
During the scuffle, Sgt. Timothy Coyne dealt a flurry of punches to the driver, 46-year-old Kevin Kinds. The incident left Kinds with a fractured orbital, nasal bone and rib, his lawyers say.
Coyne, a 12-year veteran with the sheriff’s office, also fired his Taser three times at Kinds’ lower back within 40 seconds, according to the footage.
In filings, Kinds’ lawyers call Coyne’s actions “grossly offensive and shocking to the conscience.” A county spokeswoman said that the sheriff’s department reviewed the incident and that “no law enforcement misconduct was found.”
Last month, a judge dismissed the last of three charges against Kinds stemming from the traffic stop. The release of the footage comes as Cuyahoga County Council reviews the costs of dispatching a unit of deputies to help a depleted Cleveland police force patrol downtown. The sheriff’s department has joined other agencies working in the city after Mayor Justin Bibb sought help last year.
The case also underscores how the tense interactions between residents and law enforcement can spiral so quickly into violence.
The incident occurred at about 12:45 a.m. Dec. 8, after Coyne, a supervisor for the sheriff’s office downtown safety patrol, saw Kinds speed through a red light, he wrote in his report.
Kinds initially dismissed Coyne’s orders to pull over, the deputy reported. Kinds eventually stopped his car across the street from the Justice Center, and Coyne parked behind him. Rather than approaching the vehicle to collect the driver’s information, Coyne remained at his unmarked cruiser.
When Kinds exited his car, Coyne pointed his gun at him and told him to put his hands up and walk backward, according to the video.
Kinds began stepping back slowly, raising his hands briefly, then dropping them, the video shows.
“Put your hands up, sir, I’m going to f--- you up,” Coyne said, according to the footage.
Kinds continued walking backward without showing his hands, the officer said in his report. When he reached Coyne, the deputy forced him to the ground using a trip maneuver, he reported. He then pointed his gun at Kinds’ face while the body camera footage captures him shouting, “I said put your f---ing hands up or I’m gonna drill you in the f---ing head. You don’t listen.”
Coyne instructed Kinds to put his hands behind his back. Though Kinds appears to be face down and motionless, Coyne called for backup, telling dispatchers, “I’m on St. Clair in front of the (Justice Center) fighting one,” according to the video.
He then told Kinds, “Bro, I’m’a f--- you up so bad if you don’t stop fighting me,” the video shows.
Kinds said something in response, but his voice was muffled.
A scuffle ensued. Coyne struck Kinds “with a closed fist on the side of his head above his ear twice in attempt to gain compliance,” he wrote in his report.
Because of the angle of the body camera, it’s difficult to perceive Coyne’s level of aggression and Kinds’ actual resistance.
In his report, Coyne said that Kinds was noncompliant, fought back and reached for his waist toward a possible weapon.
Kinds’ lawyers counter that, saying he made no sudden movements, was completely unthreatening and was generally compliant as Coyne assaulted him.
Kinds would later test positive for PCP, though the actual level was not recorded, his attorneys wrote in court filings.
At one point, Coyne’s body camera stopped recording for two seconds. Its button was inadvertently bumped during the altercation, he said in his report.
Around that moment, Coyne “administered several closed hand strikes to the driver’s face as he was reaching into his waist,” he reported.
Coyne accused Kinds of striking him once in the forehead. Defense attorneys deny that.
After another deputy arrived to assist, Coyne gave Kinds “three closed fist blows to his left ribs in another attempt to get the driver to comply with orders,” he reported. When that didn’t work, he “administered a knee to the driver’s left side with no result,” he wrote.
Coyne then told Kinds, “I’m gonna tase you, dude,” and he fired his Taser at a bare section of Kinds’ lower back.
Twelve seconds later, Coyne fired a second time, causing Kinds to scream, the body camera footage shows.
Kinds repeatedly yelled “stop” and said he would comply, but the tussle ensued, the footage shows. Coyne used his Taser a third time, eliciting more shrieks, according to the footage.
Eventually, the deputies handcuffed Kinds. Kinds repeatedly yelled, “Help me” as a K9 barked nearby.
“I did nothing,” Kinds said continuously after he was handcuffed, according to the footage. “This is all recorded, right?” he added several times.
Deputies began rifling through Kinds’ pockets and car, the footage shows.
Kinds and Coyne were treated at the same hospital. Coyne suffered a contusion to his hand, according to court documents.
The sheriff’s department completed a use-of-force review in May and found no instances of misconduct, county spokeswoman Jennifer Ciaccia said.
Kinds’ lawyers disagree.
“Sgt. Coyne’s brutal assault was unnecessary, unprovoked and unconscionable,” Kinds’ attorneys with the Cuyahoga public defender’s office wrote in court filings. “Instead of treating this traffic stop like what it was – a traffic stop – Sgt. Coyne immediately accelerated the situation from 0 to 60 in no time flat,” they added.
Kinds was jailed on several charges, including assault on a police officer. A Cuyahoga County judge set his bond at $25,000. He was later indicted on charges of assault, obstructing official business and resisting arrest.
On Feb. 26, prosecutors dropped the first two charges. Judge Timothy Clary issued a personal bond, and Kinds was released on March 4.
But Kinds had an open warrant for a parole violation stemming from a separate case, according to Coyne’s report. Three weeks after his release from jail, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction took custody, records show. His release from prison is scheduled for Sept. 19. He did not respond to a message about this story.
On June 18, Cuyahoga County prosecutors dropped the charge of resisting arrest, and Clary dismissed the case.
This is not the first time Coyne has faced departmental scrutiny for using his Taser.
On July 2, 2021, while on detail at Cleveland’s Edgewater Park, Coyne initiated a traffic stop on a motorist for reckless driving, but the motorist ignored his orders, according to Coyne’s personnel file.
Coyne responded by pulling up next to the motorist while he was driving, drew his Taser and pointed it at him, filings show.
That act was unjustified and a violation of policy, the sheriff’s office ruled. There is no indication from Coyne’s personnel file that he was ever disciplined.
Coyne was evidently conscious of a Taser’s potentially serious effects during Kinds’ arrest, writing in his report: “Upon reaching 3 shocks delivered and fear from permanent damage to the driver, no additional shocks were administered.”
Sheriff’s deputies have not always been a regular presence in downtown Cleveland. Last summer, during a crime spike, the department announced a partnership with the city and began deploying a patrol team in that area. Cuyahoga County Council has since questioned the costs of the move.
In May, Councilman Michael Gallagher criticized the decision to pay eight officers to patrol downtown, a service which the department is not required to provide and which the city does not help pay for. Cleveland has sought help from other law enforcement agencies in an attempt to bolster a police department that has about 1,150 officers, down from the 1,600 it had in recent years.
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