After a routine traffic stop took a shocking turn, one Michigan police officer has been exposed for alleged use of excessive force on multiple occasions. Lt. Matthew Furman is now facing a civil lawsuit over a July incident, but this isn’t the first time his policing has been called into question.
In fact, one of the most horrific allegations against him stem from a completely separate incident three months earlier. It began when Alica Cook was parked in a school parking lot with her children inside the vehicle. Furman approached her about an expired tag, and then all hell broke loose.
“I’ve never been treated like that— ever,” Cook said in a recent interview with WXYZ. The mother was using a friend’s car to drop off her 11-year-old daughter at cheerleading practice. Although the car wasn’t hers, by law, she assumed legal responsibility as the driver.
Body camera footage from the altercation captured how quickly things escalated on April 13 when Furman accused her of not cooperating. “Also, when I ran your plate, the government shows there’s no insurance on the vehicle,” the lieutenant told Cook during the stop.
As Cook began to explain the owner of the vehicle was in the hospital, she answered a phone call in front of the officer. “I had just got bad news saying that the person... the [owner of the car] just had heart surgery,” Cook recalled to WXYZ. “At the time, my mind was in a thousand places.”
Furman asked Cook for her driver’s license, but when the woman responded saying “Okay, one second,” things took a turn. According to the body cam footage, that’s when Furman told her “Don’t tell me one second! I’m giving you a lawful police order.”
“Hold on, sir,” Cook responded. “You pulled me over inside of a school parking lot!” Furman quickly told her he had “full jurisdiction” before adding “lose the attitude and do as you’re instructed.” Before long, both Cook and Furman’s voices were raised, and one of Cook’s daughters can even be heard trying to calm her mother down saying, “Mom, stop yelling back at him. He’s a cop!”
When Cook failed to comply with orders to turn off her car and present her ID, Furman tased her in front of her children and tried to drag her out the car, telling her he feared for his safety. “I got two children in the car. I’m facing the school building. What are you in fear of?” Cook asked WXYZ. “My hands are up.”
She was eventually arrested and charged with a civil infraction and four misdemeanors, including resisting arrest, interfering with a police officer and driving on a suspended license, according to WXYZ. After reviewing the bodycam footage, the city attorney’s office dropped everything. Furman never faced any disciplinary actions afterwards.
Just three months after Cook’s arrest, the same officer pulled over Drakkar Williams before the situation escalated, leading to Furman tasing him on July 20, according to WXYZ. Williams has since filed a civil lawsuit against the officer alleging he grabbed his hair while handcuffed and rammed his head into the back of a fire truck. Furman is now on administrative leave citing an investigation into the matter.