Minnesota officer accused of punching girl pleads not guilty

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Minnesota police officer accused of punching a 14-year-old girl in the face has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanour assault.

St. Paul Officer Michael Soucheray II entered his plea Thursday.

According to a criminal complaint, the incident happened in December as officers tried to take the reportedly suicidal girl to a hospital. She was refusing to go and became agitated, so she was cuffed and put in the back of a squad car. The complaint says she then spit in Soucheray’s face, and that’s when he hit her.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/2mxfTgK ) reports Soucheray’s attorney, Peter Wold, asked for a speedy trial. Wold says Soucheray, who has been on administrative leave, “wants to get back to work.”

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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com