SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – A former officer of the Savannah Police Department (SPD) caught on video allegedly using excessive force on a suspect has now pleaded guilty more than four years after the incident.
Sgt. Octavio "Mike" Arango was indicted by a Chatham County Grand Jury in 2022 for felony false imprisonment.
Arango made a plea in a Chatham County court on Tuesday, admitting guilt on two misdemeanor charges instead. He was sentenced to two years probation as part of his plea agreement.
Arango and Daniel Kang were both fired from SPD after police, the district attorney and a panel of citizens watched the body camera footage from April 2020.
They determined the officers went too far with a suspect while serving a warrant.
"I believe that the conduct of two members of the Savannah Police Department during this particular incident was totally unacceptable and egregious behavior," said then SPD Chief Roy Minter at the 2020 press conference.
A special grand jury in September 2020 indicted Arango on one count of felony false imprisonment and one count of misdemeanor simple battery.
Sgt. Octavio "Mike" Arango
The grand jury declined to indict Kang.
During a warrant sweep in April, the officers apprehended Darryle Faitele rather than Khalil Kelley, Faitele's cousin and the man they were actually searching for.
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Arango's lawyer says Faitele ran inside his apartment as the officers approached, sending a signal that he was the person they sought.
According to the police report, officers entered the apartment and attempted to apprehend Faitele who "disregarded several commands."
The indictment alleges Arango unlawfully arrested Faitele and intentionally made physical contact "of an insulting or provoking nature," hitting him in the head.
The body camera footage has not been made public, but members of the Savannah CARES task force did review it.
The group, formed to investigate use of force incidents, recommended firing Arango and Kang possibly pressing charges.
Arango always asserted his innocence in the case. His lawyer saying in 2022 he was just doing his job.
"You believe what they did was in policy?
"Absolutely," said Michael Schiavone. "There is nothing in the video or anything they did that could rise to the level of being criminal. What they did they had to do for safety purposes to protect not just themselves but the individual and everyone else in the apartment."
Both Kang and Arango claimed their firings were due to "personal bias" by Minter after both added their names to a document saying Minter was unfit to lead the department.
More than 70 officers signed the human resources complaint against Minter in April 2020. They claimed Minter threatened officers who worked under him to instill fear, that he promoted loyalty and punished arbitrarily, made untrue statements to the public and politicians about the department's effectiveness and created a breakdown in communication.
The warrants division they were in was understaffed and underfunded prior to April 11, 2020, the day of the incident, according to a federal lawsuit Kang filed against the chief and the city.
Faitele filed his own lawsuit in Chatham County State Court in April 2022.