CANTON, Miss. (AP) -- A police officer and a city firefighter have been suspended without pay pending the completion of an investigation into allegations they assaulted four teenagers, Mayor Fred Esco said.
Officer Silento McMorris and firefighter Edwin Stewart, who also is a bail bondsmen, were suspended by the Canton Board of Aldermen on Tuesday.
McMorris and Stewart, who are brothers, are accused of threatening and assaulting four teenage boys because they thought the group had harassed their mother, according to authorities.
McMorris and Stewart face misdemeanor simple assault charges but had not been arrested Tuesday, Canton Police Chief Robert Winn said.
''When one police officer commits an act, it reflects on the whole police department,'' Winn said.
The incident began last Thursday when Johnjarvious Brown, 15, Jamarcus Brown, 14, neighbor Edward Cole Jr., 17, and friend Kenderrick Ratliff, 19, were sitting in the front yard of the Browns' home, the boys told investigation, police said.
The boys saw a black Chevrolet Avalanche approach them and the driver and passenger got out and pointed guns at them, the teens claim.
Jamarcus Brown and Edward Cole Jr. both ran toward the carport, Jamarcus Brown said. Stewart grabbed Ratliff by the shirt, pointed a gun at him and accused Ratliff and Johnjarvious Brown of harassing their mother, Edward Cole Jr. said.
''I told them I don't know your mother, and I don't know you,'' Cole said.
Johnjarvious Brown alleged McMorris grabbed Cole around his throat after the boy came from his hiding place. Stewart found Jamarcus Brown and picked him up by the right arm and leg and threw him across the yard, Jamarcus Brown said.
After McMorris called police, both men put their guns in the vehicle before other officers arrived, the boys said. One officer removed the guns from the Avalanche and put them in his car, then McMorris and Stewart left in the Avalanche, the boys said.
Information from: The Clarion-Ledger
