Repeat Offender Brutal Cop Convicted of Obstructing Justice, Violating Civil Rights
A federal court has convicted former Police Lieutenant Aaron Jason Strong of charges related to police brutality. Photo credit: New Castle Indiana PD.
Strong was indicted on July 7, 2022, for assaulting an arrestee and two pretrial detainees, resulting in injury to the three people in custody, as detailed in the July 2022 DOJ press release. Prosecutors alleged that dangerous weapons were used during the assault of the arrestee and one of the pretrial detainees.
Strong’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2025, according to the most recent DOJ release. He faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison for his crimes.
Assaulting Detainees
The first incident happened on July 12, 2017, when Strong kicked a pretrial detainee in the head without legal cause, according to the indictment. On the same day, Strong shot another pretrial detainee in the back at close range with a “bean bag” shotgun, also without legal cause.
On Aug. 18, 2019, then-Lieutenant Strong took part in the arrest of someone court documents call J.W., who was the subject of an investigation, according to the Indictment and the press release of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Indiana.
During the arrest, J.W. initially ran from the New Castle Police, then got on the ground, telling the officers, “I’m done,” while holding his hands up, prosecutors say. As J.W. lay face down and other officers were putting the handcuffs on him, Strong struck J.W. multiple times on the arms, neck and head with an extendable baton without legal cause. Strong then lied about the incident to an officer of the Indiana State Police who was investigating the allegations on Sept. 4, 2019.
Guilty of All Four Charges
The federal jury found Strong guilty on all four counts against him, according to the verdict documents. The jury found the indicted co-conspirator with Strong, Adam Guy, a former Henry County Reserve Deputy, not guilty on one count of witness tampering that was added in a superseding indictment for the 2019 incident, according to the most recent U.S. Attorney’s Office press release.
Similar Cases
Cases like these are unfortunately not rare. The Daily Muck covered a story about two Alabama law enforcement officers from two different precincts who pled guilty to using excessive force in the same week in March 2022. Former Sergeant Ryan Phillips, from Daleville Police Department, got into a verbal altercation with a prisoner that ended with him taking off his badge and gun and striking the prisoner in the face, chest and back.
In the same coverage, we reported on Blake Hicks, a former sheriff’s deputy for the Elmore Country Sheiff’s Office, who punched and kicked a person in the head who was lying handcuffed on the ground. Hicks was sentenced to 29 months in prison, while Phillips is still awaiting sentencing on Nov. 13, but prosecutors recommend 22 months, as detailed in The Daily Muck coverage.
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