'Filing a grievance:' Melvindale police officer fired over misconduct allegations

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A high-ranking Melvindale police officer was kicked off the force Thursday night after several run-ins with the law, leading to numerous assault charges and lawsuits.

Meanwhile, his attorney says they were blindsided by his termination.

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This move comes as Melvindale officials rush to replace an insurance carrier that’s bailing on the city.

We’ve reported on the situation surrounding Lt. Matthew Furman before. Now, he’s out of a job, fired by Melvindale officials after years of controversy. He has faced three counts of assault and three counts of misconduct in office amid allegations he tased a man during one stop, tased a woman during another, and kicked a suspect in a third encounter.

Melvindale settled a $1 million lawsuit in one of the cases involving a taser. Now, the city is set to be dropped by its insurance carrier.

In the meantime, the head of the Police Officers Association of Michigan says this is a bad look for law enforcement in the state.

"This got attracted to the media and when it happens, people think that that’s what we all do, and we don’t," said Jim Tignanelli, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan. "We don’t really do that. Most departments would have intervened in this a long time ago, either stopped the behavior through some means or said you can’t work here. And when none of that happens, all that shows up in the media and I understand why is that it didn’t happen and there’s a lot of proof of it. To me, it makes all of us look like, well, we just get away with it and really that’s not true."

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Meanwhile, we are hearing from Lt. Furman’s attorney, who tells FOX 2:

"We were informed through local media that Mr. Furman had been terminated. This was with no notice or hearing as required. The union is filing a grievance."