Fort Wayne officer gets bitten, then suspended

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A Fort Wayne police officer who was bitten on his face by a man who he let out of handcuffs has served a five-day suspension without pay for improper conduct.

Police Chief Rusty York says the officer and his partner responded Sept. 1 to a reported domestic battery situation and handcuffed a man at the home. York says the man berated Officer Derrick Demorest with insults and physical threats until the officer uncuffed him.

The man then bit Demorest's cheek and wouldn't let go.

The Journal Gazette reports York said Monday that officers needed to endure such insults but that Demorest has otherwise been an exemplary officer.

York says battery charges against the man were dropped because the biting wouldn't have happened if he had remained handcuffed.