CALDWELL, Idaho — The government accused a former high-ranking Caldwell police officer of having a pattern of "retaliative and abusive use of force".
KTVB obtained a new document the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Idaho filed on Friday: a notice of intent to present evidence relevant to a case currently playing out in district court.
The six-page document says the U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho plans to present new evidence in trial outlining multiple instances when former Caldwell Police Lt. Joseph Hoadley allegedly assaulted people he was arresting, and then bragged about it to other officers.
The government said it may present evidence showing on at least five occasions Hoadley displayed abusive and intentional use of excessive force.
Hoadley was first indicted by a grand jury in the spring on federal felony charges of deprivation of rights under the color of the law and destruction, alteration or falsification of records in a federal investigation.
Last week, Hoadley was indicted on two more felony charges: tampering with a witness by harassment and tampering with documents.
The initial two charges center around Hoadley allegedly punching a man in the head that he arrested in 2017 and then lying about it in his incident report.
The government's new document states that at trial the jury is tasked with deciding whether Hoadley willfully deprived that man of his constitutional right to be free from excessive force during his arrest.
All the charges came out of an ongoing FBI investigation into current and former Caldwell police officers.
In this new document, the district attorney's office said several officers reported the following incidents that allegedly occurred over the last decade:
- An officer says they saw Hoadley jump on top of a detainee who was lying face down and started choking them. The officer physically forced Hoadley off the person.
- In 2017, Hoadley allegedly punched a person, referred to as "R.C." multiple times while they were sitting and handcuffed. In his incident report, he did not state he hit R.C.
- Another officer said that in 2013, Hoadley punched an arrestee, "S.C.", in the back of the head while he was handcuffed. The man was also lying face down on the pavement. The officer "will testify that Hoadley's use of force was to punish S.C. for fleeing from law enforcement". The officer will also testify Hoadley told S.C.: "Don't you ever run" during the assault.
- In 2016, two other officers say they saw Hoadley push and hit a person referred to as "K.W." as the man was walking away after an interaction outside his house. Hoadley allegedly assaulted K.W. in retaliation for the man saying: "Don't you touch me".
The new document filed Friday also alleges Hoadley bragged, laughed and showed a video to multiple fellow officers of him punching a Hispanic man who was handcuffed. Some of the officers reported it to department leaders and the FBI, according to the document.
Hoadley was fired from Caldwell Police Department in May after he was federally indicted on his initial two charges: deprivation of rights under color of the law and falsification of records in a federal investigation.
Last week, he pleaded not guilty to all four charges. His trial is September 19 at the U.S. District Courthouse in Boise.
If convicted, Hoadley could face up to a total of 70 years in federal prison and a million dollars in fines.
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