Two MPD officers suspended after FOX13 report on woman’s allegations of excessive force
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Two Memphis police officers were disciplined for excessive force after an internal investigation. FOX13 broke the news of the allegations Thursday night, and MPD confirmed Friday two of the officers involved were suspended.
It stems from an incident in Westwood in March 2024.
FOX13 reviewed a police report, letters from MPD’s internal affairs office, and transcripts of investigators’ interviews with the victim. All those documents support the claim that she was tased by officers, but the victim claims more happened afterwards.
“Justice was served at the end of the day,” Jamie Todd, the victim of excessive force, told FOX13.
Todd said officers tased her and threw her to the ground during an incident at an auto shop in Westwood on March 12, 2024.
MPD’s report on the incident states officers headed there because of a mental health emergency, and Todd pulled her car out of the driveway and backed into a police cruiser as they arrived.
Todd said she was put in cuffs, loaded into a squad car, and taken to Methodist South.
That’s where the police report ends. It lists five officers involved in the situation, including Keith Wertz.
Wertz is one of the two officers suspended in connection with the incident. The other officer, Corderriou Stone, is not mentioned.
“If they only knew the trauma they put me through,” she said. “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”
According to a transcript of Todd’s interview with MPD internal affairs, she was tased several more times when she arrived at Methodist South, then cuffed to a hospital bed. The police report does not mention anything about that.
“I just feel like, I hope they don’t do that to somebody else,” she said.
No charges were filed against Todd.
MPD confirmed an internal investigation sustained allegations of excessive force against Stone and Wertz.
Todd said she has hired a lawyer to take further action.
“I just feel like more punishment needs to be done, and hopefully it does,” she said.
It is not clear how long the officers’ suspensions lasted. Both were also required to do additional training.
Todd’s lawyer shared Wertz’s personnel records with FOX13. It states he was reprimanded twice ahead of the excessive force incident. One reprimand was for leaving a suspect’s gun in a squad car until an officer on another shift found it. Another reprimand was for not cooperating with police after calling them to a domestic dispute while off-duty.
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