Emails show Minneapolis police knew about officer's stun gun incident before hiring, contradicting chief's comments

Last April, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told reporters he was "extremely concerned" to have "just learned" that a recruit had been involved in a high-profile use of force incident in a past law enforcement job in Fairfax County, Va.

But internal emails obtained by the Star Tribune show the officer, Tyler Timberlake, had informed the city of the prior incident during his background check in September 2022 —seven months before a news article drew attention to the hire.

A month after O'Hara publicly vowed to direct a thorough investigation of his hiring, Timberlake sent an email to Mayor Jacob Frey, City Attorney Kristyn Anderson and Public Safety Commissioner Cedric Alexander accusing the chief of defaming him and asking for city officials to look into the matter.

"Chief O'Hara's recent statements regarding my employment with MPD are factually false and can be proven as such," wrote Timberlake in the May 15 email, verified as authentic by Star Tribune sources. "These statements have been harmful to my reputation by, among other things, implying that the chief had no knowledge of my prior work history or my hiring at MPD when, in fact, he was involved in my hiring."

An MPD spokesman did not reply to requests for comment Saturday, and O'Hara declined to answer questions last week on what and when he knew about Timberlake's past. City spokesman Casper Hill said "the city has no comment on those emails."

The handling of Timberlake's time with the department has prompted sharp critiques from insiders and watchdog groups for O'Hara, who was appointed chief less than a year ago on a promise to help usher in a new era of public safety. Timberlake's employment was terminated July 5, records show. A city spokesman would not say whether he was fired or quit.

The emails come two days after the president of the Minneapolis Police Officers Federation maintained that O'Hara was present during Timberlake's final interview and "fully aware of his history."

"[Timberlake] was assured by Chief O'Hara he would be OK, if he did good work," union President Sherral Schmidt said in a statement Thursday. "This is clearly not the case."

The city officially hired Timberlake in January. In April, the Minnesota Reformer reported that he'd faced a federal lawsuit and criminal charges after subduing a man with a stun gun.

Body-camera footage of the incident, which appeared in national news stories, shows Timberlake and other officers and paramedics responding June 5, 2020, to a report of a man in a Mount Vernon, Va., neighborhood who said he needed oxygen. The recording shows officers arriving to find Lamonta Gladney pacing in circles, responding confusedly to their questions. Others try to coax Gladney into an ambulance, and Timberlake shoots the man with a stun gun, sending Gladney to the ground writhing in pain.

The Fairfax County police chief lambasted Timberlake's conduct, saying the footage "erodes the public's trust of police officers." A jury found Timberlake not guilty on the three misdemeanor counts of assault and battery. Last year, Fairfax County settled a lawsuit with the victim for $150,000.

On April 20, responding to the report, O'Hara said Timberlake would not be deployed as an officer pending the investigation.

"We will get to the bottom of this and take whatever measures are necessary to ensure we are always hiring officers who meet our standards and that we are ultimately placing only the most qualified and competent police into the service and protection in the City of Minneapolis," the chief said in a statement.

The emails show Timberlake corresponding with a city employee about the incident during his background check on Sept. 26, 2022.

"Also send me the time frame of your critical incident, the day it happened, the day they charged you and the dates you were on leave," wrote Craig Johnson, a Minneapolis police sergeant, among a list of follow-up questions.

Timberlake replied saying the incident had occurred June 5. He'd been placed on administrative leave the next day and ordered to turn himself into the Fairfax County jail. He was released from jail the same day and remained on leave, and he was reinstated after being acquitted at trial, he said in the email.

O'Hara was appointed to the chief job in November, less than two months after the exchange.

In his May 2023 email to city officials accusing O'Hara of lying to the press, Timberlake said he had "grave concern" that O'Hara would continue to defame him. "As the city is aware and as the evidence shows-I have been nothing but candid, honest, self-aware during my work to earn a place within the MPD to contribute to a career I love," he wrote. "It is disappointing that, when confronted with a limited in-scope narrative of events by certain media outlets, Chief O'Hara found it easier to defame me than to own the truth - which will show that he interviewed me and approved of my hire after a full disclosure of events."

The email ends asking the city officials for an investigation.

Staff writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this report.

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