CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former Montgomery police officer accused of beating a black man in September has been charged with two federal civil rights violations.

In an information filed Tuesday in federal court, Matthew Leavitt is accused of beating Twan Reynolds with a "slap jack" and illegally charging his wife, Lauren Reynolds, with a DUI.

An information generally indicates a defendant is cooperating with the case and can't be filed without a defendant's permission.

"We're obviously pleased," said Reynolds' lawyer, Mike Clifford. "And it would appear that because it was done by information that some sort of plea agreement is forthcoming."

Twan and Lauren Reynolds say Leavitt and fellow officer Shawn Hutchinson hit Twan Reynolds in the head with the slap jack (a small club), kicked him in the back and sprayed him in the eyes with pepper spray at close range following a traffic stop at the 7-Eleven in Montgomery on Sept. 26.

They are suing the two officers and the town.

They also say Leavitt repeatedly used a racial epithet against Twan Reynolds. Lauren Reynolds accused Leavitt of licking her on the neck during an interrogation and saying, "Little whore, you like it like that."

'I think this is a confirmation'

Clifford said that he's grateful Charles Miller, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, took up the case. But he's disappointed that the prosecuting attorneys in Fayette and Kanawha Counties did not touch the case. (Montgomery is on the Kanawha-Fayette border.)

Clifford said he does not believe Miller waved off either county to get the federal indictment.

"The information that I received is that did not occur, at least as of the time of the grand jury testimony," he said. "What we predominantly were interested in was a confirmation that one, what the Montgomery officers did was wrong and two, that what Twan and Lauren did was not a criminal act or in any way improper. I think this is a confirmation of that."

In December, Montgomery Police Lt. J.D. Burrow told the Gazette that Leavitt and Hutchinson threatened to arrest him when he tried to stop them from attacking Reynolds.

"These guys were on their own. They felt like they could do what they want," Burrow said at the time. "It seemed like they always had that little leeway to do what they wanted to, to me."

Burrow said he was on patrol when he saw Leavitt and Hutchinson driving to the 7-Eleven with lights flashing, according to a statement Burrow provided to the city of Montgomery. (The statement was obtained by the Gazette-Mail through Clifford.)

Burrow followed the officers to the store, where they had Lauren and Twan Reynolds pulled over. Burrow says he overheard Lauren repeatedly tell Leavitt and Hutchinson that she hadn't been drinking.

When Leavitt and Hutchinson walked around to Twan Reynolds' side of the car, Burrow told them he would handle Reynolds, that the two men were neighbors, according to the statement made by Burrow.

In an information filed Tuesday in federal court, Matthew Leavitt is accused of beating Twan Reynolds with a "slap jack" and illegally charging his wife, Lauren Reynolds, with a DUI.

An information generally indicates a defendant is cooperating with the case and can't be filed without a defendant's permission.

"We're obviously pleased," said Reynolds' lawyer, Mike Clifford. "And it would appear that because it was done by information that some sort of plea agreement is forthcoming."

Twan and Lauren Reynolds say Leavitt and fellow officer Shawn Hutchinson hit Twan Reynolds in the head with the slap jack (a small club), kicked him in the back and sprayed him in the eyes with pepper spray at close range following a traffic stop at the 7-Eleven in Montgomery on Sept. 26.

They are suing the two officers and the town.

They also say Leavitt repeatedly used a racial epithet against Twan Reynolds. Lauren Reynolds accused Leavitt of licking her on the neck during an interrogation and saying, "Little whore, you like it like that."

'I think this is a confirmation'

Clifford said that he's grateful Charles Miller, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, took up the case. But he's disappointed that the prosecuting attorneys in Fayette and Kanawha Counties did not touch the case. (Montgomery is on the Kanawha-Fayette border.)

Clifford said he does not believe Miller waved off either county to get the federal indictment.

"The information that I received is that did not occur, at least as of the time of the grand jury testimony," he said. "What we predominantly were interested in was a confirmation that one, what the Montgomery officers did was wrong and two, that what Twan and Lauren did was not a criminal act or in any way improper. I think this is a confirmation of that."

In December, Montgomery Police Lt. J.D. Burrow told the Gazette that Leavitt and Hutchinson threatened to arrest him when he tried to stop them from attacking Reynolds.

"These guys were on their own. They felt like they could do what they want," Burrow said at the time. "It seemed like they always had that little leeway to do what they wanted to, to me."

Burrow said he was on patrol when he saw Leavitt and Hutchinson driving to the 7-Eleven with lights flashing, according to a statement Burrow provided to the city of Montgomery. (The statement was obtained by the Gazette-Mail through Clifford.)

Burrow followed the officers to the store, where they had Lauren and Twan Reynolds pulled over. Burrow says he overheard Lauren repeatedly tell Leavitt and Hutchinson that she hadn't been drinking.

When Leavitt and Hutchinson walked around to Twan Reynolds' side of the car, Burrow told them he would handle Reynolds, that the two men were neighbors, according to the statement made by Burrow.

"Leavitt told me to shut the [expletive] up. That no one talks to him like that," according to the statement.

Leavitt and Hutchinson pulled Twan Reynolds out of his car and tried to handcuff him. When Reynolds told the men he hadn't done anything that justified arrest, Leavitt pulled out a small slap jack and hit him in the face with it, according to Burrow's statement.

"I said, 'What are you doing?' " Burrow wrote in the statement. "I reached in to pull Leavitt away from Twan. Leavitt then hit Twan in the face with his fist several times. I told Leavitt to stop. ... Leavitt asked me, 'Aren't you going to help?' ... [They] said they would arrest my ass if I didn't step back."

Leavitt has been sued five times since October over accusations of wrongdoing as a police officer.

Changes in Montgomery

After the incident in September, Hutchinson was fired because he was in a probationary period and Leavitt was put on paid leave, said Montgomery Mayor James F. Higgins Jr. Since then, the Montgomery police force has had nearly a complete turnover in officers and has raised starting pay from $11 an hour to $15, he said.

All of the officers left of their own accord, including former chief Pete Lopez, who resigned in May, Higgins said. The only officer who remains from September is Burrow, who is part-time, he said.

"It was completely his choice. Pete owns three businesses in Montgomery," Higgins said. "And he did some soul searching and decided it would be better if he concentrated strictly on the businesses."

The new chief is Greg Lawson, who was a federal agent for 20 years and ran for sheriff in Cabell County in the last election, Higgins said.

"It just worked out that way," Higgins says of the turnover. "If the others decided to stay, we were going to change the approach to pay scale and the type of officers we were seeking anyway and we would have continued to work with Chief Lopez if he would have chose to stay. So all of this, I would have to say, just kind of happened."

Higgins said he doesn't know that the five lawsuits filed against Leavitt and Montgomery have any merit.

"That'll be a call to the insurance company as to whether those are settled outside or taken into court," he said.

Clifford said that he believes the charges against Leavitt only scratch the surface of past problems with Montgomery's police force.

"I'm hopeful the investigation will go forth," he said. "I think that there has been problems in the past and I'm hopeful that they are straightening it up now. And I think we need to find out what happened."

Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.