Ex-cop Leavitt faces jail time, large fine for two federal civil-rights violations
Kaleigha Reynolds was just 4 years old, sitting in her car seat and drinking some juice, when a police car with lights flashing pulled in front of her parents' car in Montgomery.
"They said, 'You niggers think you can do anything down here. This is our movie. This ain't no rap movie,'" Twan said.
When Twan and Lauren Reynolds were arrested, their daughter was left in their car. An acquaintance took Kaleigha, but her parents didn't know what had happened to her while they were under arrest.
Lauren Reynolds says Leavitt licked her on the neck during the interrogation and said, "Little whore, you like it like that."
Leavitt is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 24. According to sentencing guidelines, he faces up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine. Leavitt also surrendered his West Virginia law enforcement certification as part of his plea deal.
Personnel changes
The Reynolds' lawyer, Mike Clifford, said the plea deal was a victory for the Reynolds family and for the town of Montgomery. Since the incident, most Montgomery police officers have left, he said.
"They have some good officers up there now," Clifford said.
After the September incident, Hutchinson was fired because he was in a probationary period and Leavitt was put on paid leave, Montgomery Mayor James F. Higgins Jr. said last month.
Since then, the Montgomery police force has raised starting pay from $11 to $15 an hour, he said.
All of the officers left of their own accord, including Chief Pete Lopez, who resigned in May, Higgins said. The only officer who remains from September is Burrow, who works part time, he said.
Kaleigha is still afraid of police and is in therapy because of what she saw that night, Lauren Reynolds said.
The family was pulled over one night after leaving Clifford's office for having an expired inspection sticker on their car, Lauren Reynolds said.
"Kaleigha started crying, 'They're going to take my daddy away,'" she said.
The Charleston police officer tried to calm the girl, then gave her mother back her license and let them go.
"He told Kaleigha, 'See, we're not all bad,'" Lauren Reynolds said.
Lauren and Twan Reynolds talk to their lawyer, Mike Clifford, in his office on Monday. Former Montgomery Police Officer Matthew Leavitt pleaded guilty to two civil-rights violations in federal court for beating Twan Reynolds with a slap jack and illegally charging Lauren Reynolds with a DUI.
Lawrence Pierce Gazette photo
Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kaleigha Reynolds was just 4 years old, sitting in her car seat and drinking some juice, when a police car with lights flashing pulled in front of her parents' car in Montgomery.
She didn't understand what was happening as Montgomery Police Officer Matthew Leavitt pulled her parents from the car and then started beating her dad on Sept. 26.
Leavitt pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor civil-rights violations in federal court on Monday. Leavitt pleaded to beating Twan Reynolds with a slap jack and illegally charging his wife, Lauren Reynolds, with driving under the influence.
Chief U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin accepted the plea.
After watching Leavitt plead guilty, Twan Reynolds said Monday he remembered hearing his daughter's screams that night. He said Kaleigha was terrified by what happened.
Lauren Reynolds said she first saw Leavitt that day as she was in line at a concession stand at a football game.
"He was standing behind me, looking at me," she said. "He kept rocking back and forth. ... I got an eerie feeling from it. It was chilling."
When they left the football game, the Reynolds family stopped at the local Go-Mart to put air in a car tire. The machine was broken, and they drove to the 7-Eleven.
There Leavitt and Officer Shawn Hutchinson pulled Lauren Reynolds from the car, telling her it sounded like she was slurring her words. They looked at her license, which had a St. Albans address.
"They said, 'You're a little St. Albans girl. You haven't had the privilege of being introduced to the Montgomery police yet," Lauren Reynolds said.
Twan Reynolds started talking to the two officers as he also tried to calm his daughter.
"She was crying and I was trying to look back at her," he said. "From that point it just got out of hand."
'This ain't no rap movie'
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 slap jack - a small weapon with a weight at the end - and hit him in the face with it, according to Montgomery Police Lt. J.D. Burrow.
In December, 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."
Chuck Miller, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, handled the case himself. He pointed out in the courtroom that slap jacks have been outlawed for police use because they can kill.
Twan Reynolds remembers Leavitt and Hutchinson, who has not been charged with any crime, yelling racial slurs at him. Twan Reynolds is black and his wife is white.
"They said, 'You niggers think you can do anything down here. This is our movie. This ain't no rap movie,'" Twan said.
When Twan and Lauren Reynolds were arrested, their daughter was left in their car. An acquaintance took Kaleigha, but her parents didn't know what had happened to her while they were under arrest.
Lauren Reynolds says Leavitt licked her on the neck during the interrogation and said, "Little whore, you like it like that."
Leavitt is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 24. According to sentencing guidelines, he faces up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine. Leavitt also surrendered his West Virginia law enforcement certification as part of his plea deal.
Personnel changes
The Reynolds' lawyer, Mike Clifford, said the plea deal was a victory for the Reynolds family and for the town of Montgomery. Since the incident, most Montgomery police officers have left, he said.
"They have some good officers up there now," Clifford said.
After the September incident, Hutchinson was fired because he was in a probationary period and Leavitt was put on paid leave, Montgomery Mayor James F. Higgins Jr. said last month.
Since then, the Montgomery police force has raised starting pay from $11 to $15 an hour, he said.
All of the officers left of their own accord, including Chief Pete Lopez, who resigned in May, Higgins said. The only officer who remains from September is Burrow, who works part time, he said.
Kaleigha is still afraid of police and is in therapy because of what she saw that night, Lauren Reynolds said.
The family was pulled over one night after leaving Clifford's office for having an expired inspection sticker on their car, Lauren Reynolds said.
"Kaleigha started crying, 'They're going to take my daddy away,'" she said.
The Charleston police officer tried to calm the girl, then gave her mother back her license and let them go.
"He told Kaleigha, 'See, we're not all bad,'" Lauren Reynolds said.
Lauren and Twan Reynolds talk to their lawyer, Mike Clifford, in his office on Monday. Former Montgomery Police Officer Matthew Leavitt pleaded guilty to two civil-rights violations in federal court for beating Twan Reynolds with a slap jack and illegally charging Lauren Reynolds with a DUI.
Lawrence Pierce Gazette photo
Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.
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