MELVINDALE, Mich. – A Melvindale police sergeant pleaded no contest Monday to a charge of willful neglect of duty.
Sgt. Matthew Lawrence Furman made the plea during an afternoon arraignment.
The case involves a February incident during a call about a man who appeared to be drunk and disorderly, police said.
Furman was originally charged with assault and battery, but that charge was dropped Monday when Furman reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Police were called at 9:44 p.m. Feb. 1 to a home in the 17300 block of Clarran Avenue to break up a volatile drunk situation, officials said.
"He and two other officers responded to a location, a disturbance call," Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Matthew Penny said.
Furman got in trouble for ordering an extremely intoxicated man to walk down a flight of stairs. The man fell, officials said.
Emergency medical workers were called and took the man to a nearby hospital, police said.