Cop cleared after smashing window and punching suspect in viral video as new angle released

Warning: This article contains graphic images and video which some readers may find distressing.

A Florida police officer who made headlines in July for punching a driver in a traffic stop has been cleared.

Prosecutors determined that Officer D Bowers did not commit any crimes despite footage of the incident circulating online.

The driver, William McNeil Jr, took a video of himself sitting in his car as an officer smashed his window, punched him, and pinned him on the ground.

A second angle of the incident was also released, showing the police officer having a conversation with McNeil about the reason he was pulled over.

Users on social media though, had a lot to say about the situation, though they hold no power.

The State Attorney's Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida though, do.

In a report, the Office stated: "Officer Bowers conducted a lawful traffic stop and gave McNeil 12 individual lawful commands, which McNeil refused to obey."

The second angle of the incident, which was released later, was body cam footage from the law enforcement officer, who told McNeil that he was pulled over for not using his headlights or wearing a seatbelt.

McNeil, 22, then refused to exit the vehicle after being told to do so multiple times.

Due to the video's viral nature, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office stripped the officer of his duties as they awaited the results of a review into the events.

On Wednesday, a full 16-page memo was released by the State Attorney's Office, with prosecutors highlighting that the video taken 'does not tell the whole story'.

The body cam footage helped them to come to the conclusion that the police officer didn't violate standards or policy.

"Since they are unwilling to seek justice, we will have to request that the US Department of Justice investigate this incident and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office," McNeil's lawyers, Ben Crump and Harry Daniels, said to American media.

McNeil claimed in an Instagram video that his tooth was chipped and he required stitches to his mouth after being detained.

He also claimed he suffered a concussion, saying in the video caption: "I'm not mentally healed from this but I had to get the word out eventually," he wrote in the video caption.

The incident originally took place on 19 February when the officer spotted McNeil in his SUV parked at a house which was under surveillance for drug activity.

Footage reveals McNeil closing and locking the door in the officer's face, as the report states: "What started as a routine traffic stop quickly escalated into McNeil's arrest for Resisting an Officer without Violence for failing to follow lawful orders."

It also detailed that Officer Bower warned the driver multiple times that he would need to break the window if he didn't cooperate.

It was then said that the officer punched McNeil 'in the struggle to gain' his compliance.

As well as this, drug equipment and a large serrated knife was found in the vehicle.

McNeil would plead guilty to resisting a police officer and driving with a suspended license, and it was also revealed that he uploaded the video footage five months after his guilty plea.