A Michigan State Police trooper pulled a suspected drunken driver from his vehicle and slammed him facedown to the ground in December 2017.

A cruiser dash cam recorded the arrest of the man, who is disabled and walks with a cane. The video goes on to show troopers leading him to their patrol vehicle after he's handcuffed, then his face hitting the hood. The man's blood pooled there.

Video contains profanity

Violent traffic stop cited in whistleblower lawsuit VIDEO CONTAINS PROFANITY: The Free Press obtained video showing a Michigan State Police trooper's encounter with disabled driver. Elisha Anderson and Melanie Maxwell, Detroit Free Press

Now-retired 1st Lt. Twana Powell, who was the head of internal affairs for MSP, claims in a whistleblower lawsuit that she wanted prosecutors to review the arrest for unlawful excessive force. A high-level supervisor denied her request, she said.

Twana Powell Regina H. Boone, Regina H.Boone

Powell, who left her job last year, describes the incident as part of a pattern of mishandling cases within State Police, an agency that has come under scrutiny for the actions of some of its members as well as the makeup of the force, which is overwhelmingly white and male. The trooper is white, the motorist black, the lawsuit says.

“MSP suffers from a pattern of discrimination against both citizens and agency employees,” she said in the lawsuit scheduled for trial next year in Ingham County Circuit Court.

It’s a claim State Police have denied.

A courtroom examination of the issues Powell raises could shine a spotlight on the culture and practices of the State Police, assuming the case goes to trial. The Free Press filed a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request regarding the incident with the motorist to learn more.

25-year career

Powell spent her career investigating powerful people accused of wrongdoing, both inside and outside the agency.

During her 25 years with the State Police, she investigated cops, judges, mayors, even the head of her own agency who posted a meme on Facebook in 2017 that disparaged athletes who kneel during the national anthem, leading to five days of docked pay.

Her cases were some of the most high-profile, widely covered in Michigan. They include the death of a 7-year-old Detroit girl fatally shot during a police raid, a former Inkster officer convicted of beating a motorist during a traffic stop and an assault case against ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

As head of internal affairs, she alleges, high-ranking members were not accepting of her 2015 promotion, which made her the first woman to hold that position. Powell says her recommendations were second-guessed without reason, she faced condescending treatment and last year was told she was being moved from her job for "stress and medical reasons."

Powell had undergone treatment for health issues, but said it didn't affect her work performance. She complained the decision was discriminatory, the transfer was rescinded and she kept her position, the lawsuit said.

MSP supervisor We've got a problem. Quote icon

Powell, who declined to be interviewed for this article, described in her lawsuit a culture within State Police where supervisors doled out discipline inconsistently to men and women, failed to properly address reports of discrimination made by employees, denied requests for internal affairs investigations or attempted to thwart them and didn’t punish some members severely enough for misconduct.

The lawsuit described various situations including a pregnant woman directed to keep track of her hours in a spreadsheet with a tab labeled “Good for Nothing”; a supervisor angry over Powell opening an investigation into a trooper accused of taking a bystander’s cellphone; Powell telling the top boss that MSP had become an agency known for violating citizen's rights; an employee under investigation for workplace harassment referring to Powell as a "black bitch."

More: Former head of internal affairs files whistleblower suit against MSP

More: Ex-MSP trooper Mark Bessner gets 5-15 years for death of teen on ATV

The litigation also cites the incident involving the trooper pulling the disabled motorist from his vehicle and "face-planting" him onto the pavement. The case was referred to internal affairs after two supervisors watched video of the arrest and expressed concern about what happened, including the level of force used.

Powell concluded the trooper’s actions were “discriminatory and potentially criminal.”

Despite her desire to have the trooper’s conduct reviewed by prosecutors, neither the Michigan Attorney General’s Office nor the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office was asked to review his actions, according to MSP and officials in both prosecutors' offices.

It's unclear why State Police did not seek that review. No reason is provided in the documents obtained by the Free Press and a spokeswoman declined to explain why the case was never forwarded to prosecutors for review.

"The department will not litigate this civil lawsuit in the press," State Police spokeswoman Shanon Banner said in an email. "The details portrayed in the lawsuit are merely the allegations of the plaintiff, and the defendants look forward to the opportunity to respond in court with the facts surrounding these incidents."

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday that she had several questions regarding the incident and would be seeking additional information.

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More: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer responds to Freep investigation into Michigan State Police

In her lawsuit, Powell never named the trooper who took the motorist to the ground, but video and documents obtained by the Free Press under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act match details of the traffic stop she described. The records provide additional information, including names of the people involved, and raise new questions about why the review never happened.

Video shows traffic stop

Troopers pulled over Jason Spicer on I-696, near Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak, just after 2 a.m., the morning after his 41st birthday.

Spicer was suspected of driving drunk.

Jason Spicer's booking photo from December 28, 2017's arrest in Royal Oak. He was driving drunk. Oakland County Sheriff's Office via FOIA

Trooper Mark Carroll, who was patrolling with Trooper Ronald Darling, said Spicer was traveling at 90 mph and weaving.

Video shows the troopers approach Spicer's 2005 Cadillac Escalade once it was stopped.

Carroll goes to the driver's side and about three minutes later, Spicer sticks his bare hands out of the vehicle.

Shortly after, Carroll yanks a cane from the SUV then pulls Spicer out.

It appears Spicer’s head smacks the ground during the takedown. The sound of the impact is loud enough that a microphone inside the patrol vehicle records it. Spicer’s right hand immediately moves to his face.

“Y'all did this for nothing,” Spicer yells.

He repeatedly tells troopers he suffers from nerve damage.

Much of the conversation from the stop was not recorded, including the interaction between Spicer and Carroll before Spicer was pulled from the SUV. The patrol vehicle had a wireless microphone that would inadvertently go out, records show.

Jason Spicer What did I do to get this beating? Quote icon

Carroll said Spicer refused repeated orders to get out of the SUV, then grabbed a cane, which the trooper referred to as a weapon.

“As Spicer started to come toward me with the cane, I reached inside the vehicle and grabbed the cane and ripped it from his grasp before he was further able to utilize it as a weapon,” Carroll wrote in a report. “I then grabbed Spicer by the left wrist and extracted him from the vehicle utilizing a straight arm bar takedown.”

In the video, while Spicer stands handcuffed at the hood of the patrol vehicle, Carroll appears to kick Spicer’s legs apart and Spicer groans in pain.

Screen capture of dash cam video showing Michigan State Police troopers arresting Jason Spicer during a traffic stop in Royal Oak on December 28, 2017. Michigan State Police via FOIA

In the patrol vehicle, Spicer asks: “What did I do to get this beating?”

He uses a cane to walk because he was shot about two decades ago, Spicer's attorney, Carla Marable, told the Free Press.

Police found two bottles of vodka — Tito's and Absolut — both about two-thirds empty behind the driver's seat along with a small cup that smelled of alcohol. Spicer had $9,235 in cash on him. He had a blood alcohol content of .22 — nearly three times the legal driving limit.

Once Spicer was locked up in a cell at State Police’s Metro North Post in Oak Park, a camera recorded troopers discussing what happened during the traffic stop about a half hour earlier.

“He’s like, ‘I’m going to get out but hold on, I got, I got trouble walking,’ ” Carroll says on the video, adding: “He gets a cane and starts swinging. I just grabbed it right from the vehicle, ripped it right out. … I told him like 20 times to get out of the vehicle.”

After Spicer was taken out of the cell to go to the hospital, where a blood draw would be performed and his injuries checked, he can be heard on video telling an officer he's numb.

A voice at the post delivers a farewell message, though it's not clear if Spicer was within hearing range.

“Have a good night,” the unidentified male voice says. “Come back and see us, ya little bitch.”

Laughter follows, then there's an insulting impersonation of Spicer saying he was numb.

An internal affairs report did not mention that incident and noted there was no audio in the surveillance videos. However, some of the videos reviewed by the Free Press did have audio.

Spicer's booking photo, obtained by the Free Press from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, shows a bloody lip and marks on and around his nose.

'We've got a problem'

Blood remained on the hood of the patrol vehicle when the day shift arrived later that morning. A supervisor reviewed video from the stop and decided to alert his boss.

“I called the post commander that night and basically said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got a problem.’ ... I had concerns with the level of force that was used based on what I saw,” said the supervisor, whose name was removed from documents provided to the Free Press.

He said he told Carroll the incident was going to be referred to internal affairs. The supervisor thought Carroll’s use of force seemed premature and excessive.

Another supervisor, 1st Lt. Joseph Brodeur, filed the complaint with internal affairs. He pointed out several possible violations, including failure to render first aid to the bleeding man and the level of force used.

Screen capture of dash cam video showing Michigan State Police troopers arresting Jason Spicer during a traffic stop in Royal Oak on December 28, 2017. Michigan State Police via FOIA

"It appears that it is at least as likely that the driver was grabbing his cane to exit the vehicle as it was that Trp. Carroll was in any danger of assault,” Brodeur wrote. “At a minimum, the circumstances and the presence of the cane should have indicated a potential disability or mobility issue, which could further indicate the need for more patience or lower levels of force.”

In her lawsuit, Powell said that about two weeks after the arrest by Trooper Carroll, she emailed her then-boss, Maj. Gregory Zarotney seeking to have prosecutors review the trooper’s actions. Powell said Zarotney denied her request. He didn’t answer a Free Press request for comment.

The internal affairs investigation, conducted by a lieutenant and supervised by Powell, went on to conclude Carroll "violated the law and department policy” by using more force than necessary to arrest Spicer, however, Banner, the State Police spokeswoman, said it was later determined that Carroll did not violate the law.

Banner said departmental action was taken against Carroll for breaking policy, though she said she couldn’t disclose any more details about personnel matters.

Carroll, who has worked for the State Police since 2013, did not respond to messages.

Last year, Spicer pleaded guilty to a second offense of operating while intoxicated in the 2017 arrest, which is a misdemeanor, court records show. Spicer has a history of drug-related and weapons convictions and was found guilty of assaulting, resisting and obstructing a police officer 12 years ago.

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'Unrelenting' discrimination

Powell said she aspired to be the first black, female State Police captain but retired last year after experiencing "unrelenting discriminatory treatment and retaliatory actions." She said she complained verbally and in writing about race and sex discrimination and a hostile work environment.

In her lawsuit, Powell says she reported to MSP officials about disparate treatment of women and minorities in the department as well as minority citizens who had contact with State Police.

Powell's attorneys declined interview requests, but one of them, Todd Flood, said in a statement that Powell has "dedicated her life to law enforcement and the pursuit of justice."

If the lawsuit goes to trial, it may give a unique look at the workings of the agency.

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The lawsuit names the State of Michigan, State Police, Zarotney, and former director Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue.

The list of people who could be called to testify, according to court documents, include some of the top officials within State Police — past and present — as well as names of some people who have been accused of violating State Police policies, like former Trooper Mark Bessner.

Bessner fired his Taser from a moving patrol car at a black teenager driving an ATV in 2017. Damon Grimes, 15, crashed and died. A jury convicted Bessner of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year.

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The Attorney General's Office is defending the State Police and other defendants in Powell's lawsuit, as is typical with lawsuits against state agencies.

The Attorney General's Office also reviews criminal allegations against members of the State Police when cases are presented. The office's spokeswoman, Kelly Rossman-McKinney, said it's up to State Police to determine which cases are referred to the office.

When told of the allegations in the lawsuit and asked whether her office had any concern with the way State Police handled the case involving Spicer and Carroll, she said: "Bottom line is that MSP doesn’t have to refer anything to us."

Eugene O’Donnell, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said whistleblower lawsuits can be difficult to judge. Often, allegations turn out to be different than first presented. But sometimes they are proven to be worse, he said, speaking of cases in general.

O'Donnell, a former police officer and prosecutor, said the head of internal affairs is able to know some of the very worst things that can happen in an organization.

“This is somebody who has … a bird’s-eye view,” he said. “A unique look into the internal organization.”

(An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Powell was the first African American to head internal affairs for the Michigan State Police).

Free Press reporters Paul Egan and Kristi Tanner contributed to this report.