A University of Minnesota police officer should have been suspended, not fired, for an aggressive off-duty encounter with a pedestrian outside a St. Paul restaurant, an arbitrator has ruled.

Phillip Lombardi was waiting to turn left on his way to lunch at Cosetta’s in July 2016 when a woman entered the crosswalk, according to the arbitrator’s report.

Lombardi motioned for the woman to hurry up and pulled his SUV forward. The woman, a St. Paul prosecutor, then kicked the front of his vehicle.

Lombardi quickly parked and followed the woman, asking why she kicked his car. The two shouted and cursed at each other.

When Lombardi caught up to the woman, she turned to face him and may have clenched her fists, the report says. Lombardi then placed a hand on her collarbone “to push her back and create space.”

The woman swatted his hand away, thinking he was trying to strangle her.

Three onlookers then intervened. One took a photo of Lombardi’s license plate and asked Lombardi to wait for police to sort it out.

Instead, Lombardi returned to his car and left the area.

Minneapolis prosecutors, who handled the case because of conflicts of interest, charged Lombardi with misdemeanor assault. He pleaded guilty but the conviction was removed from his record after one year of probation.

After moving him to a recycling center job, the U fired Lombardi in May 2018 following an internal affairs investigation.

The U cited his pursuing the woman and use of force, as well as his failure to report the incident to either a supervisor or St. Paul police. Related Articles Marchers shut down I-94 through St. Paul to protest Breonna Taylor decision

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However, arbitrator Phillip Finkelstein last month reduced Lombardi’s punishment to a 10-month unpaid suspension, writing that Lombardi’s record shows him to be an “excellent” officer with no prior discipline.

“While we may never know why he acted in such a poor fashion on July 8, 2016, his past record indicates he deserves an opportunity to return to work and it is likely not to reoccur,” Finkelstein wrote.

The arbitrator also recommended the officer take an anger management course.