A former Columbus police officer named as a defendant in a federal wrongful death lawsuit is now wearing a badge in Starkville.
Mayor Parker Wiseman introduced Garrett Mittan to the board of aldermen Tuesday as a new Starkville Police Department officer. Mittan, who worked for nearly three years for CPD, is accused in a lawsuit brought by the estate of Ricky Ball last week in the U.S. District Court of Northern Mississippi of planting a weapon at the scene of the October 2015 officer-involved shooting that claimed Ball’s life.
Mittan started with CPD in December 2013, and his last day with the force was Monday, according to city records. Columbus Human Resources Director Pat Mitchell said his resignation was voluntary.
Another former CPD officer, Canyon Boykin, shot and killed Ball after Ball fled a traffic stop. He’s since been indicted for manslaughter in the incident.
Authorities found a 9mm handgun belonging to Mittan near Ball’s body the night of his death, a fact police did not report until 12 days later. The gun had reportedly been stolen from Mittan’s home on Aug. 5, 2015, more than two months prior to the Ball incident.
The suit alleges Mittan was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene after the shooting and that he “must have planted or allowed this weapon to be placed near [Ball’s] body” to justify the shooting.
Mittan has not been indicted. Neither has the Mississippi Attorney General’s office, who is handling the criminal investigation into Ball’s death through a special prosecutor, publicly named him as a suspect.
SPD Chief Frank Nichols told The Dispatch he was aware Mittan was involved in the Ball investigation when he was hired. However, he said he carefully vetted his new officer during the hiring process.
“We do background checks on everyone we hire,” Nichols said. “Everything we got for that young man was good — his references, even people he didn’t list as references that I talked to. That’s the whole purpose of having a background check.”
Though Nichols said he is confident Mittan will be an effective SPD officer, he is subject to a standard one-year probationary period.
“I have to feel confident — I hired him,” Nichols said. “We’ll let the process play out and trust in our process. If any red flags come up we’ll deal with it accordingly.
“If anything comes up that he didn’t disclose, he can be terminated,” Nichols added.
Likewise, Wiseman supported the hiring process.
“It is a rigorous process intended to ensure that our police officers are well qualified for the job and meet the highest standard of integrity we have set for our police force,” Wiseman said.
Both Boykin and Mittan are white, while Ball was black. Ball’s death sparked demonstrations in Columbus, particularly among the African-American community.
Still, Chris Taylor, Oktibbeha County’s chapter president for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he didn’t think Mittan’s hire should necessarily spark outrage among Starkville citizens.
“It may raise a red flag with some people, but as [local NAACP] president, I will have to support Chief Nichols’ decision.”
Managing Editor Zack Plair, and reporters Alex Holloway and Carl Smith, all contributed to this article.
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