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Omaha Police officer's firing overturned

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An arbitrator has ordered the Omaha Police Department to reinstate a 30-year-old officer involved in a violent arrest that was caught on video.

A news release from the department Monday said an arbitrator chosen from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service ruled that the city didn't have just cause to fire Officer Aaron Pennington.

Pennington and Officer Jackie Dolinsky were involved in the arrest of Robert Wagner outside an Omaha hospital in May 2011. An arbitrator overruled the city in her case, too, and ordered her reinstated.

Wagner later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of attempted assault of a police officer.

Police say Wagner was causing a disturbance and hit an officer who tried to handcuff him. A security camera showed officers forcefully taking Wagner into custody.

 

 

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