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NEW BEDFORD — A city police officer is facing a 15-day suspension for excessive force after punching and pepper spraying a juvenile suspect, issuing false statements about the incident, and violating the department’s body-worn camera policy.
William Mouyos, who joined the department in 2022, was working on the new Crime Reduction Team, tasked with clamping down on scooters and the crimes committed by those riding them, including shootings.
The incident in late November turned into a multi-cruiser police chase that ended at a convenience shop in the South End, parts of which were captured by body camera and surveillance footage.
Mouyos had six policy violations sustained against him last month, for which Police Chief Jason Thody is seeking an unpaid suspension that must be approved by Mayor Jon Mitchell.
In his use of force report, Mouyos wrote that when he approached the juvenile male in the store, “he spun around abruptly, I perceived this action to be an attempt to come at me so I delivered a closed fist strike with my left hand to his face to stun him in order to take him into custody.”
Surveillance footage shows this did not happen.
The juvenile male was facing Mouyos when the officer entered the store, and had his hands near his face. An investigating officer wrote this is presumably because he was reacting to the effects of the pepper spray.
“I punched him in the face and pepper sprayed him. Right on the f—— sidewalk,” Mouyos motions, talking to other officers outside the store. “I went to go grab him inside and I f—— punched him in the face by accident, right in the f—— nose.”
One of the responding officers Jonathan Andrews responds, “Well not by accident, cause what, did he headbutt you or something? Did he run into you?”
Mouyos responded “no.” He subsequently noted in his report that the punch was not an accident, according to the internal investigation.
“I believe once Off. Mouyos realizes he’s being recorded tries to downplay the strike to the face,” wrote the internal investigator.
Minutes later, while transporting the juvenile to the hospital, the juvenile repeatedly exclaimed that Mouyos punched him in the face. Mouyos responded: “My hand slipped.”
The city is withholding the incident and arrest reports filed by Mouyos as the subject is a juvenile. But according to internal investigators, the chase began after Mouyos, at the start of his shift, observed the juvenile driving by headquarters on a scooter. He pulled out onto the main road in his own vehicle to observe.
Thody told The Light that at that time, there was no active be-on-the-lookout or response to a particular scooter-related crime, but that the CRT has been focused on scooters given their involvement in crimes and frequent traffic violations.
The department has responded to several shootings involving masked suspects who flee on scooters, sometimes stolen, and eventually ditch them, he said.
The CRT unit in November was involved in an operation with the State Police that culminated in 12 arrests and 64 citations. Charges included carrying a loaded firearm without a license, possession of drugs, traffic violations, resisting arrest, and negligent and reckless operation of a motor vehicle. Some of those arrested had warrants or were juveniles.
Mouyos said he saw the scooter lacked a “properly affixed tag,” and alleges the operator committed traffic violations and refused to stop and obey Mouyos’ orders. The juvenile was driving his scooter on sidewalks and going the wrong way down a one-way street, according to Mouyos’ account to internal investigators.
Mouyos said he thought the juvenile was about to ditch the scooter and flee on foot when he pepper sprayed him in the face, possibly from his cruiser, according to information in the internal affairs report. However, the juvenile did not flee on foot, but continued driving the scooter, possibly with his vision impaired by the pepper spray.
None of this was captured by Mouyos’ body-worn camera, a device that city officers have been wearing since late 2024.
To turn it on, officers need only press and hold a button on the device, which is affixed to their chest.
Mouyos did not turn on his camera until after the juvenile was in custody, according to footage the city provided to The Light in response to a public records request. There was no recoverable footage from buffering mode, meaning his camera was off for most of the response.
When asked about this by investigators, Mouyos said he “forgot” to turn it on.
Department policy clearly states officers must activate their cameras when conducting traffic stops and self-initiated law enforcement activities for which an officer would notify the communications center (which he did as the chase involved multiple cruisers).
Though the incident lacked footage from Mouyos, footage from another officer’s body camera played a role in the investigation, working as an accountability tool for when officers engage in misconduct.
Asked if he would have done anything differently, Mouyos told investigators he would have turned on his body camera. As for his reasoning for punching the juvenile, an explanation that was not supported by the convenience store footage, Mouyos said he stood by his statement.
As part of civil service, officers are entitled to a hearing before the discipline is decided and issued. Mouyos’ hearing was set for this week but has been postponed. Thody will serve as the hearing officer.
The juvenile was formally charged with several motor vehicle violations, including unlicensed operation of a moped under 17 years old, and released to his mother from St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was taken to treat the effects of the pepper spray.
Thody said Mouyos inappropriately deployed pepper spray — a person possibly running away is not a sufficient reason. The internal investigator noted this presented a danger to the scooter operator and the public as the operator “would now have a diminished capacity to maintain proper control of the scooter potentially crashing and injuring himself or others.”
Thody also said Mouyos punching the juvenile was not justified, and an example of excessive force along with the pepper spray.
The chief commended department supervisors for elevating the issue immediately to his office after they reviewed Mouyos’ use of force report. The next morning, he said, internal affairs opened a case.
Thody said his proposal of 15 days suspension is informed by Mouyos’ lack of a disciplinary history. The point, he said, is not to punish, but to change future behavior to prevent such violations from happening again.
“It’s unfortunate. There’s ramifications in the form of public trust,” Thody said. “It’s important to strive for perfection as an agency but it’s also important to manage expectations… Police officers are human. They are going to make mistakes.”
The department notified the state’s police oversight body, the POST Commission, of the investigation and policy violations, as required by law.
Thody said Mouyos has already been retrained on the policies that he violated to ensure he understands what he did wrong. He was placed on a desk assignment last month after having served two weeks on the CRT.
As for the new unit, it is going on hiatus but the department is hoping to bring it back in the spring, said Police Department spokesperson Holly Huntoon. The four patrol officers who were on it will be returning to their regular patrol assignments this week to support vacancies created by recent retirements.
Mouyos did not return The Light’s email requesting comment on the incident and his reporting of it.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
Get rid of him now,no different if not worse than the kid on the scooter,remember,someone is always watching!
This is a good illustration of why local journalism is so important.
I am pro law enforcement to the hilt, however, punching a kid and lying about the situation doesn’t give me much confidence in this new officer’s ability to cope with the stress of the job.
He has to go, …………….. more than once is more than enough
This incident is appalling for several reasons.
Clearly this officer is not being truthful in a number of his statements. “ I forgot to turn on my body cam. ” “My hand slipped.”..when his fellow officers noted he punched the juvenile in the face. And his description of feeling as though the young man “Was coming at me,” is refuted by the store CC video.
This is exactly the kind of cop that makes all police officers look bad.
And, it’s not his first time. His record shows he has used excessive force before.
If he gets away with only a 15 day suspension, public trust in our law enforcement officers will be further eroded, and that is harmful to the community as well as to the majority of officers who follow the law and adhere to policy.
I acknowledge that it must be frustrating to deal with these kind of situations (having to chase kids down on scooters who are endangering the public), but law enforcement officers are trained to handle such cases and not let their anger effect the job they have to do.
There is always two sides to the story and thank God we now have body and security cameras to show what really happened.
The police chief and the mayor need to get rid of this man before it gets out of hand and someone is seriously injured or worse. Additionally, the taxpayers often pay the heavy costs resulting from excessive force lawsuits.
This officer has demonstrated his inability to handle the stress of his job as trained. To add further insult to injury, he lied about it several times. By his own actions on all accounts, he should be terminated. Keeping him on the police force would undermine public trust & taint the integrity of his fellow officers who follow policy to serve & protect the community at large.
If any normal person pepper sprayed someone else, punched them in the face, and then lied to police about what happened we would be charged with multiple crimes and likely jailed. We would then probably lose our job.
In what universe does it make sense for one of the people our society is supposed to trust to protect us and enforce the law to get off with less than that? In any just world crimes committed by police, especially police in uniform, would be treated harsher than those committed by others specifically because they have broken that societal trust.
The most interesting part of this is where the kid is in the cruiser and Mouyos is retelling what he did in the store, seemingly not knowing the other cop’s body cam is recording. Mouyos says he “…punched him in the face by accident…” with a big smile on his face. The other cop who probably realized Mouyos didn’t know the body cam was on, tries to soften Mouyos’ statement comments by saying something to effect: “Well not by accident, what did he do head butt you or something?” Mouyos doesn’t seem to catch on that the cop is quietly letting him know that he’s being recorded. Mouyos doesn’t get the hint and just keeps on incriminating himself. It’s unlikely that he simply “forgot” to turn his body cam, and it’s unlikely that this was the first time that he “accidentally” punched a suspect. His behavior is more like that of the ICE thugs.
There will be no “rehabilitation” of this NBPD Officer, William Mouyos.
His inability to be truthful is telling as is his use of inappropriate force.
NBPD Police Chief Jason Thody has a simple decision to make about this individual which will “make or break” his credibility with the public and the rank and file membership of the NBPD. The latter need the respect of the community and not be tainted by the actions of an undisciplined NBPD Officer, William Mouyos.
What more do you need. Not only that the Union can’t. truly represent him. There is an apparent to many violations and proof that he doesn’t apply his law enforcment properly. Ron Alfonse
To the journalist who wrote “issuing false statements about…” there’s a more precise word.
It’s called “lying”. And this badged thug needs to be prevented from abusing the public ever again.
This is an appalling example of why kids don’t respect of trust the police. If a teacher reacted the way the officer did, he/she/they would be GONE. It appears to me that police officers who commit aggressive acts, particularly to juveniles, are slapped on the wrist rather than fired. This officer is a liar and a thug hiding behind a badge he doesn’t deserve. All the fine officers on teh force are denigrated by his continued service.
At 15 years old, you do dumb things. Let’s hope he matures enough to stay out of trouble. ICE…… is looking for people like Mouyos, so he won’t be out of work if fired.