EUCLID, Ohio (WJW) – A Euclid police officer convicted of assaulting a man during a traffic stop was sentenced Friday morning. 

Michael Amiott was found guilty of one count of assault and one count of interfering with civil rights following a jury trial in July. He was found not guilty of one count of assault. 

The judge imposed a 90-day jail sentence for Amiott, but suspended it, which means he won’t have to go to jail unless he violates probation.

Amiott was given one-year probation.

The judge said the incident should have never occurred.

Amiott told the judge prior to sentencing he has undergone additional training so this type of incident will not happen again.

Amiott’s charges stem from the August 2017 arrest of Richard Hubbard III.

Video of the arrest shows Amiott kicking and punching Hubbard.

Amiott testified during the trial that Hubbard was stopped on traffic violations and resisted arrest. Amiott also stated that at one point during the arrest, he felt Hubbard was reaching for his gun belt.

Hubbard maintained he was stopped because of his race. He also testified that he did not fight back during the arrest.

Euclid officials fired Amiott shortly after the incident but he was reinstated to the force after an arbitrator ruled he should get his job back.

Euclid Police Chief Scott Meyer said since Amiott was reinstated he has not had any other disciplinary issues.

Euclid police released a statement following the sentence.

“The long legal process involving Officer Michael Amiott’s arrest of Richard Hubbard in August of 2017 is ending. As a result of the incident, Officer Amiott’s employment was terminated later that same year. In October of 2018, an independent arbitrator ruled to reinstate Amiott to the police department. In August of 2019, Officer Amiott was criminally charged and in July of 2022, found guilty of misdemeanor charges stemming from Hubbard’s arrest. Today, Amiott was sentenced to a 90-day suspended sentence, 1 year of community control sanctions (probation), a fine, and court costs. Officer Amiott’s termination, reinstatement, trial, and eventual sentence were all the result of lawful processes set forth in our legal system. The Euclid Police Department respects those processes, as well as their results. Officer Amiott is currently assigned to the Euclid Police Department’s Warrant Unit. His future assignment within the department has yet to be determined. The Euclid Police Department considers this matter closed.”

Euclid Fraternal Order of Police released the following statement.

“While we disagree with the decision of the jury and the judge’s sentence, we respect the judicial process. The members of Euclid F.O.P. Lodge #18 will continue to support Officer Amiott in any way possible. We encourage Ptl. Amiott to use all of the judicial processes available to him to right this injustice.”