Former Minneapolis Cop Convicted in Assault Case

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former Minneapolis police officer has been convicted of assaulting a man while on-duty.

A jury found Christopher Reiter guilty Monday of third-degree assault for kicking a domestic assault suspect in the face in 2016. The man, Mohamed Osman, collapsed and went unconscious after the kick, which caused bleeding on the brain and a broken nose.

Reiter's attorney, Robert Fowler, told jurors his client thought Osman had a knife, so the use of force was reasonable.

According to the Star Tribune , a knife wasn't mentioned in police reports. Prosecutor Daniel Allard said that as part of a conspiracy, Reiter, another officer and the assault victim would have had to lie about the knife on the witness stand.

The police department fired Reiter after the incident.