A former Fort Worth police officer who was fired last week for using excessive force on a local activist during an arrest in June was also disciplined for violating similar policies in Irving, according to court records.
Court records show Matthew Krueger was indefinitely suspended from the Irving Police Department in April of 2013 after two internal investigations conducted by the department found unnecessary use of force. That was later revised to 15 days suspension.
Krueger later sued, saying he was unlawfully fired. That lawsuit was settled, the suspension was reversed and Krueger was given back pay, but left the department that same month in 2016. He joined the Fort Worth Police Department in 2017.
The Irving Police Department declined to comment on Krueger's record, and it's not clear if his departure was related to the settlement. The Fort Worth Police Department did not respond to questions about whether they were aware of the previous accusations before he was hired.
Krueger could not be reached for comment, and multiple requests for contact information through the Fort Worth police union and his former attorney were unsuccessful.
Fort Worth police said they launched an investigation into Krueger earlier this year after local activist Carolyn Rodriguez sustained injuries during her arrest that required medical attention before being booked in jail. They found Krueger used unjustified force and violated departmental policies. Photos posted in the wake of that arrest show Rodriguez with severe bruising and her arm in a sling.
In a statement released on Facebook, Fort Worth Police Officers Association President Lloyd Cook said the group was “shocked and disappointed” over the decision to fire Krueger.
“Officer Krueger’s indefinite suspension [Wednesday] raises serious concerns about how internal discipline is administered within the Forth Worth Police Department,” Cook said.
Cook said the group plans to file Krueger’s arbitration in hopes of getting him reinstated.
Kreuger, 38, started with the Irving Police Department in 2009 and stayed for nearly seven years, according to public records.
The Irving investigation found that in December of 2012 Krueger forcefully removed a woman from the driver's seat of a vehicle, made her get on the ground within 22 seconds of arriving on scene and arrested her. She was charged with resisting arrest, according to court documents. Records show the woman was not combative or non-compliant.
He later commented to another officer, “She can suck it,” according to an arbitration document.
The investigation into the incident found Kreuger violated department policies. In addition to the use of force policy, he also was found to have wrongfully arrested the woman and kept her detained longer than allowed.
“The elements of the crime simply did not exist,” the document said about the charge. “The circumstance deteriorated further when Officer Krueger neglected to follow established procedures for dropping charges after he was ordered to do so.”
Court records said that led the department to look into Krueger’s previous body camera footage, where they found him violating similar policies in another video during a separate woman’s arrest in January of 2013.
During this arrest, another officer was responding to a call of an intoxicated woman, during which court records said he had “absolute control of the circumstance[s].”
Court records said the woman walked up to the scene where she was “verbally abrasive” before she began to walk back to her residence when Kreuger walked after her and told her to stop. Kreuger then grabbed her near her neck and chest area, tripped her to the ground and placed his leg behind her leg, according to the documents.
The woman then hit the ground “in an abrupt and dangerous manner,” resulting in injury.
“Officer Krueger's antagonism and inability to analytically assess these two circumstances led to inappropriate charges being placed on the two women, excessive force being used, breeding dissension between Officer Krueger and his peer officers, and casting the Irving Police Department in a bad light,” court records alleged.
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