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Trump to pardon police officers convicted in DC man's death
The D.C. police union identified two officers President Donald Trump plans to pardon as the officers convicted in the October 2020 death of a man in the Brightwood Park neighborhood.
Monday night in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters he was working on pardons for two D.C. police officers, saying he was going to give them a break. The police union identified the officers as Terrence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky. The union declined to comment further.
“We are looking at two police officers, actually, Washington police officers, that went after an illegal and things happened and they ended up putting them in jail,” Trump said Monday. “They got five-year jail sentences. You know the case. And we’re looking at that in order to give them, uh, we gotta give them a break.”
In October 2020, 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown was riding a motorbike without a helmet as Sutton pursued him in an unmarked car, prosecutors said. The chase went on for 10 blocks before Sutton followed Hylton-Brown down an alley at what prosecutors called unreasonable speed before Hylton-Brown left the alley and was hit by a car.
After the collision, Sutton and Zabavsky conspired to cover up what actually happened, prosecutors said.
Community outrage led to violent clashes with police.
Sutton was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. Zabavsky was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice and given four years in prison. They remain free pending appeal.
Hylton-Brown’s mother, Karen Hylton, told News4 she was stunned by the news of pardons. She repeatedly said, “There is no way. This can’t be happening.”
Sutton’s attorney declined to comment. Zabavsky’s attorney from the law firm Zampogna PC sent News4 a statement reading, “Zampogna PC is working tirelessly towards victory for our client, Lt. Zabavsky, to overturn the verdict for a prosecution that should never have been brought.”