BELDING, Mich. (June 16, 2014) — Belding Police Officer Jason Cooper will be reinstated following his October 2013 termination, according to Will Keizer with the Police Officers Labor Council.
Cooper will be reinstated next week with full back pay and benefits aside from pay during an eight-day suspension, Keizer said. An arbitrator ruled in Cooper’s favor Monday following his hearing against the city in May.
Cooper was fired after a bar fight in the parking lot of the Grattan Irish Pub Oct. 11. He was off duty at the time of the altercation.
He was fighting with another man after someone allegedly yelled a racial slur at him. A pregnant woman said she was punched in the stomach while trying to break up that fight.
Following his firing, the Belding community staged protests around City Hall in an attempt to get him his job back.
