Veteran Hastings police officer faces charges
By JIM ADAMS, Star Tribune

Last update: February 26, 2008 - 9:17 PM

A veteran Hastings police officer who was suspended 30 days for hitting a fleeing suspect with his squad car has now been charged in that incident.

Rene Doffing, 44, was charged with felony and misdemeanor assault, criminal vehicular injury and misconduct of a public official, in papers filed Friday in Dakota County District Court.

The charges were filed by the Olmsted County Attorney's office which, along with the State Patrol, handled the case to avoid any conflict of interest.

The complaint gave this account of what happened March 26:

Doffing said he told a 23-year-old Wisconsin man to stop after seeing him in a group that appeared ready to fight by the back door of the Coliseum Sports Bar in downtown Hastings about 2:20 a.m. The man ran and Doffing followed in his squad car. Another officer arrived and said she saw Doffing drive over a curb, accelerate into a parking lot and hit the man's leg at an angle, knocking him onto the car hood and then the ground.

A State Patrol crash reconstruction concluded Doffing was driving at least 20 miles an hour when he turned slightly to hit the man, causing him to shatter the squad's windshield and be thrown about 19 feet. His knee was cut and broken.

The city fired Doffing last May. But he won a round in January when an arbitrator ruled he should be suspended 30 days without pay -- not fired -- for unsafely driving his squad. She ordered the city to reinstate him with back pay.

Doffing, a long-time officer, has asked, but not yet been allowed, to resume working, said his attorney, Paul Engh. The attorney questioned why the complaint was filed only after Doffing was reinstated.

Hastings City Attorney Dan Fluegel said the city is still considering whether to appeal the arbitrator's ruling.

Jim Adams• 612-673-7658