FARGO (KFGO) – A prosecutor in Fargo has dropped a felony assault charge against a Moorhead police officer.
Officer Matthew Lambert was charged for elbowing a woman in the face. She’d been arrested for causing a disturbance at a Moorhead restaurant last Sept. The woman, Jennifer Thomas, suffered a broken nose and bruised eye.
Asst. Cass County State’s Attorney Reid Brady says he felt compelled to have the charge against Lambert dismissed after an expert in the use of excessive force concluded that the officer was following his training. Thomas had spit in the officer’s face and was difficult to control while in the emergency room of a Fargo hospital.
Lambert is still on paid administrative leave while the department continues an internal investigation.
