Dunbar police officer demoted following controversy

DUNBAR, WV (WOWK) — A Dunbar police officer named in two excessive force lawsuits had his recent promotion taken away on Wednesday afternoon and will go back to being a patrolman, according to the Dunbar Police Civil Service Commission.

The Dunbar Police Department announced last Tuesday that Officer Zach Winters received a promotion from patrolman to corporal. The promotion caused an uproar in the community, leaving residents confused and concerned.

Winters appeared before the Civil Service Commission on Wednesday regarding that promotion. He asked that any decision be tabled until he was able to have a lawyer present, but the commission denied that motion.

The commission said Winters’ promotion was improperly made, having pushed down the top candidate on the list.

The commission said Winters’ extra pay and benefits that came with the promotion have also been taken away. They also took away his eligibility for promotion pending an investigation into conduct.

Civil Service Commissioner Mark McMillian said he is expecting the police department to cooperate with an investigation, “in ways that the mayor tells us that no one has been wanting to in the past.”

Winters is accused in the death of Michael Scott Jr. A civil lawsuit claimed Scott was fatally injured while in police custody and denied medical treatment.

It states that police officers Winters and Adam Mason were attempting to arrest Scott on the night of July 22, 2022, for an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor trespassing charge. Winters allegedly lifted Scott off the ground and slammed his head into the pavement.

The complaint claimed Scott was denied proper medical treatment for hours, and he died two days later from what the medical examiner called “blunt force injuries to the head.”

In August of 2023 , the city of Dunbar agreed to pay the family of Michael Scott Jr. $2 million following his death. That amount includes attorney fees, costs, expenses, and funeral and medical bills.

In May of 2023, the Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced no criminal charges would be filed in that case.

The second civil lawsuit was filed by Anthony Reese on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023, against the City of Dunbar, Winters, now-former officer Todd Hannah and unnamed officers.

According to the civil complaint, Reese showed up at the Dunbar Police Department on Dec. 3, 2022, to pick something up and report prior instances of harassment by Dunbar police officers.

There are different accounts of what happened after Reese showed up at the department, according to the complaint.

In a report of the incident, Officer Hannah said that Reese approached him and he was afraid Reese was trying to retrieve his weapon. However, the complaint alleges that Hannah walked up to Reese as he was walking away, and then threw him to the ground and struck him.

Eventually, the complaint said six more officers came out, including Winters, and joined in the alleged assault before placing Reese under arrest for obstructing and assaulting an officer and public intoxication.

Winters’ promotion came after former police Chief Brian Oxley announced his decision to resign from the department .

Dunbar Mayor Scott Elliott recently said that the reason Winters got promoted was because of civil service laws.

“There was no write-ups that I could find in his file. So, he had taken the test two years ago, and we have held off on the promotion until I got the final answers. There were three people on the test,” Mayor Elliott said. “One of them resigned, one of them is a part-time officer, and I finally got the answers that he could not get promoted, so Zach Winters is the only one to get promoted. I don’t have a choice. It’s by law.”

Mayor Elliott said he applied to get promoted in December 2022. He also said he didn’t like that the promotion happened.

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