Columbus police officer fired for bar fight wants job back
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Columbus police officer who was fired in January for allegedly being "highly intoxicated" at a Short North tavern and getting into a bar fight is now fighting to get her job back.
Amber Blackburn was three weeks away from the end of her probationary period when she went to the Town Hall Bar with a group of friends to celebrate her birthday.
In an exclusive interview, Blackburn told NBC 4’s Colleen Marshall a group of people at a nearby table were angry that Blackburn's group was too close to them and the groups exchanged profanities.
Blackburn and attorney Sam Shamansky showed surveillance video that they said contradicts much of the information in a police report that was filed by two officers who were working special duty security at the bar. Blackburn said that although the report characterizes her as the aggressor, a woman in the other group threw the first punch.
"They kept saying that they were going to punch me, fight me," Blackburn said.
Then the other woman "pretends to punch me or smack me twice and then the third time is when we, I had my coat and my hands, and we told her that we were going to leave, and that's when she punched me in the side of my face, on the right side,” Blackburn said.
In the video, it is clear Blackburn then hit the other woman and the two scuffle until a male friend of Blackburn's escorts her away.
At least on the video, no police officer is seen escorting Blackburn or asking her to leave. She claims as she was being led out by her friend that another woman spit in her face.
Shamansky said the police report is rife with claims that are proven false by the tape.
"You see, Colleen, I have never seen a report with more documented falsehoods in my life,” he said. “They're so brazen. It almost, it defies your imagination because clearly they weren't aware that this video existed, remembering that their body cameras are turned off. And so, they were making up allegations."
Shamansky said the officers did not escort Blackburn from the bar, she was not intoxicated and "unable to stand,” and she was not the aggressor.
The fight happened in the early morning hours on Sunday, Jan. 26. Blackburn was fired the following day.
"Why in the world would you fire her on the spot without taking the time to exercise other options, administrative leave?" Shamansky said. "Do an actual investigation before you tell the chief that she's so drunk she can't stand up and assaulted three people randomly in a bar and take her job when you know she's worked her tail off."
No one from Columbus police would speak on camera, but send a notice from Civil Service Rule 11-D that states:
"The service of any employee may be terminated by the appointing authority at any time during the probationary period by submitting a written report to the Civil Service Commission and the employee specifying the reason the employee is found unsatisfactory and such removal shall be final."