First State Times

Defendant faces eight charges, including assault, misconduct, and multiple felonies

Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced Monday that the DOJ’s Division of Civil Rights & Public Trust (DCRPT) secured an indictment against a former Wilmington police officer for two excessive force cases that took place in September 2021, including one incident that came to DCRPT’s attention after surveillance video went viral on social media.

“The evidence in this case shows a clear and disturbing pattern of violence and deception,” said Attorney General Jennings. “The defendant repeatedly abused a position of trust and authority and then subsequently lied about it. We don’t tolerate this kind of misconduct by anyone—let alone from someone who swore an oath to protect his community—and we will prosecute his crimes to the fullest extent of the law.”

DCRPT opened an investigation into Samuel Waters, 27, after discovering footage of a September 21, 2021 incident in which he repeatedly forced a man’s head against a plexiglass window, causing lacerations and bruising. During the course of its investigation, DCRPT discovered that Waters had failed to turn his body worn camera on when he should have (and regularly failed to do so), that he had lied in official documentation of the incident, and that just 9 days prior he was involved in another excessive force incident wherein he used his nightstick to repeatedly apply downward pressure on the back of a victim’s neck, pushing their face into the back of a vehicle and causing injuries.

Waters faces the following charges, carrying a potential total sentence of 0-13 years in prison:

• One count of Tampering With Public Records 1st Degree, a Class E Felony
• One count of Perjury 2nd Degree, a Class F Felony
• Three counts of Assault 3rd Degree, a Class A Misdemeanor
• Two counts of Official Misconduct, a Class A Misdemeanor
• One count of Falsifying a Business Record, a Class A Misdemeanor

Deputy Attorneys General Mark Denney and David Skoranski secured this indictment for the State following an investigation by DOJ Investigator Millard Greer.