DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — A celebrated Dearborn police officer who also serves as president of the city’s police union was arrested and suspended following a domestic violence arrest in January.
Walter Anhut, who was named Dearborn’s officer of the year in 2017, was taken into custody by Huron Township police on January 28th after his wife called 911.
After 10 PM that Saturday, Anhut’s wife told a police dispatcher that she and her husband had gotten into an argument after they’d returned from a party.
She tried to leave, she said, and her husband assaulted her.
“He slammed the door in my face three different times, and then he pulled me out of the car and twisted my arm so hard I can't move it, it feels like it's broken,” she told a police dispatcher. “I'm trying to go to my mom's house.
Police in Huron Township were dispatched, and responded quickly.
His wife told police this was the first time anything like this had happened. Anhut would later tell officers he was concerned that his wife was too intoxicated to drive, the police report says, but declined to answer further questions by police.
Anhut told Huron Township police that “there is no probable cause here.”
Officers disagreed, concluding that Anhut was the aggressor and arresting him that night for domestic assault. The next day, his wife declined to press charges.
“Perpetrating domestic violence is a choice,” said Johanna Kononen, the director of Law and Policy for the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence. “Often times people, conflate it with an anger management issue and it simply is not.”
Through a spokesman, the Dearborn Police Department says the department initiated an investigation after Anhut’s arrest and, at its conclusion, “the officer was suspended in accordance with our disciplinary and professional conduct policies. We expect officers to uphold our high standards of professional conduct at all times.”
The officials would not say how long the suspension lasted and whether it was paid or unpaid. Anhut told 7 Action News that he has already returned to work, and added that he and his wife are trying to move forward.
“It’s imperative that we hold them to a higher standard because they’re here to serve the public,” Kononen said. “And perpetration of domestic violence just shouldn’t be tolerated.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
