Arbitrator upholds firing of cop who stood by during assault

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - An arbitrator has upheld the firing of a St. Paul police officer accused of standing by during an assault outside a bar.

The arbitrator ruled that 13 of 16 alleged acts of misconduct by Officer Nathan Smith were sufficiently proven. The ruling means that Smith will not be reinstated on the force, the Star Tribune reported.

Smith, a seven-year veteran, was one of five officers dismissed by St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell last summer for not intervening during an unreported attack an East Side bar in 2018. The incident involved a former St. Paul officer who beat another man with a baton outside the bar.

“Officers are expected to protect the public and tell the truth,” Axtell said in a statement Monday. “There is no room for deceit on the Saint Paul Police Department.”

The St. Paul Police Federation is awaiting arbitration decisions for the other four officers.

“We are very disappointed in the arbitrator’s decision and we are thinking about Nate Smith and his family,” Federation President Paul Kuntz said. “His work record was exemplary up to this point.”

Smith appealed his termination to the Bureau of Mediation Services. Both sides argued their cases over a four-day hearing in January.