ELDRIDGE, Iowa — Monday, the Scott County Sheriff's Office promoted a deputy who shot and killed a man at a traffic stop in 2018.
Deputy Greg Hill stopped Robert Mitchell in the 6600 block of North Brady Street. Deputy Hill discovered that Mitchell had an outstanding warrant and began to arrest him.
Body camera video shows that Mitchell forced himself back into his car and tried to flee the scene. Sergeant Hill was pulled by the car and then opened fire.
“Honestly, it feels like betrayal. You have an officer that has shown excessive force misconduct, and yet he's being rewarded with a promotion when he needs to have a demotion," said Katherine Wright, Robert Mitchell's sister.
Mitchell's family held a peaceful protest against the promotion of Deputy Hill Monday morning outside of the sheriff's office.
"I think that it's time that people have to stand up against the wrongs and stop letting these agencies police themselves," Said Patty Thorington, Robert Mitchell's mother.
Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane says their office supports the decision to promote Deputy Will.
"I consider the current list for the promotion of Sergeant lieutenant, the absolute best list that the Scott County Sheriff's Office has ever seen," said Sheriff Lane. "There are people within our community that are not comfortable with law enforcement in general and how we perform our duties. But at the same time there are a lot of people that are very very confident in what we do."
Mitchell's family says his actions during the incident aren't a reflection of who he was.
"He needed to find his way in life, he was still trying to figure things out when he was making mistakes. But don't we all do that?," said Thorington. "Bobby was a very good-hearted person, he would give the shirt off his back to anybody."
Deputy Will was cleared of all criminal charges by the Scott County State's Attorney. The Scott County Sheriff's Office and Deputy Hill still face civil charges filed by Mitchell's family.