MOUNT JULIET, Tenn.
A police officer accused choking a man during a traffic stop is out of a job tonight.
The Mount Juliet Police Department fired Cpl. William Cosby Wednesday.
Mount Juliet Police Chief Andy Garrett finished his internal investigation earlier this week.
On Wednesday morning, he met with Cosby, handed him a termination letter and fired him.
During a traffic stop in April, Cosby believed James Anders, Jr. tried to hide marijuana in his mouth. The officer used a choke hold to get Anders to spit it out. Anders eventually lost consciousness.
No marijuana was found in his mouth and a blood test for the drug was negative.
"He was terminated and one of the policies he was terminated was with handling of citizens and prisoners," Garrett said.
Garrett said he fired Cosby during a morning meeting.
"He was professional. He stated he understood," Garrett said. "He was presented with a letter from the city manager that concurred with my findings."
Cosby still faces criminal charges in the case.
Two weeks ago, a Wilson County grand jury indicted him on two counts of aggravated assault and one count of perjury.
Cosby is also being sued by Anders in federal court for $1 million for violating his civil rights.
His attorney believes the tape says it all.
"This video should be shown to trainees. This ain't how things are done," said Anders' attorney Gary Vandever.
Garrett said part of his investigation included new training for his officers.
"We went ahead and took care of retraining the whole department including Officer Cosby in other techniques to use to prevent the ingestion of evidence," he said.
Cosby is not a civil service employee so there is not an appeals process.
However, he is entitled to a hearing with City Manager Randy Robertson within 10 days.
Cosby has been in Louisiana for the last couple of weeks serving with the Tennessee National Guard.
When he returned earlier this week, he turned himself in at the Wilson County jail. He is free on a $5,000 bond.
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