A Miami University football player has been found guilty for misdemeanor resisting arrest and assault by an eight-person jury who heard testimony from both the football player and the officer who used force to arrest him on Nov. 18 at Brick Street Bar.

But the jury also found Devin Johnson, a sophomore at Miami and a defensive back for the football team, not guilty of underage intoxication. The jury did not reach a decision on the charge for criminal trespassing, resulting in a mistrial on that charge. 

Investigations by the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office and external attorneys hired by the city determined that the officer’s use of force was justified. 

During the two day trial, Johnson told the jury about what was supposed to be a celebratory night with his team that went awry when he walked through the wrong gate.

The football team had just defeated the University of Buffalo and secured its spot in the MAC Championship. In his testimony, Johnson said he went to the bar with the team to celebrate its win. Johnson, 20, paid a cover fee to get into the bar as an underage individual, and after spending a few hours there, he left the bar to find his friends.

Johnson testified he returned to the bar a few minutes after leaving, and he entered through an “exit-only” gate as a group of women were leaving. 

Morgan Ross, an employee at Brick Street, was working the exit gate. She testified that she informed Johnson that he could not enter through the gate. Joshua Byczek, a manager at Brick Street, said he saw Johnson push past Ross and continue to make his way through the bar’s patio. Byczek said he saw another employee confront Johnson, who grabbed onto the employee’s arms. Byczek then stepped between the two men, he said, and Johnson struck him in the face, giving the bar manager a bloody lip. 

On the stand, Johnson said he did not notice Ross or any other employee attempting to stop him until Byczek confronted him.

Byczek testified that he pushed Johnson out of the exit gate, but the football player attempted to come back in again.

“I thought when I pushed him out, that would have been the end,” Byczek said in his testimony. 

Byczek said he pushed Johnson again to keep him off the patio, and then Byczek said the football player put him in a headlock.

“I felt attacked,” Johnson testified.

Byczek testified that the two continued the altercation outside the bar on Poplar Street. Two other employees tried to get Johnson off of Byczek. One of them called the police.

The Oxford Police Department has a contract with Brick Street to provide extra security by remaining near the bar on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Officer Matthew Blauvelt was working the Brick Street detail that night, a shift he testified he has worked more than 20 times in his 11 years with the police department. Although he was used to working the shift, he said he sensed “urgency” and “panic” from the call.

“I’ve never experienced a call like that from Brick Street,” he said in his testimony.

Once he arrived at the scene he said he stood over Johnson, who was being held down by three Brick Street employees, and told him twice to roll over onto his stomach. When Johnson did not roll over, Blauvelt testified he dropped to his knees and started pushing him, telling him to roll over so that he could be handcuffed.

In Blauvelt’s body camera footage, Johnson can be heard yelling, “Why are you doing this to me? I didn’t do anything.”

Blauvelt said Johnson grabbed his shoulder, and the officer testified that he knew he had to use force to gain compliance. Johnson, who admitted to “being lit” in his testimony, said he did not initially see Blauvelt and does not remember grabbing him.

Blauvelt testified that he used three upper body strikes on Johnson in an attempt to “control him.” After the strikes, Blauvelt said Johnson tried to push himself off the ground, so he used two knee strikes to get him back on the ground. Johnson denied resisting arrest, saying his “body went limp.” 

Blauvelt called for backup, and a second officer from the department, Paul Hellwarth, arrived. The two officers flipped Johnson on his stomach and placed two sets of handcuffs on him. Johnson went with Hellwarth to the station, while Blauvelt stayed to collect witness statements.

At the station, Johnson informed Hellwarth that he did not need medical attention. During his testimony, Hellwarth noted a strong scent of alcohol coming from Johnson, bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. He added that Johnson made comments about drinking too much that night.

No alcohol tests were given, and Johnson said in his testimony that he did not recall telling Hellwarth that he drank that night. 

Blauvelt said in the past six years as an officer he has had to use force five times, all of which have been approved for policy compliance. He is still employed with OPD. All the employees from Brick Street that were involved in the incident are still employed with the bar.

Johnson is to appear in court May 30 for sentencing.