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Second charge filed on officer Official misconduct added to assault An additional charge has been filed against a Phoenix police officer who resigned after he was accused of choking a mouthy shoplifter. Mike West, 49, was cited to appear next Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court on a charge of first-degree official misconduct. He already faces trial next month on a related charge of fourth-degree assault. Both charges are Class A misdemeanors. Few details of the incident have been made public by authorities. Special prosecutor Stephen Campbell, a deputy district attorney in Grants Pass who filed the assault charge in February, did not return a phone call Thursday seeking comment. The charge of official misconduct, filed by Campbell Wednesday, accuses West of using "unreasonable and excessive force ... with intent to harm." Jones is listed as the victim in both counts. According to a probable cause affidavit filed by Phoenix reserve officer B.J. Hyrst, Jones was arrested Oct. 26 at Ray's Food Place after he scuffled with two store employees who detained him for allegedly stealing a package of Sudafed cold tablets. While handcuffed, the 35-year-old Jones became agitated at the police station and refused to orders to stay seated, according to the affidavit. West was present. Without elaborating, the affidavit said Jones was then taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford for unspecified injuries. After treatment, he was lodged in the Jackson County Jail on charges of third-degree robbery and theft, fourth-degree assault and resisting arrest. Oregon State Police say what really happened is that West began choking Jones, who was handcuffed, and stopped only after another officer intervened. In an interview Thursday, Police Chief Bob Kershaw confirmed the allegations and said he was personally responsible for the investigation that led to West's prosecution. He said he first heard about the incident in mid-January -- almost three months after the fact. "Nobody brought it to my attention at first," he said. "As soon as I heard about it, I called in the state police." Kershaw said that after consulting with the City Council, he decided to order West to undergo counseling in lieu of suspension. He said West was under strain from marital problems. Despite the counseling, West resigned March 18 and moved to South Dakota, Kershaw said. "He told me, `I can't be in this job and be married too. They don't go together,"' Kershaw recalled. Kershaw said called West "a damn good police officer" and said the choking incident was out of character. West was hired full-time in February 1995 after serving six or seven years as a reserve. "Mike had some marital problems, but that doesn't excuse his actions by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "It's unfortunate that it happened." A one-day trial is scheduled Sept. 7. Meanwhile, Jones faces trial on charges of his own for shoplifting and assaulting the grocery store manager. He skipped a court date in December and hasn't been heard from since. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA