ASP officer infamous for accusations of brutality and misconduct is fired

[LiberalArkie]

November 27, 2025 7:00 am

Steven Payton, a state trooper who made multiple headlines during his law enforcement career for allegations of brutality and misconduct, has been fired from the Arkansas State Police.


Snip

After putting Eva and Mathew in his patrol car, Payton called for backup, and was soon joined by Sgt. Kristopher Stevens of the Pope County Sheriff’s Department and Cpl. Stewart Condley of the Arkansas State Police. After backup arrived, the lawsuit says, Matthew was ordered out of the car, but his size-16 feet became entangled under the front seat. When he reached toward Sgt. Kristopher Stevens for help extricating himself from the car, Stevens tased him. Eva, thinking the taser was a gun and her son was about to be shot, threw herself over her son, and was tased as well. After that, the lawsuit says, Matthew was “thrown to the ground, beaten, choked and hit in the groin,” and Eva was slammed repeatedly against the trunklid of the car while handcuffed. Matthew was tased at least 5 more times during the incident, though Pat James, the attorney for the Robinsons, noted that when they tried to get the records from the internal data recorders built into the taser used that night, they were told by the police that those records had been lost. The lawsuit says that Eva Robinson was so terrified and afraid for their lives while she and her son were being beaten that she urinated on herself.

Eva Robinson was later charged with criminal mischief, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct, all misdemeanors, with the criminal mischief charge being levied, ACLU-Arkansas executive director Rita Sklar said, because the antenna of the patrol car was broken as Eva Robinson’s body was being repeatedly slammed into it. No evidence of criminal activity was ever found on Matthew or Eva Robinson, though officers allegedly tried to claim that the end of an air hose found in Matthew’s pocket, part of the equipment from the family’s nearby auto shop, was a “pipe.”

Eva Robinson was later found not guilty on all charges, while Matthew Robinson was eventually adjudicated on a “failure to submit” charge in juvenile court. A federal jury did not rule in favor the Robinson’s claims against Payton, while the other responding officer, Kristopher Stevens, settled to the tune of $225,000 moments before the jury announced its verdict.

Snip

https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/11/27/asp-officer-infamous-for-accusations-of-brutality-and-misconduct-is-fired