ANDOVER, Minn. – More than a year after he threw a punch, a former Minneapolis police sergeant is heading to prison. David Clifford (pictured) was sentenced to three years and seven months for punching a fellow bar patron last summer at Tanner’s Station in Andover. State guidelines recommend a sentence of seven years for a first degree felony assault.
The altercation was captured by the bar’s surveillance video, and Clifford has never denied punching Brian Vander Lee, but has claimed that he was acting in self defense. Vander Lee had multiple brain surgeries after the incident.
Clifford has since been fired by the Minneapolis Police Department.
