Man who sued CPD over excessive force claims accused of threatening officer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man who sued the Columbia Police Department over claims of excessive use of force in June 2023 has been charged again.

Donald James Lynch, 39, of Columbia, was charged on Thursday with tampering with a judicial official. He is being held without bond in Boone County Jail and had a hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon.

He was charged in another case stemming from the 2023 incident in January and pleaded guilty on Thursday to misdemeanor second-degree harassment.  He was sentenced to two years of supervised probation in that case. He was previously charged with two counts of tampering with a judicial officer in that case.

Court documents in the new case say that a deputy juvenile officer -- who was assigned to the case where Lynch’s children were removed from his home -- informed a detective of threatening and harassing messages sent to them on Feb. 6.

Lynch is accused of sending “numerous to the Family Support Team” that included messages threatening to “bury” officers and claiming "nothing" was holding him back from doing so, the probable cause statement says.