After a criminal investigation, the former Loveland Police Department officer who hit a woman who spat on him now faces an assault charge.

The incident happened May 20, when a handcuffed woman in police custody spit on LPD officer Russell Maranto, 28, who then hit her, according to a Larimer County Sheriff’s Office news release. 

LPD terminated Maranto’s employment May 23 and Chief Tim Doran requested that the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office conduct a criminal investigation into the incident. 

The investigation resulted in Maranto being charged with third-degree assault and, on Thursday, Maranto was issued a court summons.

The incident began around 8:30 p.m. May 20, when officers responded to a report of a woman, Angelia Hall, 59, wandering in and out of traffic and speaking incoherently in the area of North Garfield Avenue and East 29th Street in Loveland, according to an earlier news release.

Officers took Hall into protective custody and transported her to the Medical Center of the Rockies for evaluation, where she was verbally abusive to healthcare professions and spat at a nurse and Maranto, according to the release. 

Maranto hit her across the face in response, causing minor injuries. 

Maranto’s partner removed him from the room and radioed for a supervisor to respond to the scene, according to the release. 

Maranto was put on administrative leave that evening and later terminated. 

Hall was medically cleared and taken to the Larimer County Jail on a charge of third degree assault, according to the release.

Maranto was hired by the department on June 6, 2022. Before he was an officer in Loveland, he worked with the Montrose Police Department and the Wyoming Department of Corrections. 

“Being a police officer in 2023 requires extraordinary patience, self-control and bravery, and the men and women of Loveland Police Department strive every day to fulfill this mandate,” Chief Doran said in the release. “There is not a single member of this department who does not feel the burden when we fall short.”