The Citizen Complaint Authority agreed Monday night with Donald Tye Jr., who accused officers of improper procedure, dishonesty and excessive force.

He said he was pushed down stairs by Officer Douglas Smith, that Smith later lied about it, and that Sgt. John Sess tried to cover it up.

The authority also sustained his accusation that former Officer Tara Newberry unfairly detained Tye's son, Donnie Tye III, because he would not answer her questions.

The case was one of seven - involving 12 officers and 17 allegations - reviewed by the board Monday night.

Of those 17 allegations, six were sustained, six were not sustained, in three the officers were exonerated and two allegations were determined to be unfounded. They ranged from Tye's complaint to a complainant whose allegation couldn't be addressed because investigators couldn't find him and his phone was disconnected.

The board will refer the six sustained cases to City Manager Valerie Lemmie for her to decide on discipline, if any. Newberry has since left the force to go to law school.

The department's internal investigation is not finished.

The CCA, started in January 2003, was created as a result of the city's 2002 agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the companion agreement with the Cincinnati Black United Front and American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, which sued in 1999 alleging racial profiling by Cincinnati police.

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E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com