A New-Paltz Police Officer who admittedly punched a handcuffed man is not going to face any discipline by town officials.

During a packed police commission meeting on Thursday, the board announced that based on their findings Officer Robert Knoth did not use excessive force on September 9, when he punched 23-year-old Paul Echols in the back of a police cruiser.

Police responded to a fight involving Echols. The officer who punched Echols says he was spitting blood in his face while the two were tangled up, so he punched Echols three times to free himself.

A citizen's advisory committee disagreed with the police investigation that found Knoth did not use excessive force. The committee was supposed to present its findings on Thursday, but the town's attorney advised against it.

"He didn't have a gun on him. He wasn't going to pull anything on the officers. So how much danger could a physical person be in that they couldn't wait ten more minutes to illicit more cooperation from him. From what I saw, it didn't rise to the point where the officer needed to have punched," said Gowri Parameswaran, chair of New Paltz Citizens' Advisory Committee.

Others disgareed.

"The officer is justified in the force he used under the totality of the circumstances, from viewing video tapes, audio tapes, interviewing people. The officer in question is a 27-year veteran of our agency. We've never had an excessive force complaint against him," said Chief Joseph Snyder, New Paltz Police.

Town officials say one of the members of the citizens advisory committee resigned his post, because he disagreed with the the process followed by the committee.