Arkansas state police have launched an investigation into three officers who were captured on video holding down and beating a man outside a convenience store, an interaction that sparked outrage on social media.
The incident comes as video footage captured by body cameras and cellphones continue to expose aggressive and abusive policing practices across the US. Recently, in Florida, a deputy resigned after video surfaced of him pointing his gun at a pregnant Black woman during a traffic stop.
Officers in Arkansas responded Sunday to a report of a man who allegedly threatened convenience store workers in a nearby area and then rode his bicycle to Mulberry, a town north-west of Little Rock, the Fort Smith Times Record reported.
Video captured of the encounter showed an officer pinning down Randall Worcester, of South Carolina, to the ground as one punched him and another kneed him.
Worcester, 27, was taken to a hospital for treatment on Sunday. After the hospital discharged him, officers booked him in a local jail on multiple charges, including second-degree battery, resisting arrest and terroristic threatening, state police said.
Two deputies with the nearby Crawford county sheriff’s office were suspended pending an investigation into use of force practices while a police officer working for the municipality of Mulberry was placed on leave. Authorities have yet to publicly release the officers’ names.
“The state police investigation will be limited to the use of physical force by the deputies and police officer,” Arkansas state police said in a statement. “Upon completion of the investigation, the case file will be submitted to the Crawford county prosecuting attorney who will determine whether the use of force by the law enforcement officers was consistent with Arkansas laws.”
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And people wonder why some officers get a bad rep – that kind of excessive beating is oncalled for, I get difficult perps and some require 2 &3 or more officers to restrain but there is no call for kicking, punching get them down handcuff and put them in the car but do not abuse!