A Florida sheriff released body camera video on Monday that he said showed his officers felt justified when they repeatedly punched, elbowed and kneed a drug suspect who appeared to be resisting arrest even after being pistol-whipped and pinned to the ground.
Meanwhile, the suspect’s attorney is calling for a federal investigation into the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and accusing Sheriff TK Waters of hiding. The arrest of Le’Keian Woods on Friday drew national attention after a bystander’s cell phone video was released showing officers hitting him and appearing to knock him to the ground face first after he was handcuffed.
Waters and Mike Shell, his assistant chief for public accountability, told a news conference that officers knew Woods had been charged with murder, was on trial for armed robbery and had been linked to firearms and drug trafficking when they chased him Friday after a traffic stop.
A mug shot taken after Woods’ arrest shows him with both eyes swollen shut and bruises and cuts on his face.
The suspect’s attorney is calling for a federal investigation of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and accusing Sheriff TK Waters of a cover-up. AP
“There is force used by arresting officers and yes, that force is ugly. But the reality is that all violence, all violence is ugly,” Waters said. “But just because violence is ugly doesn’t mean it’s illegal or against (agency) policy.” He said all officers remained on the street “where they belong.”
Woods is charged with resisting arrest with violence, armed distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine and other crimes.
Harry Daniels, Woods’ lawyer, said he would petition the US Department of Justice to investigate his client’s beating.
Officer Sullivan repeatedly yelled at Woods to get on the ground or he would shoot him with his Taser stun gun.AP
“It’s unfortunate that the sheriff believed the beating of an unarmed man was justified,” Daniels said. “It is clear that he was an accomplice and an enabler of clear misconduct by his officers. It’s not surprising that (the sheriff’s office) found no wrongdoing because they investigated themselves.”
Body camera footage shows that Jacksonville officers, including Hunter Sullivan, stopped a Dodge Ram pickup in the apartment complex’s parking garage.
Shell said the stop happened shortly after Woods finished selling drugs at a gas station.
The officers were then seen pointing their guns at the two men with Woods and they surrendered without incident.
Waters said cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine and a gun were found in the truck.
The video shows Woods, however, running from the front passenger seat and into the apartment complex, with Sullivan in pursuit.
When Sullivan got close enough, he shot him twice with the stun gun and Woods fell face first onto the pavement.AP
Sullivan repeatedly yelled at Woods to get on the ground or he would shoot him with his Taser stun gun. As Sullivan got closer, he shot him twice with the stun gun and Woods fell face first onto the road.
Sullivan then jumped on top of Woods and repeatedly told him to put his hands behind his back. Woods, who is 5-foot-8-inches tall and 160 pounds, squirms and sometimes puts one hand or the other behind his back, but then moves the other underneath.
In an arrest report also released Monday, Sullivan said he repeatedly hit Woods in the head and ribs and elbowed him in the face, fearing he was reaching for a gun in his waistband.
Woods, who is 5-foot-8-inches tall and 160 pounds, squirms and sometimes puts one hand or the other behind his back but then moves the other underneath.AP
Detective Josue Garriga arrived and said in the report that he kneed Woods in the head and shoulder while another punched him. After about two minutes, they got Woods in handcuffs, according to the video.
Another body cam video shows officers still accusing Woods of resisting arrest as they tried to lift him off the ground, so they slammed him back down. They then dragged him into a sitting position on the ground.
Daniels, Woods’ attorney, said the sheriff’s office had no legal reason to stop the truck. In the report, officers said they originally tried to stop the truck because the driver was not wearing a seat belt, but he would not stop.
Cellphone video provided by Ruby Anderson shows Woods, with swollen eyes and bloodied face sitting on the ground surrounded by officers, as he is taken into custody, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in northeast Florida.AP
“They had no reason to implicate Mr. Woods, none,” Daniels said. He said Woods was not resisting arrest because he was struggling with Sullivan and other officers, but was trying to protect himself from an unlawful beating.
“Any man who gets hit will fight the hit or he’ll be killed,” Daniels said.
Woods was being held Monday in a Jacksonville jail. He had been on probation after pleading no contest to a 2017 robbery in Tallahassee in which he and a roommate tried to rob a marijuana dealer at gunpoint, according to court records.
The dealer pulled his own gun and fatally shot his roommate as Woods fled. Woods was originally charged with second-degree murder in the death of his roommate, but a plea deal was reached last year that freed him without prison time.
In 2019, Garriga shot a man in a traffic stop for not wearing a seat belt, according to public records. Prosecutors found the shooting justified, and a lawsuit filed by the dead man’s family was later settled for an undisclosed amount, according to federal court records. Daniels is a family lawyer.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
