Three Arkansas police officers have been suspended after a video posted on social media appeared to show them striking a man several times during an arrest on Sunday.
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The video, shot by a bystander, appears to show two deputies with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and one officer with the Mulberry Police Department punching and kneeing a man over a dozen times while attempting to arrest him outside a convenience store in Crawford County, Arkansas. At one point, an officer lifts the man’s head and slams it on the pavement. The man was not handcuffed at the time the video was shot, and what led to the violent encounter with police was not shown in the 34-second video clip.
SAN FRANCISCO’S BART POLICE WILL NO LONGER USE ‘RACIST’ DIAGNOSIS
#BREAKING: Arkansas State Police launch investigation into this incident, captured on camera, outside a convenience store in Crawford County. ASP says two county deputies and a Mulberry police officer were involved. #ARNews
**WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO / No audio** pic.twitter.com/dYE0htfAsf
— Mitchell McCoy (@MitchellMcCoy) August 21, 2022
The Arkansas State Police and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office have launched an investigation into the incident.
“In reference to the video circulating social media involving two Crawford County Deputies, we have requested that Arkansas State Police conduct the investigation and the Deputies have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,” a Facebook post from the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday.
The officer from the Mulberry Police Department was also placed on leave Sunday pending the outcome of the investigation.
“The city of Mulberry and the Mulberry Police Department takes these investigations very seriously,” Mulberry police Chief Shannon Gregory said, according to the Associated Press.
Arkansas State Police identified the man beaten in the video as Randall Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, South Carolina. He was transported to an area hospital for examination and treatment and then later released and jailed, according to an Arkansas State Police statement.
Worcester is charged with second-degree battery, resisting arrest, refusal to submit, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, terroristic threatening, and second-degree assault.
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Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante told local news outlet KHBS that Worcester was wanted for allegedly threatening a gas station clerk in a neighboring town. When police found him in Mulberry, Damante said the man was initially cooperative but then tried to attack the officers, leading to the confrontation. He said a deputy received minor head injuries during the incident.
The state police investigation will center on the use of physical force by the three law enforcement officers, and a Crawford County prosecuting attorney will determine whether the use of force was consistent with Arkansas laws, according to the Arkansas State Police.
