DC police investigating rough arrest caught on video
Videos showing D.C. police officers taking down a man in Northeast D.C. on Monday have some people questioning whether officers used excessive force.
There are several videos from the incident that have been shared on social media. On Facebook, the video is accompanied by the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
But police officers say it was necessary force to control this man.
Police received a call of a "man down" on Monday. In this case, a man was seen literally on the ground in the middle of the street.
In a video that has been going around Facebook and also sent to FOX 5 by the police department, police say the man in the video wearing a brown shirt without shoes on is Eric Jones. He is seen lying in the street and then acting erratically.
At first, only one Sixth District police officer responded to the scene. He waits for backup while people on the street try to control Jones.
"Okay buddy, it's time to calm down," said one person in the video.
Off camera, you hear bangs as if Jones is hitting the car. Then two police officers use their batons to try to stop him.
The officers order for Jones to get on the ground while striking him with the batons. But Jones keeps fighting back.
In the video, the officers tell Jones to stop resisting and call for more assistance.
A third officer arrives and tries to get Jones in handcuffs. One officer punches him in the head as a fourth officer tries to grab his legs.
The crowd starts taunting the officers for being too weak in restraining Jones. You can hear one person on the video say, "You might need a whole army."
By the end, we counted there were at least six officers on the scene to restrain Jones.
D.C. police put out a statement on Tuesday about the video saying in part, "The officers involved had already reported the use of force as required by policy and the Use of Force Investigation is underway."
But D.C. Police Union chairman Delroy Burton said this could have ended a lot easier. He told FOX 5 that:
D.C. police officers don't have the option of using a less lethal tool, such as a Taser. If they had had used a Taser, these officers could have been able to end this situation without getting into a physical altercation with someone who appears to have been under the influence of PCP or another mind-altering substance.
At the end of all of that, Jones was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer.
We have been told that up to three of the police officers were injured during the arrest. The police union confirms that is accurate.
We have heard that those officers were not on work on Tuesday because of their on-duty injuries. A spokesman for the police department would not confirm that.