Canton police investigate officer who tussled with minibike rider

CANTON ‒ A tussle between a city police officer and a 19-year-old man who allegedly went through two red lights on a minibike has been captured in a video shared on YouTube.

The clip that runs for two minutes and 50 seconds shows the officer's attempt to subdue the suspect at 13th Street and Maryland Avenue SW on Sunday evening.

A neighbor's video recording from the incident is posted on the Barz And Chainz Network on YouTube with the title "Excessive Force? Canton Police Officer Caught On Video Beating Man Up."

The officer's account said he struggled to arrest the subject who was larger than him. The suspect is listed in county records as being 6 feet, 1 inches and 270 pounds.

The recording shows the motorist on the ground beside his bike, which is on a driveway near the street and sidewalk. While the officer has one hand on the suspect's wrist and another that appears to be on his back or the back of his neck, another male approaches them and removes his shirt. Two women try to push him away as he returns repeatedly.

"What did I do?" the suspect yells twice.

A woman's voice says, "Please stop."

Although a woman partially blocks the camera's view of the altercation, the visible part of the scene seems to show the officer strike the suspect, accompanied by a sound that could have come from a hit.

The officer's account said he "did deliver an elbow to (the suspect's) back to gain compliance. This had no effect on (the suspect)."

The officer's account said he delivered several knee strikes to the body to gain compliance after he was told he was under arrest and continued to resist.

"Give me your hands right now," the officer says three times on the video, which appears to show the officer striking the suspect with his knee six times.

Slightly more than a minute into the video recording, a man in a sleeveless red T-shirt motions for the two women, who have been hovering around the wrestling suspect and officer, to back away. He gets on the ground with his head near the suspect's, as if speaking to him.

"Just put your hands behind your back!" a female voice yells.

While the women, the shirtless man and another man in a T-shirt stand near the suspect and officer, the officer says, "Give me your other."

With the subject on the ground and apparently handcuffed, the officer chases away the shirtless man, who returns after a siren is heard. The officer chases away the two woman, the shirtless man and the man in the sleeveless T-shirt. He appears to spray pepper spray at one of the women.

The video shows only part of the entire incident, which began around 8 p.m., when the officer, a detective working on traffic enforcement patrol, saw a male driving a mini bike west on Tuscarawas Street W, according to the officer's report, which included these statements:

At least part of the interaction was recorded on video at 13th and Maryland. The officer's account of that portion of the incident appears to be consistent with the actions recorded on the video. His report says that a man approached from the north side of Maryland Avenue with a light-colored baseball bat while yelling. No man with a bat is visible in the video.

Sunday's use of force at 13th and Maryland is under investigation "just as we do for all of our use of force," Canton Police Department spokesman Lt. Dennis Garren wrote in an email.

The department's eight-page policy regarding the use of force says, "An officer may only use the amount of force that reasonably appears necessary given the facts and circumstances perceived by the officer at the time of the event to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose."

"An officer who has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a crime or public offense may use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome resistance," the document says.

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The officer took the suspect to the hospital after the arrest, but before going to jail, as required by the policy, which says, "Prior to booking or release, medical assistance shall be obtained for any person who exhibits signs of physical distress, who has sustained visible injury, expresses a complaint of injury or continuing pain, or who was rendered unconscious."

The policy also contains these points:

The suspect was charged with resisting arrest, failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, obstructing official business, disregarding a traffic control device and no turn signals. His case is scheduled for a status conference Aug. 9 in Canton Municipal Court. He lives in Carroll County's Monroe Township northeast of Sherrodsville.

"The defendant did knowingly flee from an officer who activated his emergency lights and sirens to initiate a traffic stop," according to the court complaint. "During this incident the defendant did go through (two) red lights at busy intersections with heavy traffic on the roadway putting himself, property nearby, and the public at risk of serious physical harm."

Calls were left seeking comment from the defendant and the Canton Police Patrolmen's Association.

Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or [email protected].

On Twitter: @nmolnarTR