Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been suspended while Arkansas State Police investigate a video posted on social media that allegedly shows them punching and kicking an arrested suspect.
One officer punches the man in the head and slams his head against cement in the video, while another officer appears to kick him in the lower body. The suspect is restrained by a third officer.
Two of the officers work for the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department, and the third works for the Mulberry Police Department.
Randall Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, South Carolina, was identified as the suspect by Arkansas State Police. According to police, he was taken to a nearby hospital for examination and treatment before being released and imprisoned.
Worcester was charged with second-degree battery, resisting arrest, refusing to submit to arrest, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, terroristic threatening, and assault in the second degree.
The arrest is shown in a video posted by Fox 16’s Mitchell McCoy. The video was apparently uploaded to TikTok first. It was later removed from the platform.
According to McCoy, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, a store clerk called police after Worcester allegedly spat in their face and made threats. When officers confronted Worcester, he allegedly pushed a deputy to the ground and punched the back of his head, resulting in the arrest seen in the video.
#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
Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante confirmed that the two deputies would be suspended while Arkansas State Police conducted an investigation.
The officer from Mulberry was also suspended.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson responded to the arrest on social media.
I have spoken with Col. Bill Bryant of the Arkansas State Police and the local arrest incident in Crawford County will be investigated pursuant to the video evidence and the request of the prosecuting attorney.
— Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) August 22, 2022
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