EDITOR’S NOTE: The video in the article may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
PHOENIX (CBS, KYMA/KECY) – Alarming body camera footage shows a man getting hit multiple times and tased by officers during an arrest in August.
The suspect in the video, Tyron McAlpin, is deaf and has cerebral palsy, according to his wife.
A Phoenix lawyer is raising questions about the police bodycam video and the officers use of force.
In the footage, Phoenix police confronted McAlpin back in August, and moments later, McAlpin was on the ground and video shows both officers hitting him in the head multiple times.
About 50 seconds into the video, he’s tased by the officers while on the ground.
The other officer’s bodycam falls off during the confrontation. One officer says McAlpin bit him at some point during the arrest.
McAlpin is being charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer and one count of resisting arrest, charges his lawyer is fighting to drop.
“They are tasing him and there was no underlying crime Tyron hadn’t done anything wrong,” said Jesse Showalter, McAlpin’s attorney.
Showalter says his client has disabilities: “He’s deaf and has cerebral palsy.”
Showalter also argues the officers acted out of order saying, “That officer doesn’t take a breath. He jumps out of that car, and is on top of Tyron, and he’s physically attacking.”
According to the police report, the officers were investigating an assault at Circle K near 12th Street and Indian School. They found McAlpin nearby, claiming McAlpin fit the suspect description given by the assault victim.
However, McAlpin’s lawyer says his client was not involved in the assault.
“[They] went after Tyron who was walking back to his house,” Showalter explained.
In the clip, one of the officers pulled in front of McAlpin before confronting him on foot. Now, McAlpin and his lawyer are questioning the use of force in this case.
The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association was reached out for comment, but the association’s President Darrell Kriplean released a statement, talking about how the two officers were in uniform, in marked vehicles, and the county still chose to charge McAlpin after reviewing the case.
“We stand behind our officers and would caution the community on making judgments about the incident until all evidence is reviewed rather than a snippet of bodycam footage,” Kriplean said.
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