Weeks before a former football player released a video of his arrest, Henry County police were already investigating the incident, Chief Mark Amerman said Monday.
Desmond Marrow, 30, says he was slammed to the ground, knocked unconscious and had teeth knocked out when he was arrested in December. Last week, he posted a short video of the arrest on social media.
At a news conference Monday, Amerman said the video concerned him, along with things he learned after an initial investigation.
“Sometime after that I found more facts that concerned me greatly, that’s why I ordered an internal investigation,” Amerman said.
Amerman put one of the officers involved in the arrest on administrative duty. Three weeks before the video was released, the chief asked District Attorney Darius Pattillo to investigate. Pattillo’s office is looking into Marrow’s case and the officers’ actions.
Earlier Monday, Marrow and his attorneys attended a rally at a church. Marrow said he was the victim of a hate crime prior to his arrest and that the charges should be dropped.
