Villa Rica police said they believe use of force was justified after video surfaced of three officers striking and kneeing a man during his arrest.
The officers had offered Tyler Reynolds, 27, of Carrollton, a ride home from the Stix Bar and Grill on Saturday after receiving several complaints of a man loitering at the restaurant, according to police. Three times earlier that day, police were called to the bar to address the man and each time “the officers resolved the issues and no arrest was made,” Villa Rica police Capt. Keith Shaddix said in a statement.
“The police department’s night shift later responded because the person was still there and was harassing customers, asking for drugs, unable to pay for food he had ordered, and refusing to leave,” he said.
After initially accepting the ride, Reynolds reportedly got out of the police cruiser.
“The officers gave him the choice of leaving, offered to give him a ride, or the last option of being arrested,” Shaddix said. “The person still refused and was placed under arrest.”
Laparis Gamble told Channel 2 Action News she started recording on her cellphone when it seemed the officers “were being a little excessive.”
“They started kneeing him, punching him and stuff, and I started recording because I wasn’t comfortable with that,” she told the news station.
Police said Reynolds was attempting to pull his hands away from the officers and in front of his body. In the video, one officer is shown striking the man four times with his elbow, and another knees him in the leg.
The strikes were attempts to “gain compliance,” according to police.
“I didn’t see him doing anything outrageous or anything like that,” Gamble told Channel 2. “I just saw three guys, one kneeing him and another hitting him in the back.”
She posted the video to her Facebook page, and it has been viewed more than 120,000 times as of Monday.
Shaddix said he and police chief Michael Mansour have reviewed the arrest and viewed the officers’ body camera footage, “which show that the person was indeed physically resisting the officers’ attempt to place him under arrest,” he said. “Based on the information available at this time we feel that the force used by the officers was appropriate.”
Reynolds is being held in the Carroll County jail on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass and obstruction in lieu of $4,500 bond, jail records show.
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