Kentucky Viral Police Encounter GMK 122120
Credit: WTVQ Lexington, KY
Duration:
0 shares
2 views
Body cam video from jeffersontown... has gone viral.
It shows an officer ends-up in a physical confrontation with a bystander livestreaming a police call.
The police department involved has released the video in hopes to better explain what happened.
Mike fussell breaks it down.
L3: crime report white body cam video of viral police encounter released jeffersontown police departmen ... l3: crime report white encounter released jeffersontown police departmen ... called to a bank nearby, police were in search of men passing bad checks.
Body camera footage shows officer manny cruz making one arrest in a mcdonalds parking lot... nats ...and another at the bank... nats ...when the suspect walked in while he was there.
Jeffersontown police chief rick sanders says those arrested ultimately ended-up being homeless men picked-up from a shelter in evansville, indiana - being paid to pass bad checks by men who had dropped them off.
They too would be later arrested.
But a bystander c1 3 recording the police activity - joseph bennett - mistakenly identified by a witness as being involved.
So, cruz moved in to detain him.
Nats police say bennett began resisting ... cruz struck him.
Nats sanders saying the incident shouldn't be considered a violation of bennett's first amendment rights, even though cruz claimed him filming, was reason to show id.
Chief rick sanders, jeffersontown police department: "why manny said that, i'm not sure, because it had nothing to do with him filming, and everything to do with him being a suspect in this check cashing scheme."
Ultimately, bennett was not found to have any connection to that, and two charges against him related to not complying with police have been dropped.
Sanders says internal investigators are working to see if cruz followed policy.
The department has also asked the fbi for a review out of an abundance of caution.
Meanwhile, cruz is on paid leave.
Sanders spoke of him in a positive light, saying the incident was out of character, adding he will be implementing further de- escalation training for all officers.
That was mike fussell reporting