Photo: Getty Images
Correction (8/23): The victim in the video has been identified as 27-year-old Randall Worcester. Worcester is a white male. When the article was first published, we incorrectly noted that Worcester was Black.
Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been suspended after the violent arrest of a man was caught on video and widely circulated online, per the Associated Press.
The now-viral video shows two deputies and an officer on top of a suspect repeatedly punching his head into the ground and kneeing him several times.
During the video, one of the officers points to the person recording the violent encounter and commands her to stop videotaping.
On Sunday (August 21), Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said two of his deputies would be taken off duty as Arkansas state police and the sheriff's office investigate the incident.
“I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,” Damante said.
A Mulberry police officer involved in the incident has also been put on leave, Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory said on Sunday.
“The city of Mulberry and the Mulberry police department takes these investigations very seriously,” Gregory said.
According to police, officers responded to reports of a man threatening a convenience store employee in Mulberry, Arkansas, 137 miles northwest of Little Rock.
A man identified by police as Randall Worcester, 27, was arrested and taken to a local hospital for examination and treatment following the encounter.
Worcester was booked at the Crawford County Jail on complaints of second-degree burglary, resisting arrest, refusal to submit, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, terroristic threatening, and second-degree assault, per Arkansas state police.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted about the viral video on Sunday.
"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," Hutchinson said on Twitter.
Arkansas State Police confirmed later that day that it had opened a use of force investigation into the three officers.
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