Raleigh police release video of stun gun use before man dies
Police in North Carolina have released body camera footage that shows the arrest of a Black man who died after officers repeatedly used stun guns on him
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Your support makes all the difference.Police in North Carolina police released body camera footage Friday that shows the arrest of a Black man who died after officers repeatedly used stun guns on him.
Darryl Tyree Williams, 32, died at a hospital after being confronted and handcuffed by officers in a south east Raleigh neighborhood early Jan. 17, according to the report by Police Chief Estella Patterson released days later.
Footage shows officers approaching and searching Williams near a parked car. Police have said officers had been conducting proactive patrols of nearby businesses.
A man can be heard on several of the body-worn camera recordings saying “I’m not doing anything.”
Dawn Blagrove with Emancipate NC, a criminal justice reform group that has been in contact with Williams’ family, said neither her group nor the family would comment Friday on the release of the footage.
The footage from one body camera shows officers directing him multiple times to place his hands either up or behind his back. A scuffle ensues, and someone can be heard threatening to fire a Taser unless he stops. The police report says a Taser was deployed, temporarily stopping Williams and causing him to fall. The video shows officers on the ground with Williams near a trash can.
“Why are you all doing this to me?” he asks.
“Hands behind back or you’re going to get Tased again,” an officer responds.
The footage confirms the report’s statement that Williams can be heard saying “I have heart problems” after he was stunned. Police have said Williams was stunned three times as officers sought to take him into custody.
Once Williams appears to be detained, someone says, “Relax man, relax. Chill out.” Seconds later, officers become worried about whether he still had a pulse, but they turn him over and say he’s breathing.
One of the videos begins with Williams already on the ground and officers kneeling over him. He can be heard moaning.
Williams became unresponsive and stopped breathing after he was handcuffed, according to the written account. The footage shows police doing chest compressions to try to resuscitate him. Williams was pronounced dead at a hospital and the cause of his death is under investigation.
The report said officers initially approached Williams as he sat in the driver's seat of a parked car. An officer observed an open container of alcohol and marijuana in the car. Police tried to arrest him for possession of a controlled substance after they found a folded dollar bill with white powder in his pocket, the report said.
A search of Williams’ car also found two firearms, one of which had been reported stolen, the report states.
Six officers involved in the arrest are on administrative leave, and the State Bureau of Investigation is conducting a probe. The police department sought a judge’s permission to release the body camera and dash camera video from patrol cars.
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Barakat reported from Falls Church, Virginia. Associated Press writer Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland, contributed to this report.