New video shows events leading up to controversial arrest by Fort Worth police
FORT WORTH, Texas -- There are new developments in the controversial arrest of a man in Fort Worth, Texas. Earlier this week, cellphone video angered many. But the public is now getting a different view from the officers' body cameras.
It all started when an amateur video was posted online, showing a Fort Worth Police Department officer punching a man four times while another officer tried to arrest him.
On Tuesday, police released body camera footage that they say shows 35-year-old Forrest Curry running away from them, and then resisting officers' attempts to handcuff him.
"The body camera video provides insight into the erratic behavior and active resistance presented by Mr. Curry," said Asst. Chief Charles Ramirez.
Police were called by the fire department after paramedics said Curry was swinging his arms at them. Paramedics were on scene because they were told someone was having a seizure. Curry's attorney, Jasmine Crockett, claims he did have a seizure and that explains his erratic behavior.
"It seems as if he suffered from the seizure and woke up potentially disoriented with what was going on, why people were grabbing on his feet, taking his shoes off. Things like that," Crockett said.
New video obtained by CBS affiliate KTVT-TV in Dallas appears to show Curry foaming at the mouth. Another man appears to be passed out near him. The woman who recorded the video told KTVT both men had been using the drug K2.
Police have not yet confirmed whether drugs were detected in Curry's system. He was charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest and evading arrest, but was not charged with assaulting a police officer.
The two police officers in the body camera video asked the police chief to release the footage because they wanted the public to see it.