Philadelphia Police Release Statement After Arrest Incident Caught On Tape
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Police Department has released the following statement regarding an arrest incident from April that was caught on video:
'On the evening of Wednesday July 8, 2015, the department was made aware of a video that was captured during an arrest which occurred on April 4, 2015. Once the department was made aware of this video, the Internal Affairs Bureau was immediately notified and provided the YouTube video link. An investigation into this matter is currently underway to determine all of the facts surrounding the incident as well as to identify all of the officers depicted in the video. However, there is some preliminary information that will be disclosed at this time regarding the arrest incident.
On 04-03-15 at approximately 11:44pm plainclothes officers assigned to the 14th district attempted to stop the defendant for a narcotics violation. As the officers stopped the defendant, he began to fight with the officers, biting one of the officers a total of three times (thigh, hand and arm). The defendant also bit another officer on the forearm during this arrest. Other responding officers arrived on location and were finally able to get the male into custody. 5.3 grams of crack cocaine was recovered from the defendant. The officers injured during this incident were transported to the hospital for the bleeding bite wounds that they sustained during the incident. The male was also transported to the hospital after intentionally striking his own head against the protective shield located in the police vehicle. Both the officers and the defendant were treated and released from the hospital without being admitted.
The information that we have at this time indicates that use of force reports were completed at the time of the incident, indicating the strikes and control holds attempted during the incident. At this time there is no indication that an electronic control weapon was used despite hearing the officer state "here comes the taser". However, Internal Affairs will examine the electronic control weapons of all officers involved in this incident prior to making that final determination. The entire incident will be reviewed for any departmental violations that may have occurred during the incident.'
