Video Released Of Controversial Arrest
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LANCASTER (CBS11) - Newly released recordings show two different perspectives on a controversial arrest by a Lancaster Police lieutenant in August.
The materials were released only after the Texas Attorney General's Office ordered the department to hand them to CBS11.
In his interview with an internal affairs investigator, Lt Michael Fine said he was patrolling an area where there had been overnight car burglaries
He spotted someone around four-thirty in the morning "with a cell phone and a dark colored hoodie" whom he considered suspicious.
He said it was "due to that time in the morning, the problems in the area, the clothing he was wearing, the temperature outside."
Dash cam video shows the officer stop his car and walk toward Alexander Tucker.
"Come over here," he tells him.
Tucker continues several steps forward, before turning to face the officer
"He continued to walk and wave me off," said Lt. Fine, who says he considered that "passive resistance"
"That's my taser. You're gonna get tased if you don't listen to me," dash cam video shows he warned Tucker.
Lt Find says he led Tucker closer to his squad car, intentionally positioning him directly in front of the camera.
"I still didn't know if he had a weapon and his hands were near his waist area," he told an investigator.
Lt Fine says it was for his own safety, he tried putting Tucker in handcuffs.
He says Tucker resisted, twisting his arm to prevent him from being cuffed.
Lt Find says he held both Tucker's arms back and deployed a Taser into his back.
As back-up officers arrived, Tucker asked them how he ended up under arrest.
"I just told you, resisting arrest/detention," an officer tells him.
"Resisting what? What was I being arrested for in the first place?" he asked.
Tucker told them he was walking to the store, as he did every morning.
"How you gonna arrest me for walking? That's not illegal. I'm on the sidewalk. I didn't jaywalk," he said.
"I f'ing got tased and put in handcuffs, just because it's four o'clock and everybody's gonna believe what he says," he said.
Lt Fine was put on leave, but returned to duty within two weeks.
His return was too quick for city leaders.
Newly released notes show the city asked Police Chief Cheryl Wilson to take a personal leave, as a result.
When she declined, they placed her on administrative leave.
The Lancaster Police Officers Association wrote the city manager saying it "supports your decision."
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