Alabama Police Officer Under Investigation After Shocking Handcuffed Man

REFORM, Ala. (AP) — A police officer in Alabama has been placed on administrative leave after a video went viral on social media, showing her apparently using a stun gun on a compliant, handcuffed man and telling him to be quiet, despite his cries of pain.

The video, which has circulated widely, depicts a white female police officer shocking a Black man after she had handcuffed him and leaned him against a car.

In the 45-second video clip, the restrained man can be seen cooperating and informing the officer that he has a gun on him. She retrieves the weapon and places it on the car’s hood, responding with a dismissive “Oh, yeah.”

Curious about her remark, the man asks, “What are you saying, ‘Oh, yeah’ for?”

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Subsequently, the officer appears to use the stun gun on the man’s back, causing him to cry out in shock and pain. She then tells him to be quiet using profanity, stating, “You want it again? … You were big and bad.”

According to friends and family, the man in the video has been identified as 24-year-old Micah Washington. They claim that Washington was changing a tire with others on the side of the road when the officer approached them.

In response to the incident, Reform Mayor Melody Davis and Police Chief Richard Black issued a joint statement on Monday, announcing that the officer has been put on administrative leave. They have also requested a state investigation into the matter.

“The Reform Police Department is aware of a video circulating involving a citizen’s arrest on December 2, 2023. The department is in the process of delivering all materials related to this arrest to the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation and has requested a comprehensive inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the arrest,” read the statement.

The mayor and police chief directed further inquiries to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, but no response was immediately received from them. The statement did not disclose the officer’s name. Court records related to Washington’s arrest listed Dana Elmore as the complainant and provided a contact number for Reform City Hall. However, attempts to reach Elmore for comment were unsuccessful.

Reform is a small town situated approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Tuscaloosa, with a population of about 1,495.

Following the incident, a crowd gathered outside the Reform town hall on Monday night to protest the use of excessive force.

“She Tased him in the back and she just kept holding it there until he started crying,” said Jalexis Rice, Washington’s girlfriend, in an interview with WVTM. Rice explained that Washington and two others were changing a car tire at the time.

“When I saw the video, I couldn’t help but cry. It was just heartbreaking,” Rice added emotionally.

Court records indicate that the investigator filed a complaint charging Washington and another individual with trafficking fentanyl. However, state prosecutors dropped the charge on Monday after further testing revealed that the substance was not fentanyl. The two individuals were also charged with resisting arrest, interference with a government operation, and marijuana possession.

For now, the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident, examining the actions of the police officer and the circumstances surrounding Washington’s arrest.

The Associated Press