LAPD releases bodycam from Watts incident involving officer punching suspect
WATTS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles police have released body camera video of an incident in which an officer punched a man in the face during an arrest in Watts.
The incident, captured on cellphone video by a bystander, has generated criticism of the department and calls for disciplinary action or possible criminal charges against the officer.
The new video released by the Los Angeles Police Department provides nearly an hour of footage from multiple body cameras going back to the start of the interaction that led to the arrest.
Alexander Mitchell, 28, was arrested for obstructing and resisting arrest and was later released with a misdemeanor citation.
An attorney representing him on Tuesday said his client did nothing wrong and "did not deserve to be treated this way."
The Los Angeles Police Protective League has argued the officer acted within department policy for use of force when a subject is resisting arrest.
As the new bodycam footage shows, the incident started when officers came across a vehicle double-parked in the street and facing the wrong direction on July 28 at 5:16 p.m.
They initially tap on the glass and ask the driver to roll down the window, then ask him for his driver's license. He asks why he is being questioned and why the officers opened his door. As he exits the car, the interaction with the officers gradually escalates to a higher level of hostility as they attempt to frisk him for weapons and handcuff him, while he yells at them and asks them to call a supervisor.
"What did I do? I didn't do nothing," he repeats several times as they eventually bring him to the ground.
A crowd gathers on the street and appears to be yelling at the officers. One officer wields a taser to have the crowd stay back.
Additional officers arrive on scene and a police helicopter also circles from above as the crowd grows increasingly hostile.
The body camera is not angled to see the punch from the officer's angle, but it appears to happen around the time as he is standing up and they are attempting to handcuff him and yelling at him to "relax" and "stop resisting" and as he continues to insist "I didn't do nothing."
An LAPD statement released Tuesday described the incident: "During the handcuffing process, Mitchell resisted by refusing to place his hands behind his back and grasping his front waistband/pocket area with his right hand, preventing the officers from securing him. An officer then struck Mitchell on the right side of his face, enabling the officers to complete the handcuffing."
Eventually Mitchell was handcuffed and placed onto a gurney and taken into custody.
The officer was removed from field duty as the incident is investigated, per department standard procedure.
Investigation launched after video shows officer punch man during arrest in Watts
The hourlong LAPD video can be viewed here. Warning: Graphic language.
