Arkansas State Police launch probe into violent arrest that was captured on video

State police on Sunday launched an investigation into the use of force against a man by Arkansas law enforcement that was captured on viral video.

The video was recorded outside a Mulberry, Arkansas, convenience store Sunday as three law enforcers, two from the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department and one from Mulberry Police Department, arrested a suspect for allegations of trespassing and other crimes, according to a statement from Arkansas State Police.

The suspect, identified Randall Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, South Carolina, was hospitalized with unspecified injuries before being jailed, state police said.

The law enforcement personnel involved were not identified, but Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said in a statement Sunday that the two deputies from his department who were seen on video were suspended until the conclusion of the state probe.

The Mulberry department subsequently issued a statement announcing that its officer has also been suspended pending the investigation’s outcome, according to NBC affiliate KARK of Little Rock.

“The City of Mulberry and the Mulberry Police Department takes these investigations very seriously and holds all their officers accountable for their actions,” the department said.

Representatives from statewide law enforcement organizations that represent rank-and-file officers and deputies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It’s not clear if the sworn personnel involved have legal representation.

The Crawford County sheriff, Damante, said he requested a state police investigation. Later in the day, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said it was underway.

It’s not clear what took place before the recording, which appeared to be shot from a vehicle at the Kountry Xpress market.

Footage shows Worcester on the ground, his body twisting in different directions, as a law enforcer closest to his head pummeled him with a right fist, and then a left. At one point the same official pulled the suspect’s head off the ground and pushed it down with force.

Another law enforcement official, the one closest to the man’s feet, appeared to strike Worcester multiple times with a knee. The third law enforcement official appeared to hold Worcester down, with the help of body weight, at his waist.

Toward the end of the video, a woman in the car shouted at the officers to stop, and one of the three responded by pointing toward the camera. Another shouted for her to back up, using an expletive.

According to KARK, the Crawford County deputies came upon Worcester after a clerk at a retailer reported to another police department that a suspect spit on him and threatened him. That department asked neighboring jurisdictions to be on the lookout for the suspect, the station reported.

The Crawford County Sheriff’s Department said the suspect was cooperative at first, but the men ultimately ended up in a physical confrontation.

The state investigators are focusing solely on the use of force at the store, and will forward their conclusion, including possible recommended charges, to local prosecutors.

A detailed list of charges for which the suspect was booked, according to state police, include: second degree battery, resisting arrest, refusal to submit, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, terroristic threatening, and second degree assault.