Video of arrest ignites criticism, but Mo. police say it doesn’t tell the whole story

A police department in Missouri has been taking criticism on social media for how one of its officers handled detaining a man who reportedly could not put his arms behind his back. But police say a video of the incident doesn’t show the full story.

In a video posted to Facebook by user Lacy Jeannine, a Joplin Police Department officer is seen detaining a man Sunday as he yells for help.

“Tell this son of a (expletive) I have titanium rods in my body,” a man wearing green camouflage clothing said in the video as he was pinned to a street curb by an officer. “I’m not putting my hands behind my back.”

Jeannine said in her post that the man, identified only as Al, is a Vietnam veteran who has a service dog and was tackled by police while leaving a Dollar General.

The police department said in a Facebook post that the man in the video attacked police before the camera started recording.

The department said officers responded early Sunday afternoon to a call of a man with a dog inside a business, and the man was cursing and threatening an employee. The caller told police that the man had been banned from the property.

“When an officer arrived, the male refused to stop while walking away from him and then tried to enter Dollar General, which adjoins the business,” police said. “As the officer caught up to him, the suspect turned and tried to assault the officer, leading to a short struggle. At about this point, the recordings and videos made by a citizen start, showing the male on the ground, yelling and not cooperating, and the officer trying to maintain control of the suspect’s left arm while waiting for backup.”

The department asked for people with any additional video of the incident to contact them.

Jeannine’s post was shared over 2,000 times and the video was viewed over 150,000 times as of Monday afternoon.

Joplin police reports list a resisting or interfering with an arrest incident, but no arrest appears in an arrest report.

This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Video of arrest ignites criticism, but Mo. police say it doesn’t tell the whole story."