An Alabama police officer is facing disciplinary action after using a Taser on a handcuffed man during an arrest.
The incident happened in Reform, about 30 miles from Tuscaloosa, on Dec. 2 and was captured on video. Officials said the unidentified local police officer was placed on administrative leave, and the department has turned over “all materials related to this arrest to the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation and has requested a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the arrest,” according to WVTM.
Footage shows the officer arresting a man, identified by local news as 24-year-old Micah Washington. In the 45-second video, recorded by the man’s younger brother, Washington appears to be on the pavement when the officer instructs him to stand up.
The cop then grabs his white T-shirt as they walk in front of her patrol car. Washington then lays down on the hood while his hands are retrained. The cop is behind him during this time.
“Stay still,” the officer says while pointing a stun gun at his back.
“I got a gun right there,” Washington informs the officer, who removes it from his body and places it on the hood.
“Oh yeah,” the officer replied before shocking him in the back.
“Oh my God,” Washington cried.
“You want it again? Shut the f**k up,” the officer continued. “You was big and bad. Shut your b***h a** up.”
His girlfriend, Jalexis Rice, shared the video on Facebook, and it received nearly 150,000 views. During a protest on Monday, Rice said her boyfriend and two other people were changing the tire of a car when the Reform police officer approached them, WVTM reported.
“She tased him in the back, and she was holding it. She was just holding it there until he started crying,” Rice recalled, adding that when she saw the video, “When I seen it, I couldn’t do nothing but cry.”
Washington is facing multiple charges, including possessing a firearm as a felon, drug trafficking, and resisting arrest, among others, per the outlet.
