Once again, a Black citizen called the police for help, only for the police to show up and kill him.
This time, it was Elroy Clarke, a 42-year-old Black man who had called the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office in Florida for help removing a tenant who was acting disorderly.
But the deputies showed up and attempted to arrest Clarke over a misdemeanor trespassing warrant stemming from an incident over the summer where he said he was attacked by a deputy after walking into a sheriff’s office building to discuss a previous case pertaining to him.
Online court records state that Clarke was transported to a local hospital that day, where he was arrested for trespassing. He then failed to show up in court, which led to the warrant being issued.
But on Oct. 23, Clarke called deputies for help in removing a tenant from his home, which is valued at $1.6 million and contains 11 rooms, according to the Charlotte County Property Appraiser website. Clarke was the owner of several businesses including a real estate company called Clarke International Real Estate Group.
Body camera video released Friday shows Clarke speaking to the arriving deputies, telling them that the tenant had been staying at his home for several months but apparently attempted to enter a portion of the home he was not allowed access without Clarke’s permission.
“I thought I could help him but I can’t,” he told the deputies. “He’s unstable and disturbing the peace.”
“He came into my home and I told him he can’t come in without permission, so he violated my space,” Clarke continued. “Then came and slammed my door. That’s destruction of property.”
But then, when deputies spoke to the tenant, Troy Johnson, they discovered Clarke had a bench warrant, which they confirmed through a dispatcher who dispatched more deputies to Clarke’s home to arrest him.
Clarke became agitated after deputies told him to put his hands behind his back, telling the deputies that his name was “Ben Dey” and not Elroy Clarke. But Ben Dey is a name he uses on his Facebook page.
Over the next several minutes, three deputies tasered, pepper sprayed and struck him with a baton but were unable to handcuff him even though they had him on the ground at one point. Clarke managed to break free and stand back up with three deputies surrounding him.
Eventually, a deputy shoots him with a less-than-lethal bean bag gun, which was when Clarke charged at another deputy who had his gun out and fired several rounds. The deputy with the bean bag gun also fired from his real gun.
Watch the body camera footage below.
The deputy then seemed to go into a panic attack, hyperventilating as the other deputies tried to console him.
“I didn’t want to do that!” the deputy said, crying. “I didn’t want to do that!”
Deputies also arrested Johnson, the tenant, on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, manufacturing marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to NBC-2.
The Arrest Warrant
On June 4, 2024, Clarke walked into the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office “to obtain a report related to a previous incident he had reported,” according to a court document filed by Clarke in his defense.
He said he “engaged in a conversation with Deputy Timothy. Poole, seeking clarification on certain matters, which led to Deputy Poole becoming irate and hostile.”
He explained that Poole arrested him without probable cause, only to release him upon the orders of a corporal. He then visited a local hospital seeking medical treatment for the injuries received from Poole, but deputies entered the hospital and arrested him on a misdemeanor trespassing charge.
The affidavit filed by Poole states that Clarke walked into the building demanding paperwork as to why his estranged wife was allowed to remove their children from their home. The affidavit also states that Clarke was transported to the hospital because he claimed his hand was injured after being handcuffed. Poole’s version of the encounter at the sheriff’s office lays out his justification for arresting Clarke:
“Clarke wanted my badge number, and I provided it several times as he continued to repeat it back incorrectly. I told Clarke he needed to leave due to Clarke’s loud and disruptive behavior and the fact he was causing a disturbance in the lobby as he appeared to just want to argue and continue talking loudly. I told Clarke he needed to leave based on his behavior. Clarke’s combative demeanor in the public lobby of District 3 was a threat to anyone who may have entered the building, so I ordered him to leave the building. Clarke remained at the window continuing to ask questions. I told him again that he needed to leave, or he would be arrested. Clarke remained.”
Online court records show that Clarke, who was born in Jamaica, did not have a history of violence or felony arrests. And his defiance against deputies before he was shot was mostly verbal, which may be a result of PTSD suffered after being hospitalized by a deputy in June. Those who knew him were shocked at the shooting, saying it was out of character for him.
“The guy I knew wasn’t aggressive he was a very calm-spoken guy – I think someone is making it out to seem like something it wasn’t.” Dalton Fiata, a contractor working at Clarke’s home, told Fox 4.
