DETROIT – The Detroit Police Department has launched an internal investigation into a video showing officers assaulting a man Jan. 12 in front of a home near Plainview Avenue and Pickford Street.
The video was posted on social media. It shows at least two officers using force on a man who was laying on the ground. The man was handcuffed by the officers.
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The video was shot by a person inside a nearby home. Detroit police say the officers involved are not from the Detroit Police Department.
The officers are part of a group called ACTION, a multi-jurisdictional stolen car task force with officers from Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park, Harper Woods and Highland Park.
"ACTION received information from a tracking service that a vehicle that had been carjacked earlier that day was on the move. During the carjacking the armed subject pointed a gun at a mother and her two children and ordered them out of the vehicle. He threatened to shoot them if they failed to comply. He escaped with the complaint's purse, keys and the car," reads a collaborative statement from the police forces.
Below is the full statement from police, in which they say the officers' actions were "proper." Police say the man was "extremely dangerous" and armed with a handgun.
"Officers utilizing the tracking service located the vehicle and established surveillance. Approximately two hours later, a lone B/M subject fitting the description of the wanted subject entered the vehicle.
Officers followed the vehicle to the area of McNichols and Evergreen where it pulled into a driveway. The officer's immediately attempted an arrest however the subject fled on foot. Officers pursued the subject on foot for at least a quarter of a mile until they were able to tackle him. The subject resisted arrest and in an attempt to restrain him an officer deployed a Taser however it failed to take effect due to the subject's heavy clothing. The subject continue to reach for the area of his waist band and refused all orders to show his hands. He curled up in a ball and his right hand again went under his clothing. Fearing for their safety and those in the immediate area, an officer delivered a kick to the thigh area of the subject thus allowing the other officers the ability to arrest the subject. Located in his waist band was a loaded semi-automatic handgun.
The subject involved is currently on parole for armed robbery however he is a parole absconder. He admitted to officers that he stole the vehicle to get drugs. The officers in this case arrested an extremely dangerous wanted felon who was armed with a hand gun. They were required to utilize various techniques to affect the arrest. Due to the totality of the circumstances we believe the actions of the officers in affecting the arrest proper. We will continue to review the incident should additional information develop."