Handcuffed 67-year-old black man arrested for breaking into his own home gets tasered by taunting cop in back of patrol car
- WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO
- Izell Richardson Jr, 67, was violently arrested in Port Allen, Louisiana last month
- Body cam footage of the arrest was released by local police on Thursday
- Police detained him on March 27 on suspicion of breaking into home on Ave C
- Richardson claimed that he lived in the home alongside his sister
- He told police he broke a window to get in house after he misplaced his key
- But Officer Nolan Dehon III arrested him and took him into custody
- Richardson complained to arresting officers that he had a bad back
- He struggled to get seated in the back of the police cruiser and yelled for help
- Dehon then told Richardson: ‘Scream again, go ahead, scream.'
- The officer proceeded to fire a Taser twice within a 10-second time span
- Dehon is on unpaid leave; city council to decide whether to fire him on May 5 A 67-year-old black man falsely arrested
for breaking into his own house because he lost his key was Tased by a
police officer who taunted him after placing him inside a police
cruiser, new body cam footage shows.
Disturbing body cam footage was released on Thursday showing the March 27 arrest of Izell Richardson Jr in Port Allen, Louisiana.
In the footage, two police officers are seen searching for a suspected burglar just outside of a home on Avenue C in Port Allen, a suburb of fewer than 5,000 people just outside of Baton Rouge.Richardson told WAFB-TV that he was breaking into his own home that he shares with his sister after he misplaced the key.
Police in Port Allen, Louisiana released body cam footage on Thursday from a March 27 arrest of a 67-year-old black man, Izell Richardson Jr
In the video, a police officer can be seen firing a Taser twice at Richardson after he screamed for help
‘Scream again, go ahead, scream,' the officer taunted Richardson before Tasing him
The officer who Tased Richardson (left) has been identified as Nolan Dehon III
Body cam footage shows two officers telling Richardson to come out of what appears to be a shed on the property.
‘Come out of there before I light you up,’ one of the officers, Nolan Dehon III, is heard telling Richardson.Light me up, then,’ Richardson replies.
At that point, Dehon opens the door to the shed and Richardson is seen sitting in a chair.
‘This is my house. I’m paying for this house,’ he tells the officer.
‘I bought everything here.’
Dehon is seen holding a Taser as he tries to grab Richardson.
The officer orders Richardson to get up, but Richardson responds that he has a bad back.
‘I don’t care,’ Dehon responds.
When the officer accuses Richardson of ‘busting that lady’s window,’ he angrily denies the allegation, repeating that ‘this is my house!’
Dehon and another officer do not believe Richardson and place handcuffs on him, taking him into custody.
Police were called to a home on Avenue C after receiving a report that someone was trying to break into a home
Richardson pleaded with officers that he broke into his own home that he shares with his sister because he lost a key
‘You don’t have to handle me rough,’ Richardson tells the officers.
The two officers then place Richardson into a police cruiser, where he continues to profess his innocence.
As he is led into the police cruiser, Richardson tells the officers that due to his physical condition he cannot put his legs into the back seat.
He tells the officers that he ‘just had a heart operation’ and that he has a bad back.
Richardson is seen in the video pleading with the officers that his physical condition doesn’t allow him to sit inside the back seat all of the way.
‘I can’t get in here!’ he tells the officers.
Richardson then yells: ‘Help! Help!’
‘Stop screaming,’ Dehon tells Richardson.
‘Scream again, go ahead, scream,’ Dehon is heard telling Richardson in the video.
Richardson started to scream. Dehon then fired his Taser twice at Richardson’s side within 10 seconds.
Dehon (pictured above in the undated file photo) has been placed on unpaid leave
A May 5 city council hearing is scheduled to determine Dehon's future as a police officer
Richardson said that he screamed for help again. He said that his only memory is then waking up in the back of an ambulance as he is rushed to a hospital.
Moments after Richardson is Tased, Dehon is seen on video approaching another officer and telling him that the home did, in fact, belong to Richardson.
Dehon and the other officer then discuss what criminal charges they can bring against Richardson.
‘That’s pretty much his window, so there’s nothing we can do about that,’ Dehon says.
‘So now, yeah, this is disturbing the peace with him doing all of that hollering.’
Dehon has been placed on unpaid leave. The Port Allen City Council is scheduled to hold a hearing on May 5 to determine his future with the police department.
Richardson initially went public with his complaints against Dehon last month before the body cam footage corroborated his claims.
No comments: