MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, Ark. (KAIT/Gray News) – Two men in Arkansas were arrested after a high-speed pursuit. Footage of the incident has gone viral, raising questions about the officer’s use of force.
On Aug. 19, at about 11:21 p.m., Arkansas State Police Trooper Teddy Henderson was traveling westbound on Highway 18 when he saw a radar reading showing that the vehicle was traveling 82 mph in a 60 mph zone.
Henderson attempted to stop the vehicle. However, the driver accelerated to 130 mph, and Henderson pursued the vehicle on Arkansas Highway 18 toward Dell.
The vehicle passed over the spike strips but continued fleeing at high speed. Henderson attempted a tactical vehicle intervention to stop the vehicle, the report said.
Henderson’s first attempt failed, but he successfully conducted another tactical vehicle intervention to stop the vehicle.
The driver, later identified as Adonerus Johnson, attempted to flee the vehicle, but the officers held Johnson at gunpoint and deployed a Taser on him multiple times after he resisted arrest.
Henderson commanded one of the passengers, identified as Tedrick Washington, to exit the vehicle, but Washington responded by “simply staring” at Henderson.
Henderson attempted to open the door, then broke the window with a baton when the door would not open. Henderson said Washington stared at him and said he couldn’t get out, even after Henderson said he created a pathway for him to exit after breaking the window.
“I told Washington several times to crawl out the window without success, so I grabbed his left wrist and a handful of his hair and began pulling him in an attempt to persuade him to crawl out with my assistance, which he still refused to do,” Henderson said in his report.
Henderson said Washington attempted to pull away from him and resisted his efforts to get him out of the vehicle.
“Washington postured up and it appeared as if he was preparing to strike with his right hand, so I quickly struck him once in the left side of his face with a closed fist,” Henderson said.
Henderson was eventually able to get Washington from the vehicle and take him to the ground. Washington continued to resist the officers’ attempts to take him into custody and repeatedly attempted to reach into the area of his waist, but officers eventually subdued him, the report said.
Body camera footage of Washington’s arrest was widely circulated on social media.
Washington played NCAA basketball for Southeast Missouri State University, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, according to ESPN.
Another passenger was also arrested but complied with officers’ commands to exit the vehicle with his hands up and was later released without charges.
Officer Cade Liles of the Gosnell Police Department contacted Johnson, the driver of the vehicle, at the scene, according to Liles’ account of the incident.
Johnson refused to heed Liles’ commands. Liles deployed his Taser on him, took Johnson to the ground and drive-stunned him twice after Johnson failed to obey his commands.
Johnson was taken to the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office and agreed to provide a sample for a breath test. Johnson’s test result was 0.17, according to the report. The legal limit is 0.08.
According to the report, Johnson was booked and charged with:
Speeding more than 15 mph over the limitReckless drivingFelony fleeing in a vehicleDriving while intoxicatedResisting arrestUnauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate a felonyNo seat beltFailure to stop at a red lightImproper passing on the right
Washington faces charges of obstructing governmental operations and resisting arrest.
The Gosnell Police Department said the use of force in the incident was justified and that the arrestees’ rights were not violated. The department also said no part of its use-of-force policy was violated.
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