Sterling Heights police officers' use of force during arrest probed
Jakkar AimeryTwo Sterling Heights police officers have been placed on leave while the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office probes the arrest of a Roseville man stopped in connection with a domestic violence report in February.
Police video from officers' body and dashboard cameras released Wednesday and posted online showed officers responding at about 4:45 a.m. Feb. 25 to a domestic violence call at a home on Greentrees Road near 15 Mile Road in Sterling Heights, according to police and footage released on Facebook by the Police Department.
Gary Young, 36, who was not present when police arrived at the home, allegedly assaulted his girlfriend and her teenage daughter at the home of Young's girlfriend, the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office has said. He was accused of kneeing the woman in the face and choking a youth, according to the footage.
In the edited police video, just under 9 minutes, officers can be seen behind a vehicle in what appears to be a residential complex parking lot. Young, according to police, was driving by, "attempting to return to the home," a caption in the video said.
Officers ordered Young to put his hands out of the vehicle's partially open window and step out of the vehicle; they made repeated demands; Young appears to refuse. Then a chase ensues.
A pursuit, reaching 90 mph, spanned 13 miles through multiple jurisdictions and went through six red lights, where the suspect "swerved into oncoming traffic," police reported. Young also is accused of attempting to run over an officer, police said.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, the vehicle crashed near Gratiot Avenue and Interstate 94.
Young, in the footage, can be seen leaving the vehicle's passenger side before being swarmed by officers with Taser weapons drawn and a K-9 deployed.
Young "was not compliant with commands and resisted attempts to be placed under arrest," police said in the statement. "During the suspect’s arrest, officers utilized physical force, tasers, and a K9."
Young, according to the footage, can be heard shouting as he repeatedly was struck by police, who used Tasers. He was bitten by the K-9.
"You just (expletive) kicked him in the head," one officer said to Young about an officer.
Police reported Young sustained "minor injuries during the arrest."
Southfield-based attorney Arnold Reed, who is representing Young in a potential civil case against Sterling Heights police, described the incident as a "gang-style beating" and a violation of Young's civil rights.
"The video speaks for itself," Reed said Wednesday. "That was nothing short of a gang-style beating.
"When you're trying to effectuate a traffic stop (and) the suspect is on the ground, you don't use excessive force at that particular point under the guise of 'you had to subdue somebody,'" Reed said. "He was on the ground and they beat him, and it invokes images of Rodney King's beating — they beat the hell out of this man."
Reed said Young sustained head, back and neck injuries and in "other places that he was beat."
Reed said he's hoping officers involved "will be held accountable for their behavior."
In addition to domestic violence charges, Young is facing charges of fleeing police; assaulting/resisting police; and operating with his license suspended, second offense, police said. Toxicology reports found Young's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal driving limit, police reported.
Sterling Heights police said after Young's arrest, he received medical attention and was released to the custody of the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the incident on behalf of Sterling Heights police.
"The incident involved use of force to apprehend the suspect, so as standard protocol dictates, we called for an immediate, independent review of the incident by the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department," said Sterling Heights police, who added that an internal investigation is underway.
"... SHPD officers train in de-escalation techniques and in the proper use of force to ensure the safety and well-being of all citizens and to minimize injury. Whenever force used during a police response comes into question, we take immediate action to engage outside agencies to review those actions.
jaimery@detroitnews.com