Digital Editor\/Associate Producer
MARION, IL \u2014 Members of a local community want answers after an arrest was made over the weekend in Marion, Illinois.\u00a0
The Marion Police Department is investigating claims of excessive use of force after videos posted on social media show officers trying to detain a man.\u00a0
In the video, you can see officers are trying to get the man to put his hands behind his back. You can see him starting to resist before one of the officers starts punching the man and another officer uses a Taser on him.\u00a0
You can see that video, from WFCN News, above \u2014 but viewer discretion is advised as some may find it graphic.
The city of Marion posed a statement on its Facebook page, explaining its position on what happened that night.\u00a0
The statement says officers were called to Pookie’s Beer, Burgers, and Bocce in Marion after getting calls about bottles being thrown from a rooftop at cars. Once officers arrived, they called Marion Fire Department to come to the area to help get the suspect off the roof. That suspect was later caught and arrested.\u00a0
During the investigation, as officers and firefighters were trying to find the bottle-throwing suspect, officers say a man, who was not involved in the original incident, started interfering with the police investigation and \u008d\u2014 according to the officer’s report \u2014 was being hostile to officers, yelling, and causing problems with patrons at a nearby bar.\u00a0
The statement also says the man was standing in the roadway with two open bottles of alcohol. As officers walked towards him, the statement says the man then tried to get back in the bar, but was denied reentry by a female bartender. The man then pushed her to get back in the bar and get away from the officers, according to the statement.\u00a0
The statement goes on to say officers then used force to take the man into custody for battery.\u00a0
As the video shows, the man was put on the ground, where officers say he refused to comply with their “verbal commands and lawful orders” to release his hands from under his body so officers could handcuff him.\u00a0
The statement then says “after verbal commands and closed hand strikes failed, an officer used his department issued taser and was able to put the male into handcuffs and take him into custody.”\u00a0
The statement also says the investigation will review all available facts and evidence including witness statements and videos posted to social media. Any additional information will be provided as the investigation continues.\u00a0
You can read the police department’s full statement below:\u00a0
Digital Editor\/Associate Producer
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Currently in Paducah
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular articles.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.<\/p>\n