Officials in Crawford County, Arkansas have called in the Arkansas State Police to investigate a Sunday morning incident caught on a 34-second video that shows three police officers beating an individual they’ve subdued on the ground, with one officer hitting the individual in the head no fewer than ten times and slamming his head into the ground multiple times. Another officer is shown kicking the individual in the midsection.
According to KTHV CBS-11 in Little Rock, the two Crawford County deputies and a Mulberry police officer, all unidentified, were responding to a call at the Kountry Xpress convenience store in Mulberry, about 27-year-old Randall Worcester of South Carolina making threats to a store employee. Police claim Worcester fled the scene on a bicycle, with the officers quickly catching up to him. While they interviewed Worcester, police claim Worchester alleged pushed one of the officers onto the ground and started striking him, which led to the beat down.
The Mulberry Police Department released the following statement: “The City of Mulberry and the Mulberry Police Department is [sic] aware of the video circulating on social media involving one of our officers. The Arkansas State Police have been asked to investigate the incident. The officer is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. The City of Mulberry and the Mulberry Police Department takes [sic] these investigations very seriously and holds [sic] all their officers accountable for their actions. We will take the appropriate actions at the conclusion of the investigation.”
Worcester faces charges of terroristic threatening, resisting arrest, 2nd-degree battery, trespassing, aggravated assault, and being in possession of an instrument of crime. The three officers have been suspended pending an investigation.