Police should have choked ‘the f------ life out of’ a suspect, officer says
A police officer in Columbus, Ohio, has been placed on leave after body camera footage of him surfaced from after an arrest in which he suggested other officers should have choked a suspect and, upon being told they had, replied “good, good.”
According to WCMH, the arrest itself occurred Sept. 1 inside a convenience store. The Columbus Dispatch reports that police were attempting to take Timothy Davis, 31, into custody on outstanding warrants for allegedly resisting arrest and assaulting police officers a year ago in relation to other warrants.
Davis resisted arrested again on Sept. 1 after plainclothes detectives tried to bring him in, police say. He has since been charged with resisting arrest, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, assaulting a police officer, felonious assault, assault and obstructing official business for his actions across three separate incidents dating back to September of 2016.
But it is the actions of the officers who arrested him this month that have drawn scrutiny after cellphone footage of the arrest surfaced online recently. According to the Dispatch, officers can be seen kicking, punching and screaming profanities at Davis inside the convenience store.
The video provoked outrage and protests in the community, with police claiming that Davis fought and bit officers while resisting arrest, and activists accusing the department of excessive force.
On Wednesday, WCMH reported that one of the officers at the scene of the arrest had been relieved of duty after body cameras recorded comments that Columbus police chief Kim Jacobs said left her “appalled.” Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said the officer’s words were “very clearly offensive and unacceptable.”
However, neither revealed what the officer had actually said, merely saying that he had had his badge and gun taken from him while an investigation took place.
Those comments were revealed later Wednesday when multiple media outlets obtained footage from the body camera.
According to WSYX, Officer Joseph Bogard arrived at the convenience store on Sept. 1 after his fellow officers had already taken Davis into custody. At various points afterward, Bogard allegedly made several comments that got him suspended.
“I’m going to for real arm bar you, and when that still doesn’t work, I’m going to choke the life out of you. While you’re drooling on yourself, I’ll handcuff you,” Bogard said he would have told Davis if he was arresting him.
As Davis was placed inside a police vehicle, Bogard said “I'm a little aroused at this, Davis, just so you know.”
And at another point, Bogard asked a fellow officer, “What did we tase him for? Why didn't we just choke the f------ life out of him?”
The other officer responded that “they did for a while.” Bogard then replied “good, good.”
10TV posted the full video from the body camera online Wednesday night.
Warning: The video below contains profanity and graphic content some viewers might find upsetting.
In a statement, Ginther said that he strongly supports “Chief Jacob’s decision to remove the officer from duty. This is unacceptable behavior for Columbus police officers – or any city employee – and cannot be tolerated.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2017 at 11:31 AM with the headline "Police should have choked ‘the f------ life out of’ a suspect, officer says."