Video Shows Police Pinning Man Against SUV While He Holds Baby, Raising Concerns Over Child’s Safety and Sparking Public Outcry

Excessive force or citizen provocation? A series of videos appears to tell both stories in the recent arrest of a man as he held his young daughter.

Last month, videos were posted on Facebook and Reddit that elicited widespread outrage and concern over the safety of the little girl. The first video, shot by the unidentified man, shows a Columbus, Ohio, police officer pulling up behind the man’s SUV, parked mostly on the sidewalk, blocking a designated city bus stop, police later said. The video shows the two men bickering and grabbing at each other, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

A second video, shot by the man’s wife, who was standing beside him when the officer pulled up, shows the man being pinned against his SUV, with his daughter partially trapped between him and his vehicle.

The woman shouts that the man “did nothing wrong” and warns the officers she has video of the confrontation. After another officer takes the baby, the man is thrown to the ground and handcuffed, the newspaper reported.

Aware of the furor that was building online, Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant issued a statement the day after the violent arrest in which she said the videos “showed an incomplete account of the incident.” Police subsequently released a video from bodycam and dashcam recordings, she said, providing a more thorough account.

“In the interest of transparency and accuracy, we are posting these videos to provide a more complete, objective picture of this incident,” Bryant wrote.

The wife of the arrested man has since removed the videos from the publicly visible portion of her Facebook page a few days later after turning off the comments on the post.

In the police video, the officer can be seen approaching the SUV, where the husband and wife were standing outside.

“First of all, I was just letting you know, with the attitude and everything like that, for that, you are going to get a (ticket),” the officer can be heard saying just after he arrived on the scene. He also orders the man, who is Black, to get out of the street.

The man, who police said had asked his wife to hand him their little girl, responds loudly, “Go ahead and do it, man,” he yells. “Go ahead and do it.”

The officer finally pushes him to the curb, and a scuffle ensues. The man repeatedly yells at the officer, “Get your hands off me,” while his wife can be heard yelling at the officer to stop. Both are recording.

Bryant said the officer ordered the man off the street “for everyone’s safety,” and when he didn’t comply, the officer moved to arrest him, and the man resisted.

The video shows the officer eventually pushing the man against the SUV and pulling his arm behind his back. He holds his daughter with his other arm.

Columbus police release video of officer arresting man holding baby
byu/ThisIsButter1 inThisIsButter

The man, screaming and crying at this point, yells “help” repeatedly. The officer tries to get the child’s mother to take her daughter and grows increasingly frustrated when she doesn’t.

“I can’t grab her,” the woman says. “I’m recording.”

Finally, another officer arrives and grabs the baby. Officers then slammed the man to the ground and handcuffed him. The man’s wife screams, “He didn’t do nothing. He lives here.”

The man is screaming he can’t breathe.

“He can’t breathe,” his wife says. “Are we doing this again?”

The man continues yelling.

“Jesus Christ, what did I do?” he asks as he’s being led into the back of a police cruiser. He then demands to speak to the unnamed officer’s supervisor.

One cop can be overheard asking the man, “What is your problem?”

The man was charged with obstructing official business, a fifth-degree felony. If convicted, he faces as many as 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

On Reddit, many commenters were largely unimpressed with the conduct of both the officer and the suspect.

“Both of the men acted ridiculous considering the whole thing was over a parking spot. Those idiots would have killed each other before coming to their senses,” wrote one.

In her statement, Bryant said the incident was being referred to the Department of the Inspector General for further investigation.