Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters has released body camera footage from the widely publicized arrest of Le’Keian Woods, asserting that the use of force was justified. However, Woods' family is urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate what they perceive as another act of injustice.
As per the arrest and booking report, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office apprehended the 24-year-old on multiple drug-related charges last Friday.
According to the report, the JSO's Gang Unit trailed a gray Dodge Durango to a gas station. A man, dressed in all black with a hood pulled over his head, exited the vehicle, later identified as Woods, raising suspicion of a possible drug deal.
The report states that the observing officer witnessed Woods entering the car's backseat, taking out money, and counting it. The vehicle departed, but the officer noticed that the driver wasn't wearing a seatbelt and called for backup to tail the truck.
After cornering the vehicle in a dead end, Detectives Beau P. Daingle, Josue Garriga, T. McCullough, and Hunter Sullivan executed a "high-risk takedown," but Woods fled on foot.
The body camera footage revealed the events leading up to a bystander's video, which captured Woods with a swollen and bloodied face.
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| Screenshot from the bystanders video |
Sheriff Waters defended the use of force, acknowledging its unattractive nature but asserting that not all force is illegal or against policy. He made this statement during a press conference.
The police report noted that Woods was struck a total of 17 times, receiving punches and "unintentional" knee strikes to the face, along with elbows to the eye and punches to the ribs. The video captures him groaning in pain and struggling to breathe after these blows.
Eventually, they managed to handcuff Woods with his arms behind his back, but the moment when he was slammed to the ground was not part of the footage presented at the press conference.
Now, Woods' family, along with attorneys Harry Daniels and Marwan Porter, is raising concerns about the officers' use of force and the department's level of transparency.
Porter emphasized the need for full transparency, asserting that showing only part of the body camera video raises more questions than it answers.
The attorneys reported that since Woods was taken to jail, his face remains swollen, affecting his eyesight, and he has experienced dizzy spells and pain from a ruptured kidney. His medical treatment has been limited to ibuprofen and Vaseline.
Meanwhile in Rhode Island, a man who admitted to the murder of his 66-year-old grandmother received a 60-year prison sentence. See detailed story here
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