A video has emerged and is circulating online, of three Arkansas police officers brutally beating a homeless man at a gas station convenience store.
Three cops have been suspended after beating Randall Worcester, 27, who was threatening an employee at the Kountry Xpress store at 1107 Georgia Ridge Dr. in Mulberry (near Little Rock), on Sunday morning.
When called to the scene, the cops tried to confront Worcester, but he resisted and allegedly assaulted one of the officers.
Video footage shows the three officers beating the suspect, hitting him in the head even after he was restrained, and knocking his head on the ground. Another officer kicked the suspect in the back and the leg with his knee.
The video was posted to social media by the sister of a witness, who recorded the violence on her phone.
The Crawford County Sheriff, Jimmy Damante, said on Sunday evening the two county deputies were suspended as well as a Mulberry police officer.
“I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,” Damante said.
The witness who took the video said that Worcester was sitting on the curb at the gas station without shoes, when she arrived. He was talking with the cops. He got up and tried to run, but the cops tackled him.
The beating victim, Worcester, of Goose Creek, South Carolina, was taken to a hospital for medical attention and later released and arrested. Police said he will face charges of terroristic threatening, resisting arrest and other assault charges.
Mulberry Mayor Gary Baxter said he was ‘shocked and sickened’ and promised a full investigation.
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson also promised that the state would get to the bottom of the matter.
It is unclear what the “terroristic threatening” charges were about. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office related that a clerk from the store called 911 after Worcester allegedly spat in the clerk’s face and made threats. Police said that when the officers confronted the man, he pushed one of the deputies and punched him, which led to the incident seen on video.
