(Reuters) – Prosecutors in Arizona have dismissed charges against a Black man who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, and who was violently arrested by police earlier this year.
Bodycam footage of Tyron McAlpin’s arrest in August sparked outrage after it was released this week. Video showed police using a Taser on McAlpin and punching him.
McAlpin, 34, had been charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest. Maricopa County district attorney Rachel Mitchell released a statement on Thursday saying that all charges had been dropped.
Police are conducting an internal investigation into officers Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue and their actions during McAlpin’s arrest. The officers remained on duty earlier this week. Police did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the officers’ status on Friday.
The Phoenix Police Department has previously been under scrutiny, with the U.S. Justice Department saying it discriminated against minorities and used excessive force.
NBC News has reported that there was no indication that the officers knew McAlpin was deaf or had cerebral palsy before his arrest.
CBS News and NBC News earlier reported that police were called to a convenience store where a man claimed he was assaulted when he tried to stop a theft while pointing to McAlpin as the culprit. CBS News said McAlpin was not facing charges related to those claims.
McAlpin’s lawyer denied wrongdoing and said his priority was to get what he called unjust charges dropped. McAlpin spent 24 days in jail before making bond, according to CBS News.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado; editing by Diane Craft)
Comments