A Mobile, Alabama police officer has been taken off patrol duty and is under investigation after a cell phone video showed him placing a handcuffed man in a chokehold.
Officer Blake Duke can be seen in the video arresting 53-year-old Howard Green Jr. At one point during the arrest, Duke appears to place Green in a chokehold while bystanders watch and record.
“Why are you choking him?” a bystander can be heard saying in the video recording.
Officials say Duke “has been taken off patrolling the streets and has been placed on desk duty pending the outcome of the investigation.”
According to documents regarding the arrest, Green is being held on charges of harassment or harassing communications, having no insurance, running a red light, failure to obey, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
The Chief of Police, Lawrence Battiste said he saw the video just a few hours after it was posted online and took action immediately.
Chief Battiste said there will be a thorough investigation and he wants to make sure the public knows this is being taken seriously.
“I took pause because it shows this agency, Mobile Police Department, in a negative light.”
The Chief also said it is too early to make a judgement whether Officer Blake Duke crossed the line by using excessive force.
4 comments
[…] February 21, 2020February 21, 20200256 […]
it does not matter if he spit in his face or not; it doesn’t matter if he’s got 100 warrants; Where is the training of these officers. They make up lies and make up false statements
I am in awe because we expect the officers not to react when we all know if the shoe was on the other foot, we know dang well you would have reacted too. Wrong is wrong and I’m not condoning the behavior of either one but let’s own our crap and our actions. Yes, they are taught to handle certain situations but we are humans in the end and will make mistakes. Just like I imagine the he regrets spitting and the officer regrets choke holding and dogging him.
@Tanya
No LEO under any circumstances can choke a handcuffed detainee at all, ever!!! End of story.