A video of a Barstow police officer hitting a resistant suspect with a baton during an arrest has gone viral, and the officer’s actions are now being looked into.
A resident filmed part of the incident, and TMZ and FOX 11’s YouTube channel posted it with the title “Barstow police officer seen on video beating a Black man with a baton during the arrest.”
What We know
A Barstow cop saw 43-year-old Gary Christian in the 1200 block of East Main Street at 4 p.m. on Friday. Police officials said that the officer found out through police dispatch that Christian was wanted for a crime warrant with no bail for violating his probation.
The officer went up to Christian and tried to arrest him, but the suspect wouldn’t do what he was told. Police say that Christian attacked the cop.
The cop tried to use his Taser, but it didn’t work. After that, the suspect hit the cop again. The cop hit Christian with his baton while trying to put him in jail.
The 57-second video starts on a sidewalk, where the officer swings his baton at the suspect, who is trying to protect himself by backing up while his arms are raised.
You can see the video below:
On the video, the cop can be seen swinging twice at the suspect before taking him down in a parking lot. He gets hit three times before a second and third cop shows up.
During the video, someone says, “Oh my God, he’s already down. What are you doing?”
When more police showed up, they were able to catch Christian.
Christian’s right leg was cut and bruised, so he was taken to Barstow Community Hospital to get care for it.
He was then taken to the High Desert Detention Center by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. He was suspected of resisting arrest and had a no-bail probation violation order. He can’t get out on bail.
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Video Response
The Barstow police said that they have a video of a part of the event that was taken by a local resident.
Barstow Police want the public to know that a full administrative review will be done to find out if the officer’s use of force was in line with Barstow Police Department policy and the law at the time. This is what police officials said.
Many people who watched the film agreed with what the police officer did. For example, YouTuber Thunderbolt said, “The cop did the right thing. He didn’t want to be arrested.”
L.A. Devine said about the film, “He was definitely fighting back, even when he was on the ground. The other two officers had to help hold him down.”
Others, like Tigiste, said that the suspect wasn’t putting up a fight.
“I mean, that’s what their batons are for—to hit people. The question is, did he do anything violent before that would have made it okay to hit him?” Who knows? That part is left out of the movie for some reason,” Manga Key said.
TMZ said that the police officer who beat a helpless Black man with a baton during an arrest had “echoes of Rodney King…but cops say this guy started it.”
If you know anything about what happened, please call or email Sergeant Jeremy Bledsoe at 760-255-5160 or jbedsoe@barstowca.org. Those who want to stay private can call 800-79-CRIME (27469) or go to wetip.com to report a crime.
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