“I have concluded that there is absolutely no evidence to support the filing of criminal charges against any of the Allentown police officers involved in this incident,” Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin said Friday.
The district attorney also watched a nine-minute, 39-second video from a camera across the street from where the incident occurred, according to the statement.
Officers were in a hospital emergency room when they saw a man vomit and stagger on the street before stopping at the entrance to the emergency room, police said.
The man began aggressively pointing at a hospital security officer walking toward him with a vomit bag, the district attorney said Friday.
The officers concluded that the “man’s actions were aggressive, and determined that he should be detained for his own safety, as well as for his and others’ safety, including medical personnel,” the district attorney said.
When they tried to arrest him and take him to the hospital, the prosecutor said, the man resisted and started to walk away.
“When trying to handcuff [the man]one of the officers put his knee on [his head] (Not on his neck). The officer’s knee remained in that position for approximately 8 seconds and was removed as soon as he was handcuffed, “Martin said.
They were able to restrain the man, but the officer had to “very briefly” apply the knee to the man’s head again because he was spitting on officers, Martin added.
The man was treated and released from the hospital the next day, police and the district attorney said.
He was identified by the district attorney, but CNN does not name him.
“I am satisfied that given [his] The obvious poisoning, and his actions, was clearly a danger to himself and potentially to others, “Martin said.” He was clearly agitated and non-compliant, and to gain control of him so that he was no longer a danger, and could be medically treated, it was necessary for officers to contain him. That moderation was reasonable. “
The video shows an officer’s knee on the man’s neck for approximately 8 seconds.
The video that appeared on social media, posted on Black Lives Matter of the Lehigh Valley by a person who asked CNN to remain anonymous, begins with someone driving on the scene who appears to be outside of a hospital.
A person in bushes is seen observing the incident, and it appears that another person in bushes is helping with the person on the ground.
When the man is on the ground with his hands behind his back, an officer places his elbow and then his knee on the man’s neck.
It is unclear what led to the video being recorded and what happened after the video. It looks like the officer’s elbow first, and then his knee was on the man’s neck for about eight seconds each.
It is also unclear what medical condition the man was in at the time of the incident.
A person believed to be in the car at a considerable distance while filming this can be heard on the tape saying, “I thought we were important” and “It doesn’t matter, brother.”
Another can be heard saying “in her neck, brother”, commenting on what she can see.
A person in hospital gowns approaches the cameraman, who says “You can’t touch my phone” just before the video ends.
CNN’s Ganesh Setty, Lauren Johnson, and Carma Hassan contributed to this report.
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