Latest news with #JacksonvilleSheriffsOffice
CBS News
5 hours ago
- CBS News
Video of Jacksonville sheriff's officer hitting man in face during traffic stop prompts investigation
A newly released video of a February traffic stop showing officers in Jacksonville, Florida, arresting a man after one of them broke his car window and hit him in the face has prompted an investigation into the officers' use of force. William McNeil Jr. posted the video he had recorded to social media on Sunday, saying he was pulled over on Feb. 19. In the video, an officer from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office tells McNeil he was pulled over because his headlights were off. McNeil, 22, tells the officer that other drivers also had their headlights off and asked to speak to a supervisor, and that's when "things escalated quickly as you can see," he wrote on Instagram. The video then shows an officer smashing McNeil's driver's side window, demanding he get out of the car and hitting him in the face. The officers then open McNeil's car door and pull him out. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Monday that it's investigating the incident after it was made aware of the video circulating online, although the statement noted that "the State Attorney's Office has determined that none of the involved officers violated criminal law." The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said it began both a criminal and administrative review of the officers' actions. The administrative reviews are ongoing, the sheriff's office said. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing McNeil, said in a statement Monday that the video doesn't match what the officers said happened. He called the incident "a disturbing reminder" that asking for basic rights, like why McNeil was pulled over, "can be met with violence for Black Americans." CBS News has reached out to the Florida State Attorney's Office for comment. In the arrest report, provided to CBS News by McNeil's attorneys, officer D. Bowers said McNeil wasn't wearing his seatbelt when he pulled him over for allegedly not having his headlights on in inclement weather. The officer wrote that he asked McNeil for his driver's license, registration and proof of insurance numerous times, which he said McNeil refused, so Bowers called for backup. "The suspect continued to refuse to comply, at which time I broke the driver's window and opened the driver's door. I along with other officers on scene removed the suspect from the vehicle," Bowers said in the arrest report. "The suspect was reaching for the floor board of the vehicle where a large knife was sitting." McNeil was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, as well as resisting an officer without violence, according to the arrest report. He pleaded guilty to and was adjudicated guilty of resisting a police officer without violence and driving on a suspended driver's license, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said. During a news conference Monday, Waters released body camera footage from the February incident and said the viral arrest video "does not comprehensively capture the circumstances surrounding this incident" and it "did not capture the events that preceded Officer Bowers's decision to arrest McNeil." The sheriff's office also posted an image of the knife as seen in one of the officers' bodycam video on Monday. Bowers' body camera footage shows the officer asking McNeil why he opened his door instead of rolling down his window. In the footage, McNeil says his window doesn't work, and Bowers then asks for McNeil's identification one time before telling him to get out of the car. McNeil, who questioned why he was pulled over, responds "no" and shuts his door. He then asks the officer to call his supervisor, and that's when Bowers called for other responding officers, one of whom is heard talking to McNeil from the passenger's side of the vehicle in McNeil's video. Waters said Bowers has been stripped of duty amid an internal investigation. He did not comment on Bowers' actions, but said "the law is clear." "A person must comply with an officer's commands, even if that person disagrees with that officer's reasons for the stop," Waters said. He added that the sheriff's office had not received a complaint from McNeil and was unaware of the allegations prior to him posting the video. Crump noted Monday that McNeil was wearing his seatbelt in his video, but it's unclear from Bowers' body camera footage whether McNeil was wearing his seatbelt when he was first pulled over. The attorney also disputed that McNeil was ever combative or that he was reaching for a knife, adding that the arrest report also failed to mention that the officer hit McNeil. "The narrative in this report isn't just suspicious. It is completely divorced from reality. Not only is he clearly wearing his seatbelt in the video, he never reaches for anything," Crump said in a statement. "In fact, the only time he moves at all is when the officer knocks him over by punching him in his face. Then this young man calmly sits back straight and holds his empty hands up." McNeil said his tooth was chipped and he needed several stitches in his lips as a result of the arrest. He also said he suffered a concussion and short-term memory loss. In his video caption, he wrote: "This was very hard to do I'm not mentally healed from this but I had to get the word out eventually and if I pushed you away or changed more than likely this is why ..."
The Independent
18 hours ago
- The Independent
Moment police break black driver's window and punch him in face for not having headlights on
This is the moment a black driver in Florida had his window broken and was punched in the face after police pulled him over for not having his headlights on in the daytime. The incident - shared by William McNeil Jr in a now-viral video - took place at 4.17pm on Feb 19 this year. After being pulled over by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the 22-year-old can be seen speaking to officers who tell him he was stopped for driving without headlights in 'inclement weather.' McNeil asks to speak to a supervisor before his window is broken and he is punched at least twice in the face before being dragged to the floor out of sight. The sheriff's office has launched an investigation. McNeil spent two days in jail after being charged with resisting an officer without violence and driving on a suspended license.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Shocking footage shows Florida cop punching driver in the face during explosive traffic stop
Disturbing dashboard camera video captured Florida police officers smashing a car window, then punching the driver in the face during a routine traffic stop. William McNeil Jr., 22, was pulled over by cops from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) on February 19. The shocking footage of the incident shared on Sunday showed JSO officers breaking McNeil's window, punching him in the face, pulling him out of his car, then striking him again as they threw him to the ground to arrest him. A police report obtained by News4Jax stated that McNeil was pulled over after an officer allegedly saw his headlights and taillights were off in inclement weather. McNeil's dashboard camera video begins with him discussing why he was pulled over with another officer, who is on the passenger side of the car. 'When he pulled me over, he walked up and I opened my door because my window doesn't work, and I said, "What did I do wrong?"' McNeil said. 'He said, "Well, for one, your headlights are off under this weather." I'm like there's multiple people with their headlights off first of all, and then there's no rain.' The officer whom McNeil was talking to replied, 'It doesn't matter. You're still required to have headlights on.' McNeil asked the officer to show him the law that requires that, and the officer told him he would once he stepped out of the vehicle. Then McNeil asked the officer to call his supervisor when another cop smashed his window and punched him in the face while shouting at him to exit the vehicle. The police report claims that McNeil was given multiple warnings that officers were going to break the window. However, the video showed that only one officer was heard saying, 'Alright, go for it,' seconds before smashing the glass. The report also claimed that McNeil was not wearing his seatbelt. However, the video showed McNeil was wearing his seatbelt, and the officer unbuckled it himself. In the police report, the officer alleged that he believed McNeil was reaching for a knife under his seat and was 'continuing to pull away from officers' during his arrest. The video showed that the officer who broke the window and punched McNeil asked him to show his hands, which McNeil complied with. McNeil was then pulled out of the car after the officer unbuckled him and was punched by a second officer as a group of them forced him to the ground. While McNeil is on the ground, an officer shouted, 'What is wrong with you?' and as he tried to reply that he was putting his hands behind his back, the cops tell him to stop talking. McNeil told NewsJax4 that he suffered injuries to his face and brain during the arrest. 'I suffered a chipped tooth; my tooth went through my lip, and they slammed me on the ground and on the concrete. I had to get nine stitches. I also had a concussion and now I suffer from short-term memory loss,' McNeil said. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office told that it is investigating the incident. 'We are aware of a video circulating on social media showing a traffic stop represented to be from February 19, 2025,' Sheriff T.K. Waters said. 'We have launched an internal investigation into it and the circumstances surrounding this incident. We hold our officers to the highest standards and are committed to thoroughly determining exactly what occurred.' McNeil hired civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Ben Crump to represent him as he seeks justice from the incident. 'I am absolutely disgusted by the actions of these officers, but, unfortunately, I'm not surprised,' said Daniels. 'The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has a long history of this kind of needless violence and brutality.' 'It should be obvious to anyone watching this video that William McNeil wasn't a threat to anyone,' said Crump. 'He was calmly exercising his constitutional rights and they beat him for it.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Jacksonville police officer shot in gunfight responding to robbery. What we know
A Jacksonville sheriff's officer was shot early this morning, during a confrontation with a robbery suspect, who was fatally wounded in the exchange of gunfire. This incident marks the 10th officer-involved shooting by the Sheriff's Office this year, with six fatalities. Here's what we know. Where was the police shooting today in Jacksonville? The incident unfolded around 8 a.m. July 9 on Soutel Drive near Norfolk Boulevard. According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the suspect opened fire, striking the officer in the leg. The officer returned fire, killing the suspect at the scene. Was a Jacksonville police officer shot today? According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, a 20-year-old man wearing a mask entered a store, demanded money, and fled after receiving cash. Responding officers spotted a man matching the suspect's description running from the scene. Officer Luis Mercado, a four-year veteran, ran after the suspect after exiting his cruiser. When Officer Mercado caught up to the man to detain him, the suspect opened fire twice, striking the officer once in the leg. The officer returned fire, critically wounding the suspect at the scene. Despite his injuries, the officer managed to apply a tourniquet to his leg and is reported to be in stable condition, JSO said. Who was killed today in a Jacksonville police shooting? The suspect later died at the hospital from his injuries, and his firearm was recovered at the scene. When asked how many shots Mercado fired at the suspect, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said, 'he fired enough to get the job done.' He added, 'We don't have to worry about that guy anymore. And it may sound cold, it may sound crass, but if a person will shoot at a policeman for doing his job after he just committed armed robbery, he'll shoot at anyone." The suspect's name has not been released pending family notification. Police say he had been released from jail in May 2024. How many shootings in Jacksonville in 2025? It marks the Sheriff's Office's 10th police shooting this year. Six have been fatal. Last year had a total of eight, with three being fatal, according to Florida Times-Union records. Law enforcement quickly secured the area, closing off sections of Soutel Drive and Norfolk Boulevard as the investigation continues. Residents are urged to avoid the area while authorities process the scene. This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville police officer shot after robbery today
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Tasers can't stop man after assaulting woman holding child, officers then use deadly force
An intense domestic situation with a man attacking a pregnant woman trying to shield her child led to officers using their Tasers several times and finally shooting and killing him, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Officers were called about 11:20 p.m. on July 15 to assist fire-rescue personnel in the 12500 block of Brahma Bull Circle near New Berlin Road. The family members who called 911 were already out of the house, but the officers could hear loud, frantic screaming from a man and woman inside. They kicked in a bedroom door and saw the room all disheveled and the man on top of the woman pulling her hair with the child in her arms, the Sheriff's Office said. He refused several commands to release her and back away, but continued to aggressively attack her, the Sheriff's Office said. "From behind the lady, he's holding her by the hair, just yelling and screaming ... not letting her go," Chief Alan Parker said. "She's holding onto a young child. We find out later that she is currently pregnant with that gentleman's baby it sounds like. Meanwhile, they're trying to separate them, so they end up tasing him. They're able to get her separated at that point." The officers backed off and began communicating with the suspect for about 30 minutes to get him to come out and surrender. When he finally came out, he remained combative. The Sheriff's Office noted he was a large man and had to be tased several more times. He fought through the tasings and attacked the officers. "He knocks one over and into a table and drives the other one all the way into the kitchen," Parker said. Three officers then shoot him. He died and one of the officers was treated for minor injuries while another "was a little banged up." The Sheriff's Office didn't say whether the woman suffered any injuries. The suspect has been identified as 26-year-old Amir Bradsher. He has no local criminal history, according to Duval County court records, and appears to be from North Carolina. "Throughout this whole thing ... whatever he was saying they couldn't really make sense of, he's continuing to eat this lady's hair that he had ripped out during the fight inside the room. So there's this whole interaction and he's chewing on her hair and everything, so we don't know what he was going through." Sheriff T.K. Waters said it's a difficult situation. "You're there, you're trying to bring the situation to a close safely," Waters said. "But you walk in, you see a lady on the ground, he's literally pulling her hair and not letting her go." The Sheriff's Office identified the officers involved as Lucas Robinson, Kamau Richardson and Harold Taylor Jr. For Officers Robinson and Richardson, it was the first police shooting in two and five yeas with the force, respectively. For Sgt. Taylor a 16-year-veteran, it was his second. This marks the 11th police shooting this year in Jacksonville and seventh fatal. For all of last year there were eight with three fatal, according to Times-Union records. (This story has been updated with the officers' full names.) This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Police shoot, kill man chewing woman's hair during domestic assault
