Police to investigate excessive force claims after NBA star tased by officers
LAPD Chief says department will investigate ‘possibility of force being applied to the suspect’s neck during the use of force in taking him into custody’
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The Los Angeles Police Department has started an investigation into the possible use of excessive force by officers in the arrest of NBA Centre Jaxson Hayes of the New Orleans Pelicans.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore said on Tuesday that an inquiry had been initiated after Mr Hayes, 21, was arrested in Los Angeles last week following an altercation with police who were responding to a domestic abuse call.
Mr Moore said the case involves “the possibility of force being applied to the suspect’s neck during the use of force in taking him into custody”, which prompted the investigation.
Police say they met Mr Hayes outside of his girlfriend’s LA home as they investigated a call about a domestic disturbance. The authorities say that Mr Hayes tried to enter the residence several times, ignoring officers’ attempts to restrain him and at one point shoving one of the officers against a wall.
A cellphone video published by TMZ on Wednesday appears to show Mr Hayes being tased in the chest by police as several officers try to restrain him. A friend of Mr Hayes says he’s choking while holding the camera.
“Stop. Get your hands off him now. I’ve seen him choking,” the friend said.
“I want your badge number,” Mr Hayes told one of the officers.
Mr Moore said Mr Hayes “was complaining of having trouble breathing, saying that he could not breathe”.
The LAPD banned chokeholds that limit blood flow to the brain after the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on Mr Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds.
Chauvin is currently serving a 22.5-year sentence in federal prison after being convicted in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
According to the LAPD, police footage of the incident involving Mr Hayes will be made available 45 days after it occurred, on 11 September.
Mr Hayes allegedly tried to stop the officers from entering his girlfriend’s home, leading to a fight between the NBA player and the officers, who later appeared to tase him.
TMZ reported that police put out an “officer needs help” call during the altercation with Mr Hayes. He was treated at a hospital for minor injuries. A police officer also received treatment.
Mr Hayes has been charged with one count of resisting arrest. He was the eighth pick in the 2019 NBA draft and scored an average of 7.5 points per game across 60 appearances during the last season.