Online video alleging police brutality leads to Pembroke officer on leave, SBI investigation

A video posted online late Monday has led to a Pembroke police officer being placed on leave and the State Bureau of Investigation being called in to review an allegation of police brutality.

Posted 10:32 p.m. May 19, 2021 — Updated 10:32 p.m. May 19, 2021

Bryan Mims

, WRAL reporter

PEMBROKE, N.C. — A video posted online late Monday has led to a Pembroke police officer being placed on leave and the State Bureau of Investigation being called in to review an allegation of police brutality.

The video, which was recorded at the Walmart on N.C. Highway 711 in Pembroke, includes five clips without audio that were edited together. One clip shows an officer forcefully holding a woman's arm behind her back, while the other clips show two men getting pushed repeatedly onto a bench.

The video has been shared hundreds of times since it was posted on TikTok and YouTube, under the heading "Police Brutality."

Pembroke Police Chief Ed Locklear met behind closed doors with Mayor Gregory Cummings and Town Manager Tyler Thomas on Wednesday afternoon to update them about the investigation.

The video identifies one of the three officers seen in it as Sgt. Timothy Ryan Locklear, who also serves as Pembroke's fire chief. He is on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the SBI review.

Ed Locklear and Timothy Locklear aren't related.

"We have three officers total [in the video], and the SBI will speak with each one of those officers," Ed Locklear said.

Timothy Locklear was the only officer in all five video clips, which is why he's the only one on leave, the chief said.

The three officers were likely responding to a shoplifting complaint at Walmart when the video was recorded, Ed Locklear said.

"Our officers spend a good bit of time down there doing larceny calls, and more than likely, it was dealing with something about a larceny call or a trespassing call," he said.

Ed Locklear said it's difficult to judge his officer's actions based on the short video clips.

"I hate to say this, but in the media and in social media, you only get those 20 seconds, and that's what I got – 20 seconds," he said. "I don't know what's happened before that. I just see a reaction."

He said he's responded to larceny calls himself at the Walmart and has, at times, physically struggled with suspected shoplifters.

"I know what they're going through, [but] without seeing the 60 seconds before or the two minutes before, I can't tell you [what happened]," he said. "That's another reason I wanted to go outside the department to get another agency to come in and look at that."

The chief said he knows two of the other people in the video.

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