'Is he breathing?' Body cam footage provides insight into Darryl Williams' arrest, death
The video of a man's chase and arrest by Raleigh police outside a sweepstakes parlor in January was released Friday afternoon, providing insight into the final moments of his life before he died in police custody.
A judge ruled on Wednesday that the Raleigh Police Department could release body cam footage of the arrest of Darryl Williams, 32, who was shocked three times with a Taser and later died.
The police department's five-day report on Williams' death says he can be heard on body camera footage yelling that he had a heart condition.
His family had the chance to view the video before it was made available to the public, the judge said. The faces of people who were not involved in the incident will be blurred on the video.
Fourteen videos were released in all, along with a memo on the City of Raleigh's website that provided links to each video, as well as a compilation.
Mary-Ann Baldwin, the mayor of Raleigh, released a statement saying, "Like everyone else, I am seeing this video for the first time. Anytime we have a loss of life, it’s upsetting and disturbing. The City of Raleigh is committed to provide a safe and healthy community. As you know, this is under investigation by the SBI and there is also an internal investigation taking place within the Raleigh Police and they, along with the district attorney, will determine the next steps."
Compilation video of Darryl William's arrest by Raleigh police
Warning: This video contains images, content, language that some viewers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
The compilation video begins with officers driving through the parking lot, then approaching a vehicle to "check on the occupants." Officers speak to a woman in the car and ask if she's okay, since she's the "only car in the parking lot" with people inside it. The women say they are okay, and the officers then approach Williams' car.
Text overlaid on the video indicates that officers could see an open container of alcohol and marijuana in plain view in Williams' car. An officer asks the occupants to get out of the car and have a seat. The car occupants can be heard asking why they are being asked to exit their vehicle, but they are not given an answer.
"I'm not doing nothing though," says Williams. "What's going on, sir?"
Williams is asked to place his hands on the car, while an officer checks his pockets. Text overlay on the video provides context, saying Officer Robinson found a folded dollar bill with a white substance consistent with the appearance of cocaine in Williams' pocket. Based on that, he makes the decision to arrest Williams.
As he begins to arrest Williams, you can hear Williams asking, "Why? Why? What's going on?"
Williams breaks away and runs a short distance, while officers tell him to get on the ground.
"Stop or you'll get tased," warns an officer. Less than a second later, you hear someone yell, "Taser!" and they hit Williams with the stun gun, and he falls to the ground shouting, "I'm not doing nothing!"
Multiple officers can be seen on top of Williams, trying to arrest him. He breaks away and runs again. Officers catch him after a few seconds, and push him to the ground, commanding him to get down and put his hands behind his back.
As officers hold Williams down, they warn him if he keeps resisting, he will be hit with the Taser again.
"I've got heart problems!" Williams shouts. "Please!"
Police can be seen hitting him with the Taser again.
Williams was hit with a Taser three times in all.
Officers cuff Williams, who seems to have gone limp. It is hard to tell if he is conscious; however, officers say he is conscious and breathing when they make a request for EMS, which they said is required by policy.
An officer can be heard saying, "Hey, is he [Williams] still good?"
"Is he breathing?" an officer asks.
"Sit him up if you can," an officer responds.
"I don't feel a pulse," a voice says.
They begin shaking Williams and asking if he's okay. Someone says he's up, and he's good; but they keep shaking and asking him to wake up.
An officer can be heard saying they do have a pulse and that he's breathing. They remove the Taser probes.
"He's got a pulse," says one officer, who explains Williams passed out after they fought with him.
Officers surround Williams and begin rubbing his back and saying, "Hey buddy." Williams is unresponsive.
After several minutes, someone finally begins CPR. EMS is called again.
Timeline between being hit with Taser and beginning CPR
Williams hit with a taser for the third time while on the ground. One minute later, he’s motionless.
Over the next five minutes officers monitor Williams and continue to check his pulse. Officers seemed to find a pulse and then not.
About 6 minutes passed between the time Williams was hit with the third Taser and the time they begin CPR.
"Feelings are so raw after what happened in Memphis"
There are mixed reaction in Raleigh in the wake of the release of the footage of William's arrest.
"It's such a tragedy," said Gerald Givens with Raleigh Apex NAACP. "Feelings are so raw after what happened in Memphis. It's a lot to take in."
Lee Turner, a defense attorney and former police officer, said he didn't see any violations form the officers.
"I hate that Mr. Williams didn't just let himself get cuffed," Williams said. "I didn't see any type of policy violation of Mr. Williams' rights."
Turner watched the videos that were released by the Raleigh Police Department Friday afternoon. Turner said the Taser was correctly applied to the area of the body it was used on when Williams was hit in the shoulder.
"You can see the Taser is applied in his upper shoulder, which is a muscular area they would typically apply [a] Taser by regulation." Turner said.
Givens said this situation needs to be prevented from happening again.
"The message we need to share is know your rights," Givens said. "Go to the ALCU website, [there's] a detailed list of knowing your rights."
Background information
According to a police report, officers were patrolling the businesses in a shopping center on Rock Quarry Road on Jan. 17 when they saw Williams sitting in a car outside a sweepstakes parlor. They suspected he had alcohol and marijuana in the car and asked to search it. Inside Williams' car, officers found drugs and two guns, one of which had been reported stolen.
When officers tried to arrest Williams, he "became combative and resistant," according to the report.
The report states officers warned Williams, "Stop or you are going to get tased," but Williams "continued to actively resist the officers by pushing them and refusing to place his hands behind his back."
Officer C.D. Robinson used his Taser on Williams, who fell to the ground. After the first stun, Williams can be heard on body worn camera saying, “I have heart problems.” Williams was able to get up and run a short distance across the parking lot, the report says.
Williams fell to the ground, where officers struggled with him, attempting to handcuff him. While Williams fought, officers used the Taser twice more in in stun mode, according to the report. The officers used the Taser on Williams' side and on his back. No shots were fired.
Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said six officers were involved in the incident.
"I will tell you anytime there is a loss of life its taken very seriously by the department," Patterson said. "We will ensure a full investigation will happen."
At a City Council meeting on Tuesday, Raleigh City Manager Marchell Adams-David encouraged the public release of the video.
"As much as we want our officers to return home safely, we want every resident to return home safely," Adams-David said.
The city police review board is using the video in its investigation into the encounter.
Several community activists have spoken out against the handling of the arrest.
The SBI is investigating the encounter between Williams and police, standard protocol when someone dies in police custody.
