Video shows police officer slamming Fayetteville man to ground

The video shows Anthony Wall wearing a tuxedo and being choked and thrown to the ground by a Warsaw police officer outside a Waffle House on Saturday night.

Police were called to the scene after Wall allegedly got into an argument with a restaurant employee.

The 22-year-old from Fayetteville was in Warsaw taking his 16-year-old sister to Union High School's prom. He said his hands were up and he wasn't resisting arrest. He felt there was no need for the officer to choke him or slam him to the ground.

"I was not resisting, my hands were in the air. My head hit the window where I had stitches up here before, so I reacted when my head hit that glass because I was having problems," Wall said.

Wall said five police cars were at the scene and his was put inside a car that had a police dog in a cage. Wall claims the dog nearly bit him.

"The cage magically opened," Wall said. "[The dog] snapped at my arm."

The Duplin County District Attorney will determine if the officer used excessive force to make the arrest.

"We are investigating the incident and I have contacted the District Attorney's Office and asked that he contact the SBI to conduct their own investigation, independent of our investigation," Warsaw Police Chief Eric Southerland said.

Wall was charged with resiting arrest and disorderly conduct for his actions inside the Waffle House, but said the officer's actions were unnecessary. Dr. Michael DeVale, a criminology professor at Fayetteville State University, also questioned the officer's tactics.

"That right there, I think is an issue. There was clearly frustration on the officer's part. That's not to blame, that's just an observation. He seemed frustrated to the point of, you know, there wasn't just a choke hold. There was a choke hold and some venom," DeVale said.