Alabama officer on leave after video shows her using stun gun on handcuffed Black man

By Jamiel Lynch, CNN

(CNN) — An officer in a small city in western Alabama was placed on administrative leave after video surfaced showing her using a stun gun on a handcuffed Black man last week.

The video, posted by a witness, starts with a White female officer from the Reform Police Department and a Black man handcuffed on the ground on the side of a road on December 2.

It is not publicly known what happened before the video started and authorities have not identified the man or the officer involved in the interaction, though both are named in an arrest complaint provided to CNN by the man’s attorney.

Attorney Leroy Maxwell, Jr. said the man in the video is his client, 24-year-old Micah Washington. Maxwell said before the video begins, Washington was on the side of the road changing a tire when the officer, identified in the arrest complaint as Dana Elmore, approached him and asked for his identification.

Maxwell said after initially telling the officer no, Washington gave it to her but took out his phone and started recording. Maxwell claims that is when the officer first used her stun gun on Washington and then handcuffed him when he was on the ground.

Reform police have not answered CNN’s request for additional information and the incident report. CNN has not been able to reach Elmore for comment.

In the video recorded by Washington’s brother, which begins after he is on the ground, the officer tells him to stand up. She walks him over and leans him over the hood of a patrol car.

“Stay still,” she can be heard telling Washington as she begins to search him.

“I ain’t doing sh*t,” Washington says as she searches his pockets. “I got a gun right there,” he adds.

“Oh, yeah,” the officer says, placing the gun on the hood of the car.

The officer then puts a stun gun to his back and deploys it.

The officer can be heard yelling expletives at him as she continues to hold Washington down.

CNN does not know what happened after the video ended.

An arrest affidavit, signed by Elmore, accuses Washington of offenses including obstructing government operations, resisting arrest, possession of marijuana and trafficking fentanyl.

Maxwell said some of the charges against Washington have already been dropped, adding Washington is not a felon and the gun he had was legal. Washington was released from jail after posting a $5,000 bond, he added.

“There were some clear wrongdoings here and video of excessive force, assault and battery, and there were some bogus charges placed on him,“ Maxwell told CNN.

In a statement, Maxwell added, “We will not stop working until we clear Micah’s name and hold all responsible parties accountable.”

In a joint statement posted on Facebook, Reform Police Chief Richard Black and Mayor Melody Davis said they are aware of the video from the arrest and Elmore has been placed on administrative leave. She has not been charged, the post says.

The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident, according to the statement. Reform is a city of about 3,000 people and is about 80 miles west of Birmingham.

CNN’s Jennifer Henderson, Chris Boyette, Sarah Engel, Asher Moskowitz and Cara Lynn Clarkson contributed to this report.

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