A man who asked a Sacramento County deputy to move his car from an intersection was tased, beaten with a flashlight and had his head planted into the street by the deputy’s foot before he was jailed for resisting arrest.
Yes, that’s it. Resisting arrest. No actual underlying charge that would justify an arrest for him to resist. Just resisting arrest.
Or more accurately, contempt of cop.
Sacramento County Undersheriff Jaime Lewis told the local media had the man simply allowed himself to be arrested, he would not have been beaten.
But Lewis was unable to explain exactly why John Madison Reyes needed to be arrested in the first place, so we have no choice but to accept Reyes side of the story that he had the audacity to ask a cop to not block traffic.
According to KCRA:
“Let’s face it, had the subject complied with the officer’s directives from the initial contact and beyond, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about this today,” Lewis said.
Reyes now has a gash in his forehead and a black eye. He told KCRA 3 that he could not comply with the officer’s commands to roll onto his stomach.
“How can I roll over when my body’s twitching with 100,000 volts going through it,” Reyes said.
Reyes said he initially approached the deputy Tuesday to tell him that his patrol vehicle was blocking part of the intersection.
“I asked him kindly to move the car,” Reyes said. “He glared at me and stared at me. And then, I said an expletive, ‘You need to move the car because I can’t get through.’”
The confrontation escalated as the officer questioned Reyes about being on probation. Reyes has been arrested in the past for drug possession and carrying a concealed weapon.
What’s not clear is whether Reyes had committed a crime Tuesday.
A sheriff’s spokeswoman said Reyes was ultimately booked into jail and released — cited only for resisting arrest.
The man who recorded the video, Michael White, said he began recording when he noticed the deputy tasing Reyes.
“The cop was walking around him, and he Tased him several times, and you could see the guy’s body convulse about three or four times,” White said. “And he’s not yelling or anything. He was not trying to get away.”
White said he’s glad his video led to an investigation.
“I think [the officer] should get fired,” White said. “I think he should go to jail. I don’t think administrative leave is enough.”
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office began the usual coverup by placing the deputy on paid administrative leave while refusing to release his name.
