A Louisiana sheriff’s deputy was caught on camera appearing to be planting drugs on a man during his arrest Monday before running after the witness who recorded it.
But the witness got away and posted the video online and it’s now going viral.
The Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputy is recorded placing a small bag on the ground as another deputy holds a handcuffed man named Dominque Griffin on the ground.
The deputy then picks the bag up again, drawing immediate reactions from both the suspect and witnesses.
“I’m recording this,” the woman holding the camera says. Other witnesses also remind the cop he is being recorded which is when he jumps up and starts chasing the witness.
“Go inside, go inside!” witnesses tell the woman with the camera who begins running as the video ends.
The video was sent to WDSU:
The video, sent to WDSU by relatives of the individual arrested, shows Griffin on the ground with one deputy holding him down and two others nearby. The video, nearly 30 seconds in length, then shows one of the deputies next to Griffin place an item on the ground and then pick it up again.
Lopinto said during his news conference that each deputy at the scene was interviewed separately at the Sheriff’s Office. He said their accounts “remained consistent with their earlier statements.”
“All maintained that the bag containing pills was removed from the suspect’s pants pocket prior to being placed on the ground and then picked up again, which was depicted in the social media video,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Griffin was interviewed about the arrest. Detectives also obtained a search warrant for Griffin’s cellphone in which details found on the device “connected Mr. Griffin to the drug evidence seized from his pants pocket,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
Griffin’s phone also contained several messages that connected him to the planning and scheduling of his drug sales, according to the Sheriff’s Office in a news release.
The Sheriff’s Office also said Griffin apologized for biting one of the deputies.
Read the press release below and watch the original video here.
