Arkansas Police Officer On Leave After Putting Student In Chokehold

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Arkansas Police Officer On Leave After Putting Student In Chokehold, Teen Says He ‘Feared For His Life’ [Video]

After a video showed him violently placing a high school student in a chokehold, a Camden Arkansas officer has been “relieved of duty pending an investigation”, not fired.

A video surfaced on social media this week of Camden Police officer Jake Perry, assigned as a school resource officer in Camden Fairview High School, gripping a student by the neck in a chokehold and lifting him off the floor several times.

The student has since been identified as Dekyrion Ellis who admitted to KTVE-TV that he got into a shoving match with another student but thinks Officer Perry took things too far.

“I feared for my life,” Ellis said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. I blacked out. I really didn’t see anything until he took me back to the office.”

“He [the student] hit me. I pushed him. Then he pushed me and I pushed him harder to where he fell on the ground,” he said. “That’s when the kids started grabbing me and him. He could’ve taken me to the office,” he said. “He didn’t have to restrain me. It wasn’t like I was trying to get away from him. I wasn’t resisting arrest.”

The teen was taken to the hospital to get his neck X-rayed and family members allege that Officer Perry is known for being a “bully.”

Chief Boyd Woody at the Camden Police Department told KTVE-TV that he’s looking into the case.

“The minute I found out that there was what appeared to be misconduct on his behalf, we took actions to stop it so that it couldn’t continue,” he said. “I will have an answer within the next couple of days of what it’s going to take to resolve this.”

Camden Mayor Julian Lott reposted a press release from Chief Woody reiterating that the officer has been relieved pending an investigation.

“As the Police Chief, I will not tolerate misconduct from my officers and this matter will be dealt with accordingly and I will be transparent in doing so, wrote Chief Woody.

Still, Camden residents are calling for the officer to be fired immediately.

You can take a look at the video for yourself below, it’s PRETTY clear that the officer used excessive force. It was NEVER that serious.