RPD release video footage of arrest

2 years ago
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In a news release, RPD gave their account of how events unfolded. They say a man wanted for multiple felony charges was spotted on Remington Street in the city of Rochester around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. After officers made contact with him, police say a struggle ensued and he was taken into custody. Authorities later identified the man as 31-year-old Jarvis Lewis. Police said that Lewis was in possession of a handgun as he was actively fighting with officers. According to court paperwork, an illegal 9 millimeter handgun was recovered during the arrest. Police say that gun was loaded with 11 rounds.

"Until he is placed into handcuffs, you know, let's be honest, it just doesnt look pretty, but that's the reality sometimes of what law enforcement has to deal with, but the goal there was to get him handcuffed and get him secured, which is what you saw eventually happen," RPD Interim Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan said during a news conference Thursday.

Lewis was charged with second-degree assault, criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and resisting arrest.

"This is someone who is wanted for some serious crime violations," Herriott-Sullivan said of Jarvis Lewis. "He is a registered level 3 sex offender and, as you saw in the video, did want to be taken into custody. When you have someone who does want to be arrested and taken to jail, and they elect to resist in a certain way, it’s challenging because we cannot predict that. We don’t know what kind of response we are going to have. I’m happy because, even though, like I said, it didn’t look pretty, no one was seriously hurt. He had that gun when officers approached him, what if he had elected to pull it out and use it?"

Police Accountability Board Executive Director Conor Dwyer Reynolds says the video leaves him with more questions than answers, and calls the edited Blue Light camera footage unusual.

“Getting partial information confuses the issue, rather than giving people trust and transparency,” Reynolds said. “If you watch this video and say, ‘I know less than I did before,’ that’s not a good thing.”

Herriott-Sullivan says body camera footage will ultimately be released, but compiling everything takes time — but Reynolds says determining whether the officer used excessive force or not depends on the full picture.

“In the video you see dozens of officers on the scene, and there’s lots of things going on, but there’s no audio, so that context isn’t there,” Reynolds said. “And so that’s why it’s kind of frustrating having this video come out, because you really want full information, not just pieces of it.”

On Monday, Lewis was arraigned and charged with assault for an alleged shooting that took place on May 22. He is accused of getting into an argument with a 22-year-old woman on Kohlman Street and firing a handgun into a vehicle multiple times, hitting the woman in the chest. Court paperwork says she was taken by private vehicle to Strong Memorial Hospital, and survived. He will next appear in front of a grand jury.

A RPD investigator was placed on administrative duty as a result of the incident, but that will end Friday, and he will be back on regular duty. Herriott-Sullivan says that she did not see enough in the video to warrant taking him off of the road for an extended period of time.

Another man, Travis Lewis, 32, arrived on the scene during the arrest. A confrontation with officers reportedly developed. He was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing government administration in the second degree.

There will still be a complete review of the incident.

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