BRPD releases body cam footage of Rodrick Veal’s arrest on Roosevelt Street

On 5/21/2024, at approximately 2:00 AM, Officers were dispatched to 1011 W. Roosevelt Street in reference to multiple reports of gun shots in the area. Upon arrival, officers located a vehicle facing the wrong direction on the side of the street, with the engine running, and headlights on.

Officers observed the suspect, Rodrick Veal, alone and in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, either asleep or unconscious. Officers also observed a handgun next to Mr. Veal inside the vehicle.

Officers were able to wake up Mr. Veal and get him to exit the vehicle after several attempts. Officers informed Mr. Veal why he was being contacted. Officers then attempted to pat Mr. Veal down, due to already observing one handgun next to Mr. Veal.

During the pat down, officers located a clear plastic bag with Narcotics in the front pocket of Mr. Veal’s pants, and he immediately became combative, preventing officers from completing the pat down. The Officers backed off and attempted to deescalate the situation to get Mr. Veal to comply, but he refused to listen to commands.

One officer then deployed a TASER to Mr. Veal, which caused him to fall to the ground. The TASER leads break, which causes all further attempts to use the TASER to be ineffective.

Officers begin attempts to get Mr. Veal to roll over to his stomach, so that he can be handcuffed. Mr. Veal refuses all commands and physically resists against officers in their attempts to roll him over to his stomach.

Around the 4:45 mark of the video, Mr. Veal almost takes the Officer’s TASER from him, and actually pulls the trigger, causing the 2nd cartridge of probes to discharge into the grass. Around the 6:00 mark of the video, Mr. Veal attempts to take the cuffs from the assisting Officer.

When the assisting Officer is finally able to place one cuff onto Mr. Veal’s right wrist, he begins violently kicking at the Officers in an attempt to avoid being handcuffed. At that time, the primary Officer delivers a single strike, hitting Mr. Veal on the left side of his face.

Mr. Veal continued to resist and struggle against Officers until other Officers arrived and were able to get Mr. Veal to his stomach and handcuff him behind his back.

Rodrick Veal was found to be in possession of plastic baggies containing Marijuana and Methamphetamine. Mr. Veal’s Criminal History showed he had been charged with Armed Robbery on two separate occasions, and in 2018 was sentenced to 10 years for Illegal Possession of a Stolen Firearm.

These charges made it illegal for Mr. Veal to be in possession of the handgun that was observed next to him inside the vehicle. Mr. Veal was evaluated by EMS due to his perceived intoxication and was later brought to OLOL Hospital to be treated for high blood sugar and the possible ingesting of narcotics.

No official complaints have been made to BRPD, however, the Department has been proactive in launching its own review of the incident to determine what policy violations may have occurred.