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Derek Chauvin said George Floyd was ‘going crazy’ and witnesses were ‘pretty hostile’ in never-before-heard audio

Retd Sergeant David Pleoger, who was Chauvin's supervisor at the time, said that restraint should have ended when Floyd was not offering resistance

A never-before-heard audio clip was revealed during the ongoing trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged with the killing of George Floyd. In the audio evidence, Chauvin can be heard talking to his supervisor Sergeant David Pleoger moments after Floyd's death. However, he reportedly avoided mentioning the fact that he knelt down on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes. He shared the details only after being specifically inquired later. 

Chauvin also told Pleoger that Floyd was 'going crazy'. He also sounded breathless and was coughing as he took the call from Sergeant Pleoger, according to DailyMail.

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What did Derek Chauvin say to his supervisor?

David Pleoger was working as the supervising shift sergeant when George Floyd's incident occurred on May 25, 2020. A recently retired Pleoger testified in court on Thursday, April 1, 2021, where he stated that Chauvin did not reveal to him that he had applied his knee to Floyd's neck and held him down for a length of time. 

"I believe he told me he'd become combative he mentioned he'd injured either his nose or his mouth and eventually having struggled with him. He said he'd suffered a medical emergency and an ambulance was called," Pleoger told the court. 

"I was just going to call you to come out to our scene we had to hold a guy down he was going crazy, wouldn't go in the back of the squad," Chauvin can be heard telling Pleoger in the audio. Later when Pleoger arrived at the scene and asked him to identify and speak to witnesses, Chauvin said, "We can try but they're pretty hostile."

When asked by the prosecutor if he believes the restraint should have ended at some point, Pleoger responded, "Yes [it should have ended] when Mr Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance," Daily Mail reported.

What did Pleoger reveal at the trial?

Pleoger did not initially receive a call from Chauvin after the incident. He arrived at the scene after being called and informed by 911 dispatcher Jena Scurry, who saw the incident unfold in front of Cup Foods and had a 'gut feeling' that it was not right. 

"She called to say she didn't want to be a snitch but she had seen something while viewing a camera that she thought was concerning," Pleoger said about Scurry. 

Minneapolis Police Department policy mandates immediate reporting of use of force incidents. Since Pleoger was not contacted by any of the officers from the scene initially for the same, he had assumed the case to be a 'take down'. He also told the court that he did not investigate the case or conduct a force review and interview the officers, once it became 'critical' after Floyd's death. 

During his testimony, he also spoke about positional asphyxia and other aspects relevant to the case.