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Three Arkansas cops SUSPENDED for brutally beating suspect during arrest after public outrage

Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said that two county deputies had been suspended, while a Mulberry officer was also placed on leave

MULBERRY, ARKANSAS: Three Arkansas cops were suspended after a viral video showed them savagely beating an arrested suspect at a gas station, eliciting outrage across the country. On Sunday, August 21 morning, police said Randall Worcester, 27, was making threats to a convenience store employee in Mulberry, Arkansas, near Little Rock. The video was taken at The Kountry Xpress in Mulberry, Arkansas. 

When several officers approached him, he allegedly pushed a sheriff to the ground and punched him in the back of his head, resulting in the arrest seen in the video. However, video footage showed the three officers brutally beating the suspect repeatedly with clenched fists even after he was restrained. The video was shared on the internet via Snapchat by Naomi Johnson after her sister witnessed the incident and recorded it on her phone. A stunned Jackson inquired as to whom she should send it in order to report the officers for misconduct.

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Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said in a statement Sunday evening that two county deputies had been suspended pending the outcome of the state police investigation and the sheriff's office's internal review. A Mulberry officer was also suspended. ''I hold all of my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate action,'' Damante stated. In a statement released on Sunday evening, Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory said the officer involved in the incident is on leave pending the outcome of the investigation. ''The city of Mulberry and the Mulberry police department takes these investigations very seriously,'' Gregory said.

According to Damante of the Crawford County Sheriff's Office, Alma police were called to the grocery store at the Kountry Xpress at 1107 Georgia Ridge Drive in Mulberry early at 10.40 am on Sunday, August 21 morning, after a man made terroristic threats to one of the employees. Worcester, 27, of South Carolina, allegedly spat on the convenience store employee before making threats and threatening to "cut off their face", THV11 reported. 

According to police, Worcester then rode his bike to Exit 20 in Mulberry, where he was apprehended by a Mulberry officer and deputies. According to reports, Worcester was taken to the hospital for treatment, released, and then imprisoned at Van Buren. According to Sheriff Damante, the man is charged with terroristic threatening, resisting arrest, 2nd-degree battery, trespassing, aggravated assault, and having an instrument of crime in his possession.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler released a statement on the incident. He wrote, ''Special Agents of the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the incident depicted in the video which occurred about 10:30 AM today outside a convenience store in the Dyer community (Crawford County)." "The incident involves two Crawford County sheriff’s deputies and a Mulberry police officer. At this time I do not have any identifying information about the victim," he added.

Governor Asa Hutchinson made a statement on Twitter, "I have spoken with Col Bill Bryant of the Arkansas State Police and the local arrest incident in Crawford County will be investigated pursuant to the video evidence and the request of the prosecuting attorney."