Two Phoenix police officers have been placed on administrative leave and a criminal investigation is underway after video showed officers kicking a handcuffed suspect in the head.
Harry Denman, 39, was taken into custody late Thursday night after police said he fired at a pair of officers at a Phoenix gas station.
An explicit video shared Saturday on Facebook shows a man purported to be Denman on the floor as he is beaten by two officers standing above him.
The video shows the man lowering himself onto the ground as an officer demands that he gets on the ground. The officer, who has a rifle aimed at the man, then kicks his head against the tiled floor. Another officer stomps on the man’s head while he is on the ground, the video shows.
Both officers in the video shout expletive-laden orders to the man, telling him not to move, to show his hands and to tell them where a gun is. Video shows the second officer poking the man in the head with his handgun, while the other officer uses his rifle’s front end to strike the man on his head.
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The video shows officers restraining the man’s arms and handcuffing him before he turns on his side. The officer with the rifle then kicks the man in the back.
The man cries, “Oh God, please,” as blood splatter is visible on the floor near his head, according to the video.
Seconds later, the man is heard on the video saying he is sorry and “please don’t kill me” before he is lifted up by the two officers. The man pleads for his glasses, which are left behind as the three walk out of view and filming appears to end.
“What is depicted in the video is not how we train and is not aligned with the core values of the Phoenix Police Department,” Phoenix police Chief Michael Sullivan said in a statement. Sullivan was sworn in as the department’s new chief on Friday.
Denman is accused of using a handgun to fire two shots within close range of the two officers’ patrol car as they were driving out of a parking space in the convenience store parking lot, according to police. A bullet struck the car’s spotlight, piercing through the driver’s side at head level, while the other bullet hit the ground, police said.
The officers had just spoken with Denman, telling him they were leaving to respond to a call, police said.
Phoenix police said the situation escalated when Denman fled into the store as officers followed him inside before the arrest.
The department said the store was unoccupied, but the video shows what appear to be other people in the background.
Denman was hospitalized for his injuries before he was taken to jail, according to police. The department said both officers were uninjured.
The Phoenix Police Department said it learned about the incident Friday and started an internal investigation. A criminal investigation is also underway, police said.
“The department takes instances of potential officer misconduct very seriously,” the Phoenix Police Department said in a statement. “We will wait for additional information and the full investigations to be completed before coming to any conclusions.”
The officers, who have not been identified, are on leave, police said.
In August 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it an investigation of the Phoenix Police Department, partly due to allegations of excessive force.
“The investigation will determine whether the Phoenix Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of violations of the Constitution or federal law,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time.
Contributing: Christine Fernando, USA TODAY
Follow Jose R. Gonzalez on Twitter @jrgzztx.