Arkansas dashcam video goes viral after trooper breaks window, grabs passenger by dreadlocks and punches him
Dashcam footage from Blytheville shows a trooper breaking a car window, pulling Tedrick Washington Jr. by his hair and punching him.
A dashcam clip from Blytheville, Arkansas, is spreading online after it showed a state trooper break a rear window, pull a backseat passenger by his dreadlocks and strike him in the face. The stop happened on Aug. 19 after a pursuit that police video shows reached 140 mph, adding to fresh scrutiny around Arkansas State Police use of force.
Police video shows the chase began around 11:20 p.m. and ended after a state trooper used a PIT maneuver to stop the fleeing car in Blytheville. Officers from the Gosnell Police Department and Blytheville Police Department were also involved, and the video shows Blytheville officers using Tasers as suspects were being subdued.
After the car was stopped, the driver tried to get out and was taken into custody. The same video shows a trooper moving to the rear driver side window, smashing it with a baton and ordering the backseat passenger to come out through the opening. The trooper then grabs the passenger by the wrist and his dreadlocks, pulls his upper body toward the broken window and punches him in the face.
The passenger was identified as Tedrick Washington Jr., a Blytheville native and former Division 1 basketball player. Washington said he was cooperating with officers and had briefly raised his hands in the back seat before the window was broken.
The driver, Adonerus Johnson, was arrested on charges including felony fleeing, resisting arrest, first offense DWI and reckless driving, along with other charges. Washington was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental operations.
The officer's account and the wider scrutiny
The officer involved was identified as Theodore Henderson. In his report, Henderson said he had told Washington to crawl through the broken window and that he struck him a second time. He also said Washington had appeared to posture as though he might swing, which he said led to the punch.
Washington is reportedly preparing legal action. The footage picked up viral attention over the weekend and has drawn comparisons to another Arkansas State Police incident from Aug. 1, when trooper Moisses Arellano was recorded punching 18-year-old Alisa Hackett during an arrest. Hackett has since filed a federal lawsuit.
State Rep. Lincoln Barnett said the Blytheville stop pointed to a broader, long running problem inside the agency. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump also shared the clip online. Blytheville Police Chief John Frazier said the pursuit was a state police chase and that his department only assisted. An Arkansas State Police spokesperson said Sunday she did not have access to reports on the incident or its status.
Arkansas State Police director Col. Mike Hagar also did not meet with Black lawmakers during a scheduled appearance earlier in the week, citing the pending Hackett lawsuit, though he said he had offered to meet with caucus members privately.
