METAIRIE, La. — A video that shows a Jefferson Parish detective striking a woman several times as he stands over her and she is on her knees is only a small portion of the encounter that came after an overdose death investigation and the woman striking the detective first, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday night.
The incident took place Tuesday evening in the 6700 block of Airline Drive.
A short social media video has been making the rounds showing a detective who appears to be in plain clothes, striking the woman several times to her head with another woman yelling for him to be stopped.
A second officer then appears to show up to apprehend the woman.
The video received a lot of comments on the posting and the sheriff’s office replied a day later.
*Story continues below Instagram post
A JPSO spokesman said the situation began as they were investigating a possible overdose death of a woman who had been dropped off at an area hospital. The sheriff’s office said it identified a man they believed to be the source of the woman’s overdose and they said they intercepted another attempted drug transaction and arrested a person identified as Renell Polk on several drug counts including intent to distribute heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl.
The sheriff’s office said Polk’s vehicle was seized and they were awaiting a tow truck when two women showed up at the scene and tried to get into the vehicle. A detective stopped them and the sheriff’s office said one of the women tried to make a call, which they believed would have been a warning to others possibly involved in the alleged drug distribution.
The women were then said to have started attacking the detective and that part of his clothing was ripped and he had minor injuries. The sheriff’s office said that the encounter lasted about 45 seconds, of which between 5 and 10 seconds were the ones making the rounds on social media.
The sheriff’s office alleges that the video only shows the officer as he ends the confrontation and not what preceded it.
The sheriff’s office released surveillance video of what they say is the confrontation and it does appear to show three figures, but distance and a couple of vehicles prevent people from seeing in great detail exactly what transpired. However, the three people did seem to be talking prior to it getting physical and there was more to the confrontation than the few seconds on Instagram, but audio of what was said that caused things to escalate is not available.
*Story continues below video
WWL Louisiana spoke with Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino, who viewed both videos. He believes it is impossible to judge whether the officer’s actions were justified based on what was published. “When you look at the five-second clip of the video, it certainly looks like the officer’s using excessive force,” he said. “But when you put it in the larger context, it makes the use of force certainly more understandable.”
He does, however, think the Sheriff’s Office “would be remiss not to investigate” the incident. It would center on “whether or not the force was constitutionally excessive” and “whether it was justifiable force by a law enforcement officer making a lawful arrest predicated on probable cause.”
A spokesperson for JPSO said Sheriff Joseph Lopinto did not plan on addressing the media about the incident beyond the initial statement. WWL Louisiana reached back out later in the day to ask whether an investigation would be opened into the detective.
In addition to Polk’s arrest, the two women were also arrested. Deshon Parks was arrested for possession with intent to distribute several different narcotics: marijuana, heroin, tramadol, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. She also faces charges of resisting a police officer with force or violence, felony battery on a police officer, and interfering with a police investigation.
Angeline Parks was arrested on charges of resisting a police officer with force or violence, felony battery on a police officer, and interfering with a police investigation.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.