Body Cam Footage Of Johnny Damon's DUI Arrest Released
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Windermere Police Department has released officers' body cam footage from the arrest of Johnny Damon for DUI and the arrest of his wife, Michelle Mangan-Damon, for battery on an officer and resisting an officer with violence.
The video included both Damon and his wife imploring the police officers to take note of their specialty license plates that show support for law enforcement, with Damon telling the officers that "blue lives matter."
Nearly two hours' worth of body cam footage was released on the WPD's YouTube channel. (The video can be found here, with a warning for language.)
The video begins with an officer following Damon's vehicle, observing that the car rolled past the stop line at a stop sign, nearly hit a guard rail, and veered off the roadway at times, among other violations.
After stopping Damon's vehicle at the entry to his living community, the officer approached Damon's SUV. Damon got out of the driver's side door, prompting the officer to shout, "Shut your door!" at a visibly confused Damon.
"What the f---?" Damon said while getting back in the car.
The officer then observed that Mangan-Damon had left the vehicle and was walking toward the back of the car, before instructing her to get back in the car.
"What's happening right now?" Mangan-Damon asked the officer.
Damon then left the vehicle upon request of the officer and admitted to having "a little bit" to drink. Seconds later, Mangan-Damon left the car for a second time, ignoring the officer's demand to get back into the car.
After Mangan-Damon instructed the officer not to touch her, she walked away toward the guard house for the community, at which point the officer placed Damon in handcuffs. Damon instructed her to walk home.
A backup officer arrived on scene to assist and place Mangan-Damon in handcuffs, at which point she instructed the officers to take note of their pro-law enforcement license plates.
"This is bulls---," Mangan-Damon said. "Look at our license plate. We have Blue Lives Matter. Like, this is crazy. What's going on right now?"
Damon pleaded, "Guys, we are all for cops."
Damon then cooperated with police but failed a field sobriety test. Police later stated that he posted a blood-alcohol content almost four times the legal limit of .08.
When one of the officers informed Damon that the couple had fought with the initial officer who made the traffic stop, Damon disagreed with that assessment.
Officer: This did not have to be like this, bro.
Damon: I know.
Officer: When an officer tells you to do something, you follow directions.
Damon: I know. I know.
Officer: Period, OK.
Damon: I know. I know. I know.
Officer: You guys seem to be nice people. I hate that this turned out this way, bro.
Damon: Yeah, and I'm all good. Um ... you know, couple of drinks, and ...
Officer: But that's not the point. That's not the big problem. The big problem is what happened right here.
Damon: What happened here?
Officer: You guys didn't follow his directions.
Damon: Yeah we did.
Officer: You guys both fought him.
Damon: No we did not fight him. What did he say to you that we did?
Officer: There's a reason why I came up with lights and sirens.
Damon: We did not fight anything.
The body cam footage from the ride to the police station included Mangan-Damon and Damon expressing confusion about why their car was being towed from the scene.
"I was a passenger, and I'm arrested right now," Mangan-Damon said. "This makes no sense. ... I should be able to go home to my kids right now."
"That makes no sense," Damon replied.
The officer claimed that he had not heard of Damon prior to the traffic stop.
"It makes no sense like, I don't even understand how nobody at the police station even understands who Johnny Damon is," she said. "That's crazy."
As the couple talked in the backseat, Damon asserted that he was not intoxicated.
"No f---ing way," Damon said. "There's no f---ing way I'm arrested for DUI. Because I am sober. It's f---ed up."
After arriving at the station, Damon continued to insist that he was sober.
"Man, it's crazy, being arrested for nothing," he said. "I get it. We were two blocks from our house, and ... . It is BS, but I get it. I get it."
When other officers in the station asked the arresting officer for the charges, Damon replied, "Arrested for being sober."
Damon was charged with driving under the influence and resisting an officer without violence. Mangan-Damon was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence.
